Are your kids dinosaur-obsessed? Do they love treasure hunts? Do they enjoy using tools? Then this outdoor activity is going to blow you away! Today, teacher and UK mom, Hannah Martin, is sharing all the best tips and advice on how to go fossil hunting with kids. Fossil hunting is a fun, exciting, and educational activity for the entire family! You can do it nearly anywhere and it doesn’t take a lot of fancy gear or equipment. Just a love of learning and exploring. Let’s go fossil hunting!
The case for dinosaur-obsessed kids
Before I had a child, I didn’t have a clue about dinosaurs or fossil hunting. Another confession, despite hours upon hours of reading dinosaur books and taking all things dinosaur, I am still no dinosaur expert. However, I admit that I have enjoyed learning all about them with my son. From the armored Ankylosaurus to the sea-dwelling Plesiosaurus, we have played, watched, and read about what feels like every dinosaur possible.
Interest in dinosaurs not only evokes questions and learning about history, geography and nature: a study by the University of Indiana and the University of Wisconsin reported that interest in dinosaurs as a child, leads to enhanced perseverance (definitely a skill needed when fossil hunting!), improved attention and “enhanced skills of complex thinking, such as processing information.” Turns out that your child’s dino-obsession just might be good for them!
Benefits of fossil hunting with kids
While I’m not expecting my son’s interest in dinosaurs to turn him into an archeologist or paleontologist, I like that it’s made him curious about the world around him (and what came before us). Fossil hunting is an activity that we use to connect the past (and his interest in dinosaurs) to the present (and our interest in nature and outdoor activities).
Fossil hunting takes patience and perseverance. This is an activity that definitely suits his characteristics; he’s calm and always interested in facts. Fossil hunting is a fun outdoor family activity with many benefits for children: improving their fine-motor skills when selecting small treasures amongst pebbles, risk management when working with tools along the coastline and under cliffs, sorting and ordering, encouraging reading about and researching what you collect, and best of all, it seems to have a positive effect on mental well-being.
In my son’s own words “Fossil hunting makes me feel calm.”
Where and when to go fossil hunting with kids?
We are very lucky to live near the Jurassic Coast in the UK. It’s a coastline where thousands of sea-dwelling creatures and dinosaur fossils have been discovered over the years. It is a UNESCO site for its outstanding value of rocks, fossils, and land formations.
But don’t worry! You don’t have to live in a UNESCO site to enjoy fossil hunting and find fossils. Every continent on earth has many fossils. And new species are yet to be discovered in all areas. So, no matter where you live, you can go fossil hunting.
From research (but sadly not personal experience), I learned that there are tons of amazing fossil hunting locations across the US. There have been hundreds of great dinosaur and ancient discoveries from Texas to Montana, Alaska to Hawaii. The Morrison Formation in the Western part of the US is a great place to be inspired, with Aptasaurus, Allosaurus and Stegosaurus fossils on display.
There are many other amazing places across the US where you can actually fossil yourself, check out this website for an array of destinations.
Fossil hunting can be done at any time of year but in the UK, the best months are between November and April. This is due to the rough seas churning up the beach and revealing more fossils. In the US, more fossils are found inland so, lucky for you, it can be an all-year-round activity!
How to get started fossil hunting with kids
Fossil hunting books for kids
The only thing you really need to get started fossil hunting with kids is an interest in the activity! If you have a dino-loving kid, the interest has already been ignited. In order to help your kids make the connection between dinosaurs of the past and the rocks they can find today, check out Fossils for Kids or Dino Dana Both will help your child identify and understand dinosaurs and how they’re still relevant (and being discovered) today.
We set the scene for our first fossil hunting day out by using a story by Linda Skeers titled Dinosaur Lady. It’s about the historical figure, Mary Annings, who is now known as one of the most successful palaeontologists in UK history. What excited our son was that the story was based in the place we were planning to visit so he was expecting to find a whole dinosaur, just like Annings did!
Fossil hunting songs, games, and activities
On the journey to our destination, we carry on the fossil theme and, as a family, we sing along to “I’m a Palaeontologist” by They Might Be Giants. It’s a fun and catchy tune that will get kids excited about fossil hunting and the fun things they can potentially find.
We also play a game where we named a dinosaur for every letter of the alphabet. I warn you this gets pretty tricky at N and O but we had help from our 199 Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Animals book.
Dinosaur museums
In order to give your child a better understanding of what they are looking for and how cool fossil hunting is, consider taking them to a local, child-friendly dinosaur museum. We are lucky since where we fossil hunt, there is a small museum set up by a local man who started fossil hunting at the age of 6 and now, 50 years on, he has a great collection of fossils including a whole Pliosaur and an Ichthyosaur. Our son was very inspired by The Etches Museum and was definitely in the mood to find his own fossils once we left.
There are loads of museums around the world with great collections of fossils and dinosaur bones. If you’re lucky enough to be near any of these places, they were listed as the 10 best Dinosaur Museums in the world by www.thetravel.com:
- Zigong Dinosaur Museum (Zigong, China)
- Natural History Museum (Paris, France)
- Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Science (Brussels, Belgium)
- Royal Tyrell Museum of Paleontology (Alberta, Canada)
- Natural History Museum (London, England)
- The Field Museum (Chicago, Illinois, USA)
- Fukui Dinosaur Museum (Katsuyama, Japan)
- Badlands Dinosaur Museum (Dickinson, North Dakota, USA)
- Smithsonian Museum of Natural History (Washington D.C, USA)
- National Dinosaur Museum (Canberra, Australia)
Fossil hunting gear and equipment
There’s really not a lot of gear or equipment you need when fossil hunting with kids. There are a few things that help make the experience safer and feel more legitimate for kids, though. I’ve included a list of optional fossil hunting gear below.
