DIY Dinosaur Eggs
Intro: DIY Dinosaur Eggs
My oldest son was learning about dinosaurs in his class and it gave me motivation to do these Do-It-Yourself (DIY) Dinosaur Eggs (or rocks if you don't want to shape them into eggs.)
We had all the ingredients, but I would suspect that some people may not have sand readily available to them. It only takes 1 cup of sand to make the five eggs you see in the photo mixed in with the other ingredients.
The eggs are about 4 to 5-inches long and about 3-inches in diameter and we used an air dry method with plastic dinosaurs (and animals.)
We just did this for fun, but I would expect that these "eggs" could be made in advance of a dinosaur themed party or as part of a dinosaur dig with a group of children.
Overall, it took my kids and I about 30-minutes to mix and mold the eggs, and we waited three days for the eggs to dry. We broke them up again the day after they dried.
From the photo, you can see that the inside doesn't dry all the way through, but the outside is hard as a rock.
We had all the ingredients, but I would suspect that some people may not have sand readily available to them. It only takes 1 cup of sand to make the five eggs you see in the photo mixed in with the other ingredients.
The eggs are about 4 to 5-inches long and about 3-inches in diameter and we used an air dry method with plastic dinosaurs (and animals.)
We just did this for fun, but I would expect that these "eggs" could be made in advance of a dinosaur themed party or as part of a dinosaur dig with a group of children.
Overall, it took my kids and I about 30-minutes to mix and mold the eggs, and we waited three days for the eggs to dry. We broke them up again the day after they dried.
From the photo, you can see that the inside doesn't dry all the way through, but the outside is hard as a rock.
STEP 1: Materials
Materials used to create these dinosaur eggs are hopefully things you have around the house, or nearby (like for the sand, acquired legally of course.)
- 1-cup all purpose flour
- 1-cup coffee grounds (the ones shown are used because I can't waste coffee)
- 1-cup sand
- 3/4-cup salt
- 1/2-cup water (or less, see Step 3)
- four to five small plastic animals or dinosaurs
STEP 2: Mix
Having fun with my kids was the sole purpose of doing this, so naturally, they had to mix the ingredients together.
Add the flour, coffee grounds, sand and salt together thoroughly.
Add the flour, coffee grounds, sand and salt together thoroughly.
STEP 3: Add Water & Mix
The less water used, the faster the rocks (or dino eggs) will dry.
There was a little moisture in the coffee grounds, so we only added 1/2-cup of water to the mix in Step 2.
The kids mixed the components of the dinosaur eggs after the water was added, and we knew it was ready when we were able to squish the mix in our hand and it stayed together. More water would do the same thing, but again, the dinosaur eggs wouldn't dry as fast as I state in this Instructable.
There was a little moisture in the coffee grounds, so we only added 1/2-cup of water to the mix in Step 2.
The kids mixed the components of the dinosaur eggs after the water was added, and we knew it was ready when we were able to squish the mix in our hand and it stayed together. More water would do the same thing, but again, the dinosaur eggs wouldn't dry as fast as I state in this Instructable.
STEP 4: Mold the Egg Around Your Dino
Taking some of your sand mix, place a plastic dinosaur on top of the mix in your hand.
Add the sand mix on top of the dinosaur, and begin packing around the sides.
Continue adding the sand, flour, salt and coffee grounds mixture and form into an egg to completely cover the dinosaur.
Form the egg shape (or shape into "rocks" if that's what you choose to do) back and forth in your hands until satisfied with the shape.
Add the sand mix on top of the dinosaur, and begin packing around the sides.
Continue adding the sand, flour, salt and coffee grounds mixture and form into an egg to completely cover the dinosaur.
Form the egg shape (or shape into "rocks" if that's what you choose to do) back and forth in your hands until satisfied with the shape.
STEP 5: Let Dry
My kids had a hard time waiting the three days it took for these Dinosaur Egg rocks to dry.
We had about 70-degree (daytime) weather while we made these, so I left them outside to dry out.
If you added more water than what I suggested in Step 3, the eggs will take longer than 3-days to dry out.
My kids and I checked on them every day, and after day two, we turned them over on the tray they were drying on to dry the bottom out.
You can see from the photos that if I were more proactive, the eggs probably could have dried in a more egg-like shape, rather than having a flat side from sitting on the tray.
