Give your young paleontologist a solid start

You have to know where you come from to know where you’re going, right? We’ve got some great ways to keep boredom at bay this holiday by teaching kids about prehistoric humans with a few fun activities you can do at home.

The first activity is to create your very own prehistoric cave. Contact your nearest home appliance store to ask for the biggest box you can get your hands on (they usually give these away for free!), think of a refrigerator or washing machine box. Erect the box, and cut out your entrance to the cave. Next, get some brown paper bags, crumple them up and then tape them to the outside and inside of the box, so that the box now looks like it’s covered in rocks.

Spend some time researching cave drawings with your kids, and then let them loose on their own cave. Invite them to create their own drawings, telling the stories of their lives. Finally, get pillows and blankets and make it comfy enough for any brave explorers who want to spend the night in their cave.

If you have some budget, visit your nearest toy store to purchase a palaeontologist dig set, usually starting at around R100. Kids love chipping away at the stone to uncover the items hidden within the blog. You can choose dinosaur sets or gem sets.

Of course no prehistoric theme would be complete without a day trip to Maropeng’s Visitor Centre, which is a fun and fascinating introduction to the origins of humankind. Fun, interactive displays will help your kids journey back in time from the start of our universe to the present and beyond. A fun boat ride to an underground lake is a journey that explains the formation of our planet.

Next, visitors are taken into a large interactive zone where some of the science relating to the study of evolution is demonstrated in fun, giant displays, including the formation of fossils, DNA and life on Earth.

Maropeng is a stone’s throw away from the Sterkfontein Caves and visitors can opt for tours that include the caves.