These hands-on activities for learning about fossils actually started several months ago. This week we wrapped up what we explored last November and hopefully solidified Caden’s understanding of fossils a bit more. Below I am sharing books, hands-on activities and field trip suggestions all about fossils!

Hands-on Learning about Fossils

Our exploration of fossils began in November 2013 when my mom heard about a beach in Portsmouth, Rhode Island where you could easily find fossils in the rocks! So one morning we took Caden on a little field trip to search for fossils!

Along the beach there are cliffs of shale rock and pieces of shale all along the shore. Caden enjoyed exploring the beach and climbing the rocks while we searched the beach for fossils.

Occasionally Caden took a break from exploring and helped us search the rocks. Eventually we found some awesome plant fossils between the layers of shale! You actually have to break the shale apart to find it! It was really neat!

Check out these cool plant fossils! Who knew you could find fossils in Rhode Island?! What kind of plant do you think this was?

Earlier this week, Caden saw me looking at our pictures from that field trip and was eager to learn some more about fossils! So I dug our fossils and a book we had! Caden enjoyed getting a close look at these fossils with his magnifying glass (affiliate link) and listening as I read from our book.

Then I brought out our clay (affiliate link) and experimented with creating our own fossils with toy dinosaurs and artificial leaves!

Caden had a lot of fun playing with his dinosaur skeletons (affiliate link) and clay as I read more from our book about fossils, stopping occasionally to look up at the pictures. Here he is really interested in hearing about the Woolly Mammoth.