How to Make Leaf Fossils

Making leaf fossils is easy using several easily found ingredients. Using this method, you can make as many leaf fossils as you want, but make sure you use old utensils that you don't need anymore. Plaster of Paris is messy and will stick to most surfaces. Making leaf fossils is a great science project for children, but parental supervision is recommended.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Plastic tray
• Sand
• Leaf
• Large plastic bowl
• Water
• Plaster of Paris
• Old rubber spatula
• String

1. Fill a large plastic tray with sand. Make a flat hollow in the sand with your hand for each of the leaf fossils you wish to make, but don't expose the bottom of the tray. Set a leaf down in each hollow, keeping them as flat as possible against the bottom.

2. Pour 2 cups of water into a large plastic bowl. Add plaster of Paris to the water a little at a time by sprinkling the powder on the water's surface. Stir well after each addition, until a smooth thick paste is formed.

3. Pour the plaster of Paris over each leaf in the sand, and smooth the surface using an old rubber spatula or the back of a spoon.

4. Make a loop out of string for each leaf fossil, and set it into one end of the plaster of Paris before it dries. When the mixture is dry, the string will set and this will make a hanger for the leaf fossils.

5. Allow the leaf fossils to remain for at least three hours or until they have dried completely.

6. Pick up the plaster from out of the sand, remove the leaves from its surface and your leaf fossils are complete.

Tips & Warnings

• Use a plastic painter's tray, if possible, or any other tray that you won't be using again and can be discarded after use. Use a large plastic bowl that can be discarded after use. After mixing the plaster of Paris, it should not be used again for food preparation. Old ice-cream buckets work well, but use anything you have on hand. This method can be used not only to make leaf fossils, but also fossils of other objects, such as rocks, shells and bones. Hang your fossil leafs on the wall, if you wish, or paint them to give a more aged look.