NATIONAL DAYSCIENCE & TECH

National Fossil Day™

Every year on the Wednesday of Earth Science Week, grab your chisel and your curiosity: it is time to dig into Earth's wild prehistoric past. From towering dinosaurs to tiny trilobites, fossils are nature's photo album, and this day celebrates every page of it.

OCT14

Thursday, October 14Every year on October 14

days to go

Roots: National Park Service and American Geosciences Institute, 2010
Also on Oct 14: World Standards Day · Be Bald and Be Free Day · International Top Spinning Day
Hashtag: #NationalFossilDay

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3 ways to celebrate

AT HOME

Host a backyard fossil dig

Make plaster fossil casts with the kids using toy shells and leaves, or open a backyard dig kit and see who unearths the coolest find.

WITH FRIENDS

Go fossil hunting

Round up friends for a fossil hunt at a legal collecting site or a trip to your local natural history museum's dinosaur hall.

AT WORK OR SCHOOL

Bring fossils to class

Turn class time into deep time with a fossil identification game, a timeline of Earth's history, or a visit from a local paleontology club speaker.

Plan ahead

National Fossil Day™ is observed on Wednesday of the second full week in October. Here is where it lands for the next ten years, handy for planners, marketers and party people.

2026Wed, Oct 14this year

2027Wed, Oct 13

2028Wed, Oct 11

2029Wed, Oct 17

2030Wed, Oct 16

2031Wed, Oct 15

2032Wed, Oct 13

2033Wed, Oct 12

2034Wed, Oct 11

2035Wed, Oct 17

2036Wed, Oct 15