Looking for a way to get your kid outside to experience nature and learn while having fun? Sounds like a great opportunity to set up your own DIY dig site. This activity is exciting for kids and is chalk full of opportunities to feed their curiosity while learning about the planet we live on!
The first thing you do is decide what your kid will be digging for. Dinosaur toys and fossils are a favorite, but you can use shells, polished rocks, or whatever you have laying around that your kid would love to discover (or rediscover).
Second, identify a place in your yard where you are comfortable letting your kid dig around a little. Dig up the area, bury your treasures (your call if you want to make a rough diagram where each one is), and cover with the soil you dug up. Consider flagging off the area with stakes and ribbons to mark the dig site.
The last bit of preparation is to identify and digging tools your kid may need to unearth their buried treasures.
Now for the fun part: tell your kid they are a paleontologist, and their job is to learn about what used to live in their yard!
For extra credit (you’ve got this!), have your kid keep track of where they located each piece as they find it and ask them what they believe happened for it to end up in the yard. Ask them to use clues in the rock, soil, and yard to guess how that creature might have lived.
Enthusiastic young paleontologists can tear through a dig site in a half an hour, or they may space their dig out over days.
Remember, a hard day of excavation deserves a healthy snack to wrap it up!
Want to learn how to make your own dino bones with stuff you already have in the kitchen?
