6.dinosaur Detectives Dinosaurs IEYC v1

Dinosaur Detectives!
Dinosaurs
From Fieldwork Education, a part of the Nord Anglia Education family. © WCL Group Limited. All rights reserved. Not to be reproduced without permission.
Contents
The IEYC Process of Learning 4
An Overview of Dinosaur Detectives! 4

A Mindmap of the Learning Experiences Included in Dinosaur Detectives! 4
A Suggested Pathway through Dinosaur Detectives! 6
Suggestions for Enabling the Environment 6
Resource suggestions 9
The Big Picture for Teachers 10
The Big Picture for Children 13
Putting Dinosaur Detectives into Action 14

Entry Point 14
Capturing Curiosity 17
Learning Block 1: Explore and Express 19

Learning Block 1: Explore and Express Activities 22



Exit Point 175
From Fieldwork Education, a part of the Nord Anglia Education family. © WCL Group Limited. All rights reserved. Not to be reproduced without permission. 2
Appendices 176
Appendix 1: Home Letter 176
Appendix 2: The Learning Strands, Learning Outcomes, Personal Goals and
International Dimension Linked to the Activities in Dinosaur Detectives! 179
Appendix 3: Example of an ‘IEYC Learning Journey’ 190
The IEYC Process of Learning

For a detailed explanation of each part of the IEYC process of learning, please refer to the
IEYC Implementation File.
Entry
Point
Exit
Point Capturing
Curiosity
Child
Explore & Enable the
Express Environment
The Big
Picture
An Overview of Dinosaur Detectives!

This section provides:
■■a colour-coded mindmap providing an overview of the learning experiences included in
this unit
■■a suggested pathway through this unit
■■ideas for Enabling the Environment
■■resource suggestions
■■a Big Picture overview for teachers
■■a Big Picture overview for children
A Mindmap of the Learning Experiences Included in Dinosaur Detectives

This mindmap provides an overview of the learning experiences that children will engage in
throughout this IEYC unit of learning.
The mind-map demonstrates how Learning Blocks are made up of a wide range of holistic
experiences underpinned by the IEYC Learning Strands. Whilst each learning experience
embeds all four Learning Strands, the mindmap identifies which are dominant areas by using
a colour coding system.
The mindmap is intended to be used as a teacher resource and planning tool, providing a
useful snap-shot overview of children’s learning.
Dinosaur Detectives! Mindmap
3 4 5 1 2 3
Making a Making
Dinosaur Finding Dinosaur
dinosaur model Dinosaur dig
opposites treasure fossils
landscape dinosaurs
2 4
Size is Mystery
everything dinosaur
1 5
Sorting DINOSAURS BIG DIGGING UP Museum

dinosaurs
AND SMALL THE PAST role play
Dinosaur
Detectives!
1 DINOSAURS 5
Our dinosaurs
are missing
DINOSAUR DINOSAUR Dino party!
DILEMMAS Strand 1: Independence and Interdependence DANCE

Strand 2: Communicating
2 Strand 3: Enquiring 4
Strand 4: Healthy Living and Physical Well-being
Jurassic
Swamp play
adventure
3 4 5 1 2 3
Stomach Friends in Dinosaurs in Move like a Making a Stomp to

ache! need trouble! dinosaur dinosaur the groove!
costume
A Suggested Pathway through Dinosaurs Detectives

This IEYC unit of learning is intended to last about 6-8 weeks, it can be reduced or extended
depending on the setting context, the ages and interest levels of the children and how
children’s personalised learning is developed.
Note: shaded areas show the on-going nature of a process of learning, or activities which can
be extended over a period of time.
Learning Block 1 Learning Block 2 Learning Block 3 Learning Block 4

