Surprise Rocks {& A Dinosaur Dig}

This projection ever makes me smile. 

Each twelvemonth amongst my lilliputian showtime graders, I exercise a dinosaur dig ... featuring these nifty little surprise rocks hiding dinosaurs inside.  And they beloved it!  They shout out back it's thence cool to pretend to live paleontologists excavation for fossils or dinosaur bones, never certain what they're going to find.

And these surprise rocks are genuinely thence slowly to make, the lilliputian fleck of fourth dimension invested inwards them is so, thence worth the joy together with fun they select my students.  I would brand these for them fifty-fifty if they took 100 times the effort!  Now, these are non edible ... it's the showtime non-edible recipe I'm posting, but they're thence fun I hoped you lot wouldn't mind.

With only a lilliputian fleck of sand, a fleck of flour together with water, some leftover java grounds, together with a bundle or 2 of plastic dinosaurs (or other surprise!) from the dollar store, you lot tin give the sack conduct keep yourself a batch of surprise rocks.  And here's how.

Start past times combining some sand, flour, java grounds, together with H2O inwards a large bowl.  It volition live difficult to mix, but only larn it started a lilliputian fleck amongst a spoon.

Then, knead the mixture amongst your hands, only similar you lot would if you lot were making staff of life dough. 

I recommend taking off whatsoever rings you're wearing for this step... unless you lot desire soul to larn a real surprise inwards their rock!

The mixture volition come upward together nicely, together with expect similar this subsequently your kneading is done.

I utilization plastic dinosaurs that jibe inwards the palm of my mitt every bit the surprise.  You could utilization whatsoever other lilliputian trinket that wouldn't live harmed past times a coldness oven ... or, you lot could utilization something bigger than this but would require to conform upward the baking fourth dimension of the rocks.

To brand a rock,  watch a hunk of dough.  To comprehend the dinosaur inwards my mitt inwards the photograph above, I took a hunk most this big:

Flatten the dough out into a pancake ...

... that's most this thick:

Lay your surprise on the flattened dough pancake together with plication one-half of the pancake over it.

Then proceed to plication the dough pancake upward over your surprise ...

... until it's all covered.  Gently press the seams together to seal your surprise in.

Place the rocks on a baking canvass lined amongst parchment paper.

Finally, popular them inwards the oven for a spell ... together with they come upward out looking similar this.  Surprise rocks!

For our dinosaur dig, I bury the surprise rocks inwards a lilliputian fleck of sand inwards a plastic tub.  Each pupil together with thence gets to pretend to live a paleontologist.  So cute!  They showtime expect over the 'land,' scanning for an expanse that looks similar it's a lilliputian unlike than the surrounding 'land.'  Once they've establish potential dig spots, they utilization pigment brushes to gently excavate their finds.

After they've got their finds excavated plenty to live able to grab them amongst their fingers, they choice upward a rock and cook clean it off amongst their brushes, inspecting it to predict what they may conduct keep found.  Their excitement builds ...

... until they're finally at a betoken where they tin give the sack interruption their rocks open!  They give the rocks a large ol' mash ...

... together with SURPRISE! ...  break what they've found.  T-Rexes together with pterodactyls ever larn the most squeals. 

And, I can't tell surely ... I mean, I wouldn't actually know ... but I think the adults normally conduct keep only every bit much fun breaking opened upward the leftovers.

Surprise Rocks
(Printable recipe)

Ingredients

• 2 c. sand
• 2 c. all-purpose flour
• 1 c. coffee grounds (leftover from brewing java inwards a java maker)
• 3/4 c. water + mayhap 1/4 c. more

Directions

1. Combine the sand, flour, java grounds, together with 3/4 loving cup H2O inwards a large bowl. Knead, every bit you lot would staff of life dough, until the mixture comes together into a workable dough. Add the remaining 1/4 loving cup water, a lilliputian at at time, if needed.
2. Take a modest sum of dough (about the size of a golf game ball), flatten it, together with cast it around your object.*
3. Bake at 250 degrees for most thirty minutes, turning over subsequently the showtime 10 minutes. Store uncovered.

This recipe covers most 12 modest dinosaurs.

*Note:  It's best if the dough is only thick plenty to live workable inwards roofing your surprise object, but non also thick.  If you lot larn inwards thick, it'll conduct keep the rocks a long fourth dimension to bake inwards the oven or the dough may non dry out out plenty at all.  For larger objects, you will require a larger sum of dough.  Large surprise rocks may require additional baking time.


Have fun together with enjoy!