All about dinosaurs, fossils and prehistoric animals by Everything Dinosaur team members.
8 11, 2018

Caterpillars and Bees Learn All About Dinosaurs

By |2023-11-09T15:37:23+00:00November 8th, 2018|Educational Activities, Main Page, Teaching|0 Comments

Reception Children at Mansfield Green E-ACT Academy Learn About Dinosaurs

The children in the two Reception classes at Mansfield Green E-ACT Academy (Caterpillars and Bees), have had a very busy term learning about fossils and dinosaurs.  As part of a rich and diverse scheme of work devised by the hard-working teaching team, a staff member from Everything Dinosaur was invited into the Birmingham-based school to spend a morning delivering two workshops to the eager, young scientists.  The enthusiastic learners were keen to demonstrate their knowledge about dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals and our workshops were well received by the children and teachers alike.

Fossils and Dinosaurs

Prior to the start of the school day, our dinosaur expert was given the opportunity to view some of the wide range of activities that the classes had undertaken.  Part of one of the well-appointed and very tidy Reception classrooms had been turned into a special “dinosaur” exhibit.  The centrepiece of this display was a beautiful volcano that had been made from crumpled brown paper with bright red cellophane making excellent lava.

A Centrepiece of the Dinosaur Display in the Reception Classroom

A volcano on display in a classroom.
Reception classes learn about volcanoes and dinosaurs.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur/Mansfield Green E-ACT Academy

Lots of Amazing Arts and Crafts on Display

The children had been making their very own fossils out of clay and during our workshop we explored in simple terms how fossils are formed and helped the children to learn about some of their properties (hard/soft, heavy/light, hot/cold).  Our dinosaur expert spotted some dinosaur bones made out of straws that the children had used to create shapes and patterns.

Creating Shapes and Patterns Using Straw Dinosaur Bones

Straws used to make skeletons of dinosaurs (shapes and patterns).
Using straws to make dinosaur skeletons – shapes and patterns. A varied term topic learning about fossils and dinosaurs.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur/Mansfield Green E-ACT Academy

At Mansfield Green E-ACT Academy, the dedicated staff encourage the children to think big and to push boundaries so as to build their confidence.  One of the teachers explained that the children had been making dinosaurs out of paper plates and she was amazed when our dinosaur expert explained that there actually was a dinosaur called Plateosaurus!  The young palaeontologists had not just been looking at dinosaurs, their cousins the pterosaurs (flying reptiles), had been studied too.

A beautifully crafted model of a pterosaur had been carefully placed above one of the dinosaur themed areas of the Reception classroom.

Flying High Over the Classroom Dinosaur Display

Pterosaur on display in a classroom.
A beautiful flying reptile flying high over a dinosaur classroom display at Mansfield Green E-ACT Academy.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur/Mansfield Green E-ACT Academy

Plant-eaters, Meat-eaters, Habitats and Homes

The Academy had been graded “Outstanding” in all areas following a recent Ofsted (The Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills), inspection.  There was certainly much to admire in the Foundation Stage part of the school that our dinosaur expert visited.  The staff were highly motivated and our team member observed that the school was providing a very creative and exciting curriculum for the pupils.  We are confident that the additional resources that we supplied and the lesson plan suggestions would help to augment the challenging and inspirational scheme of work that had been devised for the Reception classes. The children seemed to be enjoying learning about fossils and dinosaurs.

The children in Bees and Caterpillars had been learning about meat-eating and plant-eating dinosaurs along with the sort of conditions a dinosaur needs to be happy and to feel safe.  The Reception classes had even built one or two little dinosaur worlds for their dinosaur figures to live in.

An Armoured Dinosaur Finds a Home in the Dinosaur Display

A dinosaur on display in a Reception classroom.
An armoured dinosaur (Ankylosaurus) finds a home at Mansfield Green E-ACT Academy.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur/Mansfield Green E-ACT Academy

Visit the Everything Dinosaur website: Everything Dinosaur.

8 11, 2018

Bees and Caterpillars Study Amazing Dinosaurs

By |2024-05-11T06:32:00+01:00November 8th, 2018|Early Years Foundation Reception|Comments Off on Bees and Caterpillars Study Amazing Dinosaurs

Reception Classes at Mansfield Green E-ACT Academy Explore Dinosaurs

The eager young pupils in the two Reception classes (Bees and Caterpillars), at Mansfield Green E-ACT Academy (Birmingham, West Midlands), have been learning all about dinosaurs and life in the past this term.  Under the tutelage of the enthusiastic teaching team, the budding palaeontologists have been exploring dinosaurs and using a variety of media to study prehistoric animals and their fossils.

Plenty of space had been set aside in the spacious classrooms to allow the children’s work to be displayed.  One corner of a classroom had been turned into a special exhibit showcasing some of the activities.

Dinosaurs on Display in One of the Reception Classrooms

A dinosaur on display in a Reception classroom.
An armoured dinosaur (Ankylosaurus) finds a home at Mansfield Green E-ACT Academy.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

The armoured dinosaur model (above) was made by Safari Ltd.

To view the range of Safari Ltd dinosaur models: Safari Ltd. Dinosaur and Prehistoric Animal Models.

Inspiring a Passion for Learning

A team member from Everything Dinosaur had been invited into the school, recently graded as “outstanding” in all areas by Ofsted, to deliver a dinosaur and fossil themed workshop with each class.  Part of the school’s ethos is to inspire a passion for lifelong learning and the children were very keen to demonstrate their pre-knowledge and to take part in the various activities that we had prepared for them.

Our dinosaur expert set the children a special challenge, could they draw their very own dinosaur?  This extension idea along with the other resources and lesson plan suggestions made by “dinosaur Mike” were well received by the dedicated teaching team.

Dinosaur and Fossil Workshop

There was plenty of good listening in evidence during the workshop, the children are certainly very knowledgeable about dinosaurs and they enthusiastically demonstrated T. rex fingers and T. rex arms.  The pronunciation guide we provided should help the teachers when it comes to tackling all those tricky dinosaur names.

At Everything Dinosaur, we have lots of books about prehistoric animals.  We were happy to provide a new dinosaur book, an addition to the school’s well-stocked library to help enthuse and inspire the next generation of scientists.

Visit the Everything Dinosaur website: Everything Dinosaur.

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