How to Make a Clay T-Rex Dinosaur

The Tyrannosaurus rex no longer roams the earth, but kids are still fascinated by the 40-foot, 6-ton carnivore. Making a miniature clay T-rex teaches about dinosaurs in a fun, memorable way, and it's an easy, low-cost activity to share with your child.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• White, black and gray or green clay
• Plastic knife

1. Take the gray or green clay and manipulate it with your hands until it's warm and workable. Your child can do each step with their own pieces along with you.

2. Form the torso by making an elongated oval and then pull up a portion on one end for the head. Pull down a portion on the opposite end going the other direction for the tail.

3. Make some pointy front legs to blend into the front of the chest. The legs will be short. Take the white and black clay to make eyes and then use a plastic knife to put a slit for the mouth. Use the white clay to make pointy teeth.

4. Bend on large pieces of clay for the back legs. Use the plastic knife to form little slits for the claws on the feet and any other fine details you want to add on the rest of the T-rex.

5. Share fun facts about the dinosaur as you work. The T-rex was a fast runner with teeth strong enough to crush bones. Tyrannosaurus rex means "king of the tyrannical lizards." The only creatures the T-rex competed with were other T-rex when fighting over their food.

[fontageous]

on 4/20/2009 Great article. I like the idea about sharing fun facts about the dinosaurs while you work. Keep it up!