The central learning The central learning The central learning The central learning
focus for this Learning focus for this Learning focus for this Learning focus for this Learning
Block is: Dinosaurs big Block is: Digging up the Block is: Dinosaur Block is: Dinosaur dance
and small past dilemmas
Capturing Curiosity
Enable the Environment
Explore and Express Explore and Express Explore and Express Explore and Express
Activities Activities Activities Activities
1. Sorting dinosaurs 1. Finding treasures 1. Our dinosaurs are 1. Move like a dinosaur
missing!
2. Size is everything 2. Dinosaur dig 2. Making a dinosaur
2. Jurassic adventure costume
3. Dinosaur opposites 3. Dinosaur fossils
3. Stomach ache! 3. Stomp to the groove!
4. Making a dinosaur 4. Mystery dinosaur
landscape
5. Museum role play
5. Making model
dinosaurs 4. Friends in need 4. Swamp play
5. Dinosaurs in trouble! 5. Dino party
Suggestions for Enabling the Environment

As this IEYC unit of learning progresses, an enabled environment should be developed as
children’s curiosity and interests grow. The following suggestions may be useful in the early
stages of implementing Dinosaurs Go Roar!:
From a Jurassic forest…

At the start of this unit, you will be creating a Jurassic-themed display that will help to
encourage children’s interest and curiosity around the theme. Full guidance on decorating
your setting are provided in the Entry Point. If possible, try and keep an area of your setting
dedicated to your ‘Jurassic forest’ for the duration of the unit, as this can be used by the
children for role play, reading and story-telling, as well as providing a space for you to
set out various challenges and learning activities. This area will also stimulate children’s
imaginations and fill them with ideas for their own dinosaur landscapes, which they will be
making towards the end of Learning Block 1. Again, these could become a permanent fixture
of your setting, which children can have access to and use in their role play, to retell stories
and adventures.
…to a museum of wonders

As Learning Block 2 develops, you will be creating a museum role play area. How big this area
becomes will depend on the time and the resources you have available, but could include a
museum display area, a café, and a gift shop. These will provide an excellent stimulus for role
play, as well as providing a focus for further activities – from making menus and souvenirs, to
handling and playing with small world equipment, such as food and money.
In the early stages of implementing this unit, you may want to map out and plan your
learning spaces ahead of time, so that there will be plenty of room to incorporate the
different museum areas as they are introduced. Remember that an enabled environment
evolves over time as children curiosity and interests grow, so whilst it’s important to be
well-organised with your space and resources, you will need to be flexible and respond to
children’s needs as new learning develops.
If possible, take children on a visit to a local museum (if it provides age-appropriate
experiences), so that they can have first-hand experience of the learning and services that
a museum provides. Alternatively, or in addition to a museum visit, ask parents and other
adults to visit the setting and share objects from the past that they might have. These can be
displayed for the children to view, while the adults tell the story behind the objects and why
they are important. This will help to develop children’s concept of the passing of time and
how some things belong to a time ‘long ago’ (see below).
As you approach the end of the unit, your Jurassic display and the museum can work together,
with the former being a possible ‘time travel’ adventure in your museum, which will take
guests back to the land of the dinosaurs! The museum theme will also be central to the Exit
Point celebration, where parents and carers will get to visit and experience the museum, and
view the children’s learning.
Introducing the concept of ‘long ago’

When it comes to teaching children about the past, particularly with the theme of dinosaurs
where the spans of time are so big, it can be challenging to make the idea of ‘long ago’
understandable and meaningful. An age appropriate approach to developing the concept of
a time in the past, is to use language that children are familiar with from books, movies and
games. Use stories and circle time activities to introduce and consolidate language such as ‘a
very long time ago’ and ‘before we all lived’.
Encourage children to think about a place a very long time ago with no houses, cars, shops,
toys, schools and all the things they are familiar with. Help to develop this challenging
concept by ‘painting a picture’ in children’s minds of a world that was real, but very different
to the one we live in now. Although children may find this concept difficult to grasp, the idea
of prehistoric life on Earth will spark their imaginations. Be prepared for many questions and
for children’s learning to take new and exciting directions!
You might also want to introduce children to simple timelines to introduce the concept
of long ago. For children learning with Phase A activities this is simply talking about the
passage of time (e.g. yesterday, tomorrow, days of the week etc.) so that key vocabulary is
introduced, before moving onto a timeline of personal development – baby, learning to crawl,
walk and so on. Have parents provide pictures that you can use to make timelines. These can
be included on a whole-class display for the children to refer to. For children learning with
Phase B activities, you could introduce your own timeline and then introduce and discuss
events that happened before the children were born. You could also display a family tree to
help the children picture the passage of time through parents, grandparents etc.
Jumping back 65 million years to the age of the dinosaurs is a huge mental leap even for
adults to make, but by introducing simple key vocabulary related to time, children will start
to understand that the time of dinosaurs is something that happened ‘before’ and is now over,
but we can still learn about it today from books, toys and movies – and of course, the physical
evidence in museums, such as bones and fossils.
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Resource suggestions:
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■■Plastic dinosaurs (in a range of sizes and colours)

