NOAH'S ARK EXCAVATION

In this quick and inexpensive tutorial, we are going to show you how to make a Noah's Ark Excavation. These excavations are super easy to make and are a lot of fun. 

 

Excavating Adventures Pro Tip: These excavations are a great addition to your your next Sunday school lesson. They are also an awesome activity to consider for VBS or other youth oriented gatherings. This tutorial makes one large excavation, but you can easily make smaller digs for each child. 

 

If you love excavating, why not get a dig kit for free? Answer trivia and earn points you can redeem for free rocks, minerals, fossils, seashells, excavation kits and more!

 

 

Materials:

Sand

Plaster of Paris

Water

Mixing Bowl

Wooden spoon

Measuring cups

Popsicle sticks – Popsicle sticks are inexpensive, readily available, and make great excavation tools.

Safety goggles or glasses – You we need to provide or borrow a set for each student.

Optional – Brushes and magnifying glasses.

Store bought cake container with base and lid - Hold onto one of these after your next birthday party as they are perfect for the Noah's Ark Excavation. No worries if you do not have one of these available as you can use any container that will hold all of your ark animals. 

Optional - glue gun, glue sticks, and adult supervision

Assorted plastic animals. You can buy Noah's Ark playsets online, but it may be easier (and a little cheaper) to just but a couple bags of assorted animals from your local dollar store. All you have to do is match up two of each animal and you have your own DIY assortment of Noah's ark animals to include in your excavation. 

 

Excavating Adventures has an excavation activity for everyone. Explore our selection of dig kits and excavation activities filled with rocks, minerals, fossils, gemstones, seashells, and more!

 

Directions:

 

  1. Place some of the Noah's ark animals in the lid (cover) of the cake container. 
  2. Mix 3 cups sand with 1 cup Plaster of Paris.
  3. Add 1 cup of water and mix until you have a pancake batter consistency.
  4. Pour the mixture over the animals and allow to set for about five minutes. This will allow the mixture to firm up a little. This is important because the plastic animals will want to float. Once the mixture sets a little, simply push the animals back into the mixture until they stay put.
  5. Repeat these steps until the container is full. 
  6. Place the Noah's Ark Excavation in front of a fan overnight until it is completely dry.
  7. Distribute the excavation, excavation tools, and safety goggles to your Excavating Adventurer and have fun watching them dig in and discover the awesome animals you have hidden inside.

Excavating Adventures Pro Tip: While this is optional, this next idea is super cool. Once the animals have been excavated, have your Excavating Adventurer clean them up and arrange them on the base of the cake container. Use the glue gun to secure the animals in place. You can then put the cover back on the cake container and you have a really cool Noah's Ark diorama! 

 

Take some time to explore the Excavating Adventures store. We have monthly excavations that get delivered right to your door, Build Your Own excavations, a blog filled with amazing excavation ideas, trivia, tons of free stuff and much, much, more!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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