Free Online Fossil Evidence Games

Looking to add a bit of excitement to your survival and fossil evidence unit? Here are exciting (and free) fossil evidence games for your students to play online as they learn about the fossil record! These science games align well to NGSS for Environments, Survival, and Fossil Evidence for 3rd grade. And are perfect to use as extension activities. They’re also great to incorporate into science centers, review activities, or for early finishers!

Fossil Evidence Games for Kids

1. PBS Kids | Dinosaur Train | Fossil Finder

PBS Kids is renowned for having fun and educational games that kids love. While playing this Fossil Finder game, your students will work their way around the dirt maze to uncover fossils.

Be sure to encourage your students to check out the field guide with a plethora of information about the different fossils they dig up!

2. Science Trek | Fossils

Science Trek has three different fossil games to choose from that cover a variety of topics including fossil evidence and the fossil record.

Bone Up On Your Fossils is a great matching game where students can match the fossil to the appropriate description. Layers of Time is set up as a puzzle to represent the history of Earth and Hal’s Big Dig is a fun “race” against the clock fossil dig.

American Museum of Natural History paleontology games 1

3. Legends of Learning | Fossil Evidence

Legends of Learning is home to a series of five different fossil games that are based on NGSS and state science standards.

The playing time of the games ranges from 3 minutes to 20 minutes and are great for a variety of ages. You do need to register for a free teacher account in order to access and play the games.

4. American Museum of Natural History | Paleontology | The Big Dig

The American Museum of Natural History’s website is a great resource to add to your science toolkit.

In addition to the 8 different fossil evidence games about dinosaurs and fossils, you’ll also find reading material, videos, printables, and hands-on fossil related activities.

5. WordWall | Fossil Games

WordWall is a unique website where you can create your own resources to use in your classroom. They have over 18 game templates to choose from and all you have to do is add the content!

You are also able to use pre-made games from other teachers in the community! There are free and paid plan options.

6. Planeta 42 | Archelogy

Planeta 42 is a fun (yet a bit dated) website that hosts a variety of free and educational games. Inside the archeology subsection, you’ll find games about fossils and dinosaurs, as well as quizzes to check for understanding!

7. UCMP | Explorations Through Time

The interactive modules on this website are a project of the University of California Museum of Paleontology. There’s a collection of 8 different lessons for various age levels and topics.

Each lesson includes detailed teacher plans and then interactive elements for the students.

Online paleontology science games for kids

More Resources to Help Teach About Fossil Evidence

These free online fossil evidence games will add excitement to your third grade science lessons! They make a fun extension activity for students learning about fossils, the fossil record, and the geologic time scale that student can do independently or as a science center activity.

If you are looking for done-for-you lesson plans, teaching slides, and engaging activities and experiments, be sure to check out this complete Survival and Fossil Evidence unit! Inside, you’ll find everything you need for 4 weeks of in-depth science lessons aligned with NGSS for third grade.