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■■Art and craft materials

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■■Junk materials (cardboard boxes, tubes, egg cartons etc.)

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■■Water and sand tray

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■■Fiction books linked to the theme – including the following:

Oliver and his Egg, by Paul Schmid, Hyperion Books, 2014
Dinosaur Roar!, by Henrietta Stickland, Picture Corgi, 2014.
Big, Bigger, Biggest, by Nancy Coffelt, Henry Holt & Company, 2009
Dinosaurumpus!, by Tony Mitten, Scholastic, 2003.
Harry and the Bucketful of Dinosaurs, by Ian Whybrow, Puffin Books, 2003.
The Dinosaur Who Lost His Roar, by Russel Punter, Usborne Publishing, 2012.
Dinosaurs In My School, by Timothy Knapman, Scholastic, 2015.
■■Non-fiction books and other learning resources linked to the theme
■■PE equipment (mats, hoops, balls, bean bags etc.)
■■Metre sticks/trundle wheels
■■Role play equipment (kitchen and cookery equipment, cash register, computer,
telephone, play money etc.)
■■Collection of old objects/artefacts
■■Playdough (to craft into dinosaur bones)
■■Enlarged images of dinosaur skeletons
■■Small spades, trowels, old paint brushes (for digging up and cleaning objects)
■■Percussion instruments
■■Selection of ingredients for making simple dishes (fruit, vegetables, spaghetti, biscuits,
flatbread etc.)
■■Mud kitchen/play area
■■Programmable roamer/floor robot
■■Computers and/or interactive whiteboard
■■Digital camera
The Big Picture for Teachers
What is a dinosaur?
Dinosaurs are reptiles that lived on the Earth for around 160 million years, from the Triassic
period (230 million years ago), through the Jurassic period (199 million years ago), until
the end of the Cretaceous period (65 million years ago). The word ‘dinosaur’ was coined by
English paleontologist Richard Owen in 1842. In Greek, the word means ‘terrible lizard’ and
was a reference to the size of the dinosaurs rather than their frightening appearance.
Contrary to popular perceptions, dinosaurs were just one of many types of reptiles and
animals that were living on Earth at this time. The word ‘dinosaur’ is used to refer to the
prehistoric reptiles who walked upright and lived on land. Meat-eaters walked on two legs,
whereas plant-eaters walked on either two legs or four legs. They were able to walk upright
due to a unique hole in the hip socket. Other prehistoric reptiles, such as the flying Pterosaurs
and the ocean-dwelling plesiosaurs, did not have this feature and therefore were not
dinosaurs.
For ease of understanding, all prehistoric animals that are studied in this unit are referred
to as dinosaurs. As previously mentioned, the term dinosaur is specific to land reptiles that
walked upright – flying and marine reptiles/animals were not dinosaurs. The decision to
make the distinction clear to children should be based on your own professional judgement
of children’s previous knowledge and the next steps in their learning. In the initial stages of
exploration and learning, it may be appropriate to categorise all the prehistoric animals you
are exploring as ‘dinosaurs’.
All shapes and sizes

