How to Make a Plant Fossil

One of my favorite activities while teaching about plants is this fun “How to Make a Plant Fossil” activity! It’s part of my comprehensive plants unit, found here, but I have included everything you need for this activity in this post. It is SUPER simple and the ingredients list is probably already in your pantry! Kids love getting to design and have their own “fossil”. 😊 Follow up the activity with a lesson on fossils. Here is how to do it!

What you’ll need:

4 cups flour

2 cups salt

1 ¾ – 2 cups water

Various leaves

Optional: paint/ paintbrushes to paint your fossils

How to:

Combine dry ingredients.
Add water slowly until slight sticky/moist dough forms.
Knead dough until stickiness goes away (add more fluor if too sticky, more water if too dry).
Roll small amounts of dough into balls.
Flatten ball with hand.
Imprint dough with leaves. Press leaf about halfway down into dough.
Optional: Paint your fossils with paint.
Leave dough sitting out for a few days to dry out or bake in a 200 degree oven for several hours (depending on size and thickness of dough)

That’s it! I told you it was simple! This recipe can make about 25 fossils depending how big you make the balls. I have found it makes enough for my class from year to year. I hope you find time to put it into your plant or fossil studies this year, I know it’ll be a big hit!