DIY Dinosaur Dig Busy Board

DIY Dinosaur Dig Busy Board

 

Because I am updating my one-year-old’s nursery to a more toddler friendly dinosaur room, I wanted to make a busy board. Most of the examples I saw though didn’t have a theme.

I wanted it to have something to do with dinosaurs so this is what I came up with! Although it took forever to figure out how to create my vision, Cooper loves it!

I wanted it to be like a puzzle as well as be a place he can drive his cars. That’s how I came up with the idea for it to be a dinosaur dig. The dinosaur skeletons are magnetic so they can come off or be put back on.

They also stick to the magnet board for when you are too lazy to match them up with their correct spot! (in the future I might color code them somehow but I haven’t got there yet.)

 

I got the dinosaur skeletons and magnets from Amazon, and the trucks from the dollar store. I got the giant magnet board from Costco for about $15.

I made the fossils by following a salt dough recipe  from the Imagination Tree. Once I had it laid out, I made an imprint with the dinosaur that had the magnet already on it. That way I could easily glue the magnet in the correct spot.

I thought the dough would expand when I baked it so I wiggled the dinosaurs quite a bit, but it didn’t expand, so there is no need for wiggling! Your prints will look a lot better than mine if you don’t.

 

 

 

Once the fossils were baked, I gorilla glued them to the white board. I then spray painted everything but only lightly sprayed the fossils so that you could still see the impressions. 

 

 

Next I put the stuffing around the fossils (purchased at the Dollar Store) by hot gluing it down, and plastering it with spray adhesive. Finally I glued the magnets to the trucks and let Cooper go to town!

Also, for those of you who think bloggers are so creative and always succeed at their projects… here is take one of the busy board. I had a cork board laying around and wanted to use it but… it was bad.

 

13 thoughts on “DIY Dinosaur Dig Busy Board”

  1. LOL actually my 8 year old thinks the cork board version is cool 😉 The dinosaur one, however, is totally inspired. I love the how you used the molds and the magnets. I'm sure your little one is going to have tons of fun.
    Thanks for sharing with us at the #HomeMattersParty

  2. My 3 year old daughter just saw this over my shoulder and said, "Can you make me that?!" It's definitely a hit.

    Thanks so much for sharing at the Thank Goodness It's Thursday party – this is such a great project!

  3. I love it! So brilliant to make the fossils so its a puzzle. I can't wait to see the rest of the fun dino room. And thanks for the fail… its good to know you're not the only ones 🙂

  4. You get a standing ovation from me…this idea is fabulous! It looks cute and is functional and is something any little boy (or Mom-ahem) would enjoy playing with. Thank you for linking this to Welcome Home Wednesday. I hope you share more with us next week!

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