Using Objects

Activity 1 - Make your own fossil

• Fossils
• Pencil and paper
• Clay
• Plaster of Paris
• Selection of tools - pens, pencils, beads, dried pasta, straws etc.

• Participants handle the collections, choose an item they think looks interesting and make a close observational drawing of it
• Take a piece of clay and roll it out flat; turn up the edges to create a ‘bowl,’ ensuring the centre remains smooth and unmarked
• Using the ‘tools,’ re-create the drawing of the fossil onto the inside of the clay bowl
• Fill the ‘bowl’ with plaster of Paris
• When set (about one hour), turn out – participants have created their own fossil to take home, using museum collections as a source of inspiration.

Activity 2 - Fossil prints

• Fossils
• Polystyrene tiles
• Pencil
• White printing ink and rollers
• Black paper

• Participants draw the markings they observe on the fossil onto the surfaces of the polystyrene tile
• Score partway through the sketch marks with the pencil
• Using a roller, cover the surface of the tile with the ink
• Press the tile, paint side down, onto the black paper
• An impression of the fossil drawn will show up in black on the paper