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How to Make Fossils From Leaves

When you need a quick and cheap activity for kids on a rainy day, this is it. Making leaf fossils is a craft the whole family can do, and it is educational for kids even if they do not realize they are learning. This craft replicates fossils created millions of years ago when plants, insects and even small animals fell into mud and over time left imprints as the earth hardened.

Things You'll Need

Flour
Salt
Water
Dirt
Plastic bowl
Wax paper or foil

Instructions

- 1
  Make a dough that will replicate the hardened mud from which a fossil was made. In an old plastic bowl, mix 1 cup all-purpose flour, 1/2 cup salt, 1 cup dirt and 1/2 cup to 1 cup of water. The mixture should be thick like mud but not too watery.
- 2
  Place the dough on a work surface lined with foil or wax paper to keep the dough from sticking. Knead in all the ingredients until they're well combined.
- 3
  Tear off a chunk of the dough and make a ball about the size of an egg. Flatten it into a disk 1/2 inch to 1 inch thick. The disk should be large enough to accommodate a leaf.
- 4
  Select various types of leaves and press one leaf onto one disk of dough. For a variation, overlap two or three leaves on one disk, pressing the leaves down into the dough.
- 5
  Gently remove the leaves from the dough, leaving impressions. Let the dough sit out overnight to harden. The impressions of the leaves in the dough represent fossils.

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