Fossil Hammer – While not essential, a fossil hammer will make the fossil hunting experience more of an adventure for your child and give him/her more independence and responsibility. Our son was very excited that he had his own fossil hammer, but of course, always make sure you talk through safety with them and supervise them while using it.
Eye Protection – If you’ll be using a hammer and smashing rocks and chipping away at stone and dirt, safety goggles are a good idea to protect their eyes from flying stone and debris. Nothing spoils fossil hunting like a piece of stone in a little eye.
Collection Tools – Another great thing to have is a little tin or a small collection bag so the children can collect and look after their own treasures. Our son also enjoyed using a small brush to clear away the dust (a paintbrush will work just fine), and a magnifying glass to inspect his findings.
What else to bring on a fossil hunting outing
That’s all the essentials tools you’ll need for fossil hunting; however, there are a few other things you should bring along on your outing. Make sure to pack and dress for the weather. A spare change of clothes is always useful whenever you’re out near the water We’ve learned this lesson the hard way – once we fossil hunted around rock pools and it was a rather soggy affair. We now take our lightweight waterproof suit whenever we’re out and about. Then again, we do live in England!
Shoes with a good grip are also recommended as some areas can be slippery under cliffs. Also, don’t forget lots of snacks and a picnic for a day trip. In the winter we always take our Kelly kettle so we can have a hot chocolate to warm up and refuel.
Where and how to look for fossils
The most important tool you need for fossil hunting is your eyes! While you can find lots of tips on where to look for fossils, fossil hunting success is largely down to luck. The longer you spend on the activity, the more chance you have of spotting some cool finds. Here are a few of the places we tend to find the most and best fossils.
Look for fossils in and at the bottom of cliffs
Look for sedimentary rock in the cliffs, so anything from sandstone to limestone or shale. On our last fossil-hunting expedition, there was slate which is composed of volcanic ash and clay. It is soft and can be flaked apart or gently tapped with the hammer, which was ideal for fossil hunting with kids. The main fossil you want to look out for in the cliffs are ammonites. But, also look out for Coprolites (dino poop) and leaf imprints. We discovered lots of imprints when splitting rocks apart and along the coastline on large rocks. Sadly, many of these rocks were way too big to take home!
Make sure that you do not hammer the cliffs, as this can cause landslides and displace large amounts of earth. Just hammer the rocks that have already fallen from the cliffs on the beach. Sometimes, when you look along the side of a rock you can see different layers of earth. This is a good sign that there might be a fossil inside. We didn’t spend too much time under the cliffs as they were constantly falling around us as we had rain the night before.
Fossil hunting in shingle and sand
When fossil hunting, we enjoy sitting down amongst the shingle and just gently moving the sand and pebbles back. This is usually when some chill-out time is needed. Some of our most successful finds have been here!
Keep a lookout for “precious jewels”, or sea glass gemstones (small pieces of different colored glass). Occasionally, you can find semi-precious gemstones such as Rhodonite. All of these treasures have history and we enjoy looking in our rocks and fossils book to see what they are and learning about them.
Shoreline fossil hunting adventures
During our shoreline fossil hunt, we play a game we call ‘dinosaur footprints.’ We follow behind our son, walking like dinosaurs, and whenever he turns around we have to freeze. While you’re playing, keep your eyes down and look out for black or white stone-looking objects. You will probably need to pick in the sand with your hands to find them.
When you’re at the shore, it’s also worth looking for sea snails, echinoids (fossilized sea urchins – they are quite rare), Belemnites (sea creatures similar to modern-day squids), and Crinoid stems (ancient animals related to sea urchins and starfish).
If you are unsure what you are looking for, there are loads of websites specific to certain areas that you can look up and research before leaving for your fossil hunting adventure.
The great thing about fossil hunting on the coast is that if you or your kids get bored, impatient, or tired of searching there are rock pools and the sea to splash in and explore, too! Activities on the beach are endless, we love making rock towers (but remember to put rocks back when you leave), and why not have a sandcastle competition or look for wildlife in a rock pool.
Sorting and displaying your treasures
One of our favorite parts of fossil hunting is coming back home and seeing all the treasures we found. We put our fossils into a collection box and have even made a little resin display for them. Hobie loves taking his collection to school for show and tell and even gets them out sometimes when playing with his dinosaurs.
Fossil fun for the whole family
Fossil hunting is a great activity for all the whole family. We always come back from our fossil hunting adventures invigorated by the fresh air, with a good feeling of tiredness from walking and playing. We go home feeling a sense of achievement and with a tin full of historical, educational, free goodies!
I hope this post has inspired you to get outside and see what fossils you can find in your area. We hope to see you out fossil hunting sometime soon!
Are your kids into dinosaurs?
Have you ever gone fossil hunting?
About the author
Hannah Martin has worked as a PE Teacher in the UK for 15 years. She has always loved being active outdoors. However, she discovered a new passion for nature and appreciating the environment when she had her son Hobie (now 5 years old). Hannah and Hobie’s vision is to inspire parents to spend time doing fun, creative, nature activities outdoors with their children; no matter where they live and whatever the weather. They believe spending time together outdoors as a family will encourage future generations to love and care for the world, wildlife, and environment.
Find more from Hannah (and Hobie) in the following locations:
Instagram: @hobies_nature_club
Website: hobiesnatureclub.co.uk
YouTube channel: Hobie’s Nature Club