Learn and Play Recipe: Fossil Dough

Going along with our theme of Dinosaurs one week during school, I made a batch of Fossil Dough. This has also been called "coffee dough" because basically it is play dough with coffee grounds in it.  I just love making homemade learning materials for the kids. Plus this is super easy!

It's so much fun to play with and perfect for a dino themed lesson. If you have a kid loves sensory experiences then you may want try this because it does have an very odd texture.

Here's what you'll need:

• 1 Cup to 1 1/2 cups of Flour
• 1/2 Cup of Salt
• 1/4 of  a teaspoon of Cream of Tarter (optional but makes it last a tad longer)
• 1 Cup of Cold Coffee (don't use it if you have added creamer or flavored syrups)
• Around a 1/4 -1/2 cup of coffee grounds. Do not use try coffee.

Mix everything except the coffee grounds. Start off with using just 1 cup of flour and have the rest on standby. It sort of makes a pasty mess. That's when you need to add the coffee ground and start mashing it together.  You can slowly add flour to the mixture until it becomes a dough.

If it is still sticky, then add a little flour at a time until it is a nice dough.

This recipe keeps well in an air tight container for a week but don't try and use it to make cut outs and then air dry or bake them. It will be a huge mess.

You can further add texture by taking the used tea leaves out of a tea bag. I've done this with regular black tea and it adds some texture which is really fun. Should you try this you might need to add a little more flour to balance things out if the tea is wet/damp.

We played with ours using a variety of tools and some small plastic dino's that I found at the dollar store.

One recipe is a good amount for one child to play with. Not to be eaten.