If you have a dinosaur-loving kid, then this Fossil Dig Dinosaur Sensory Bag is perfect for you! Sensory play is play that engages the senses and has numerous benefits including building nerve connections in the brain, encouraging the development of fine motor skills and supporting language development. This sensory bag is also super simple to set up and only takes a few minutes.
Fossil Dig Dinosaur Sensory Bag Video
Check out the below video of our Fossil Dig Dinosaur Sensory Bag before making one yourself:
Materials Needed to make a Fossil Dig Dinosaur Sensory Bag
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- Sealable Plastic Bag
- Rubbing Alcohol
- Cotton Ball
- Clear Hair Gel (or any liquid like shampoo, conditioner, lotion or dishsoap will work)
- Food Coloring (red, yellow and blue)
- Clear Packing Tape or Painter’s Tape
- Fossil Dig Printable (Get the free PDF here.)
How to Make a Fossil Dig Dinosaur Sensory Bag:
- Start by taking a cotton ball with rubbing alcohol and rub it on the plastic bag label to remove the label.
- Add hair gel (or similar consistency liquid) to the bag.
- Add a few drops in equal proportion of red, yellow and blue food coloring. Mixing equal portions of red, yellow and blue will produce a brown liquid representing “dirt” for our dinosaur fossil dig. Have your child help you mix the colors by moving the red, yellow and blue gel around until they are mixed. This does take a while so if you want to make the brown gel more quickly, mix the colors in a bowl first and then add to the bag. We used hair gel and then I added a little bit of a white opaque lotion to make our brown “dirt”. The lotion wasn’t necessary, but I wanted to make it a little more opaque.
- Once you have achieved the desired brown color, secure the bag with tape on the top and bottom to a table.
- Next insert the Fossil Dig Printable PDF underneath the bag by sliding it through the open sides.
- Finally, ask your child to move the dirt around and find the fossils buried underneath the “dirt”.
Mixing equal portions of red, yellow and blue will produce a brown liquid representing “dirt” for our dinosaur fossil dig. Have your child help you mix the colors by moving the red, yellow and blue gel around until they are mixed. This does take a while so if you want to make the brown gel more quickly, mix the colors in a bowl first and then add to the bag. We used hair gel and then I added a little bit of a white opaque lotion to make our brown “dirt”. The lotion wasn’t necessary, but I wanted to make it a little more opaque. 
More Sensory Activities
Looking for more fun, simple sensory activities? Check out all our sensory activities here.