Plaster casts...but for feet this time, not arms

Making casts of footprints...

Jake has broken his arm twice within the past four months so he's been 'plastered' for most of the summer. But that gave us an idea and we're going to make plaster casts of footprints

You'll need plaster of Paris and hair spray

One part of water to two parts of plaster.
We used a cup.

Find some tracks or a real live beastie and a
nice clean patch of dirt that you've
 raked over. The softer the better.
Dr Watson was keen to help. He's a real softie.

Nice and still, thank you, Watson!

Now off the garden, please!

A perfect pawprint!

Spray it with hair spray - not too close or the footprint
will get blown away. We did that with our first pawprint and had to start again.
Let the hairspray dry. This will help stop dirt
sticking to the plaster.

Make a cardboard circle out of a strip of cardboard.

We cut ours in half as it was very tall.

We mixed up the plaster...

Tipped it into something easier to manage.

And carefully dribbled it into the mould.
Don't woosh it all in at once right on
top of the pawprint or it will end up as one
big blob. 

Try and let it flow across from one side.

Jake wanted to make a dino track so he used three fingers and
pressed them upside down into the dirt.
He could have hijacked a chicken instead ;o).

Then he used hairspray and did the same as before.

Now wait overnight until it's nice and hard...

Now gently remove the extra soft dirt from underneath the plaster.

Peel off the cardboard - which has probably gone soggy overnight. 

And wash the mould under a running tap of cold water.

Dr Watson liked his pawprint! You can just make out the big pad 
at the bottom and the four little toes above it. It's clearer up close.

The dino footprint came out well. 

(And yes, it was early in the morning when we took this picture. 
Before school, which starts at 08:00 in Denmark. 
Before breakfast even. And certainly before Jake combed his hair. 
We couldn't wait to race outside and see if the casts had worked :o).

If you've got a dinosaur toy, you could try using that.