We had about 70-degree (daytime) weather while we made these, so I left them outside to dry out.
If you added more water than what I suggested in Step 3, the eggs will take longer than 3-days to dry out.
My kids and I checked on them every day, and after day two, we turned them over on the tray they were drying on to dry the bottom out.
You can see from the photos that if I were more proactive, the eggs probably could have dried in a more egg-like shape, rather than having a flat side from sitting on the tray.
STEP 6: Break Open
One of the strange things about children is that even though we made these rocks four days earlier, AND my kids KNEW what was in them, they still wanted to break them open and get what was on the inside right away.
At least they got dirty and had fun.
My oldest son took his hammer, and in a plastic bowl for easy clean-up, each one of my children got a chance to crack open their dinosaur eggs and get their plastic little friend out.
I could see these eggs being part of a dinosaur themed party, buried in a sandbox and picked open with chisels or other actual-dinosaur digging tools (for kids of course).
The outside of the egg is pretty hard, but once the outside is cracked open, the inside was still moist and the plastic friend can be removed easily.
Have fun friends and stay curious.
At least they got dirty and had fun.
My oldest son took his hammer, and in a plastic bowl for easy clean-up, each one of my children got a chance to crack open their dinosaur eggs and get their plastic little friend out.
I could see these eggs being part of a dinosaur themed party, buried in a sandbox and picked open with chisels or other actual-dinosaur digging tools (for kids of course).
The outside of the egg is pretty hard, but once the outside is cracked open, the inside was still moist and the plastic friend can be removed easily.
Have fun friends and stay curious.
38 Comments
amandagouff 10 months ago
jmwells 10 years ago
NHEarthWitch 2 years ago
DeandrasCrafts 10 years ago
Tell me how it goes, please!!! And thank you! I would love to see a photo too!
SusanJ107 5 years ago
sdartnut 10 years ago
It's a wonder that someone has not made this idea into a cake. I know some adults who would love a Dino Egg cake.
DeandrasCrafts 10 years ago
Yes, but don't bake plastic in the oven.... Ooh, but if you put an upside down glass or metal container in the pan before baking the cake, and then use that cake flipped upside down... Hmmm. You might have given me another idea!
Thank you for looking!
AshleyD128 6 years ago
Cake pops !
You bake the cake then crumble it. Add frosting to it and mold it around the toy or for hallow eve you could mix gummy worms in and have them poking out.
sdartnut 10 years ago
I think you could bake two round cake layers. On the frosted top of one put the dino baby (I bet you could make one out of sugar). Put the second one on top of the first and trim away the corners and edges til you get an egg shape. Cook gets to eat the trimmings.
Frost the egg. Boiled spinach and beets would make a suitable natural food coloring for your frosting. Set in a "nest" of chow mien noodles.
woelfwynde 9 years ago
Manufacturers DO make egg-shaped cake molds, if you are interested.
Also, there are a number of sizes of plastic Easter eggs, (I've seen them at the dollar store.) Take a medium or large sized one, depending on the size of the toy, and mold some of the "dough" around the halves of the egg. Once dry, you could then place the toy (or treat!) inside and either use "school glue" or more of the mixture to seal the two halves together. You would then have a hollow egg!
DeandrasCrafts 10 years ago
I love it! I hope someone tries it!
PartyLuisa 8 years ago
Looking forward to try it..
DeneseG 8 years ago
My grandson is having a play date tomorrow , think I will surprise the boys with this project. Thanks for the awesome idea.
Ichae 9 years ago
This is a wonderful idea! I wanted to find out, can you break open the eggs with your hands or do you need to use a tool?
coolbeanz9989 10 years ago
DeandrasCrafts 10 years ago
Thank you!
patsheldon 10 years ago
Very cleaver and fun!
DeandrasCrafts 10 years ago
Thank you!
DonaldCollis 10 years ago
Have you thought about a food dehydrator? Very low temp with moving air.
DeandrasCrafts 10 years ago
I hope someone tries it! I don't have one and don't know much about them. Plastic has a varying melting point, depending on what type it is. In my experience, anything over 90-degrees will begin melting it, although it would be encased in the sand-mixture, so, I just don't know. Thanks for looking/reading!