Exploding Dinosaur Mud: Science Experiments with bi-carb ROAR! These dinosaurs are stuck in the mud! They need a magic potion to set them free from their lava rocks!
Fizz, bubble, and pop—your child will have a blast freeing dinosaurs from the sticky mud!
This simple yet hugely exciting science activity will have your budding Paleontologist enthralled as the rocks burst open when exposed to the magic solution.
To make our rocks we used the same materials that we have used for our Love Potion #9, with a slight twist. Making these magical rocks is incredibly easy {so easy your kids can help} and a lot of fun…always a bonus for busy parents right?
Items Needed for Exploding Dinosaur Mud:
{see printable recipe below}
- Baking Soda
- Coffee Grounds
- Sand
- Green Food Dye or Kool-Aide
- Vinegar
- Water
- Tools for Play
How to Make Exploding Dinosaur Rocks:
To make the rocks I used an entire box of baking soda (16 oz), two cups of coffee grounds, sand to desired texture, and a couple drops of green food dye for fun. I mixed all the items together in a bowl, and created balls of dirt adding a small dinosaur toy to the middle as they were rolled together.
If you are not a coffee drinker most coffee shops offer coffee grounds for free. Simply ask them for their grounds for gardening.
Creating the rocks is a great sensory activity for kids–everything from slimy to gritty to rough and grainy. As an added bonus they smell pretty great!
Rocks will need to dry for a couple of hours. It took ours about 3-4 hours in full sunlight to harden fully.
Time to Play!
The past couple of days it has been beautiful outside so we started off this activity making Raised Mud Dinosaur Nests…but before we got the chance to fully explore our small world the weather decided to get moody and rain. So we had to finish this activity off inside.
If playing inside you are going to want to set into a deep tub or place towels under your trays — we learned the hard way that overflow can happen quickly!
We are currently in the middle of another science experiment {bouncing Dinosaur Eggs} so we used the colored vinegar from that experiment to dissolve these rocks!
Both kids had so much fun digging their hands in and discovering what type of dinosaur was hiding in each rock. They were so excited to be able to identify them!
The baking soda and vinegar trick is one that never gets old!
Exploding Dinosaur Mud!

Exploding Dinosaur Mud: Science Experiments with bi-carb ROAR! These dinosaurs are stuck in the mud! They need a magic potion to set them free from their lava rocks!
Ingredients
- Baking Soda - 16 oz.
- Coffee Grounds - 2 cups
- Sand - As Desired
- Green Food Dye or Kool-Aide - As Desired
- Small Dinosaur Toy
- Vinegar
- Water
Instructions
- Mix Baking Soda, Coffee Grounds, Sand, and Green Food Dye (or Kool-Aide) into a bowl until it creates a firm paste.
- Grab a handful at a time to roll into a rock.
- As rolling into a ball insert small dinosaur toy into the middle.
- Allow to dry 3-5 hours.
Notes
To make Dinosaur Rocks explode create a solution of half water and half vinegar to spray them with.
Nutrition Information:
Serving Size:
1 gramsAmount Per Serving: Unsaturated Fat: 0g
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Is there away to not use coffe grounds