Archaeological Excavation Activity for Kids

We recently put together a quick archaeological excavation activity for the kids to go along with our current studies and they had a blast! Not only was it easy to put together by using items we already had around the house, but it was such a fun hands-on way to learn about archaeological excavations. To see all the fun, please continue reading below.

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What You’ll Need

• Mini flower pots
• Sharpie markers
• Tacky glue
• Ziplock bag
• Tray
• Salt or sand
• Hammer
• Paint brush

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What to Do

Begin by drawing or writing on the pottery with markers.

Miss 7 enjoyed drawing on her pottery.

As did Miss 4.

Once the pottery has been decorated, place it in a ziplock bag and seal closed. You may want to place a towel on top of the bag to ensure no shards fly out. Next, hit the pottery with a hammer (this might be a good place to step in if you have younger children). We did a light tap and only one hit as we didn’t want to have too many pieces to glue back together but if you’re up for a challenge, feel free to hit the pottery as many times as you’d like. 🙂

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Next, prepare your tray by filling it with salt or sand.

Next, bury the pottery pieces in the tray.

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Now it’s time to excavate! We excavated our pottery by using paint brushes and the kids had so much fun that once they discovered all the pieces, they buried them and excavated them all over again! 🙂

Once all the pottery pieces have been excavated, it’s time to put them back together.

We placed a good amount of tacky glue along the cracks and then placed and held the pieces together for about 20 seconds before moving onto the next piece.

The glue held everything together very well and the kids were excited to see their pottery back together. Such a fun activity!

Does this activity sound like something you’d like to try? If so, please share it on social media. Or, pin it to save for later.

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