Dinosaurs varied greatly in size and shape. The largest dinosaurs were over 30 metres
long and 15 metres tall. Up until recently, the longest dinosaur to be recorded was the
Supersaurus, which reached over 34 metres from its nose to its tail - and the tallest dinosaur
was Sauroposeidon, whose long neck would have reached up over 17 metres. However,
the discovery of larger bones hints at even larger dinosaurs, which scientists refer to as
the titanosaurs, such as Argentinosaurus. Unfortunately, scientists do not have a complete
skeleton, but from the bone finds that have been studied, these giants are believed to have
been over 40 metres long and could have weighed over 40 tonnes.
Of course, not all dinosaurs were giants. The smallest dinosaurs, like Compsognathus, would
have been the size of a chicken!
Everything we have learned about dinosaurs comes from their bones and fossilized remains.
While these tell us many things about their size, shape and how they might have lived, we
have no real idea of the noises they made, their mating habits, what colour they were or
whether some had feathers instead of leathery skin. Certainly, dinosaurs present an exciting
challenge to our imaginations, to picture what these fantastic beasts might have looked like
and how they would have behaved.
Herbivores and carnivores

Meat-eating dinosaurs, or carnivores, preyed on other dinosaurs. They were built for speed,
walking and running on two legs, in order to hunt down prey. It is believed that some species
hunted in packs, in a similar fashion to modern day lions in Africa. Others would have hunted
alone and/or existed as scavengers, living off the kills of other dinosaurs. Meat-eating
dinosaurs had long, sharp and serrated teeth, designed to tear through tough meat. They also
had sharp claws on their feet for ripping and rending.
Plant-eating dinosaurs, or herbivores, lived on the abundant variety of plants that existed at
the time, as well as fruit towards the end of the Cretaceous period. Many plant-eaters walked
on four legs and would have generally been slow in movement, possibly living and moving
in large herds. To help fight and protect themselves from meat-eaters, many plant-eaters had
natural weapons and defences, such as thick armour, horns, and spiked or clubbed tails. Some
of the largest dinosaurs, such as Brachiosaurus and Apatosaurus, were herbivores – with long
necks to reach up and tear leaves from the tallest of trees.
A few known dinosaurs were omnivores (eating both plants and meat). Their diet would have
typically consisted of plants, eggs, insects and other small animals.
What happened to the dinosaurs?

Dinosaurs became extinct about 65 million years ago at the end of the Cretaceous period.
Scientists originally believed that this mass extinction event, which wiped out over 70% of
animal life on Earth, was due to climate change which affected the dinosaurs’ food supply.
However, more recently, due to the discovery of a layer of iridium in the Earth’s geological
layers – a substance found in large quantities in space – it is believed that an asteroid,
meteorite or comet collided with the Earth. The large crater in what is now the Yucatan
Peninsula in Mexico is believed to be the impact site.
Such a collision would have caused catastrophic damage, throwing ash and dust into the
atmosphere and causing the temperature to plummet. Without sunlight, plants would not
have been able to survive, which would have affected the food chain – first the plant-eating
dinosaurs and then the meat-eating dinosaurs. The impact may have also caused tidal waves
and fires across the planet, as well as triggering the high levels of volcanic activity around
this period, particularly on the Deccan Plateau in Western India.
Teaching dinosaurs
Most young children are naturally fascinated by dinosaurs and even at an early age, some will
have already experienced playing with toy dinosaurs and begun to learn their names. The fact
that dinosaurs come in all shapes and sizes, and present an exciting world of possibilities to
children, makes them an ideal stimulus for learning.
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Many of the activities in this unit use storybooks as the starting point for exploring the
theme. Suggested books are included in the resources section. While many online resources
may be too difficult for children of this age to benefit from, the following links provide a
wealth of child-friendly resources that can be used to support this unit, including excellent
videos that are packed with facts about dinosaurs:
www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies/shows/andys-prehistoric-adventures
The BBC site hosts episodes of the ‘Andy’s Prehistoric Adventures’ show. As well as the
child-friendly episodes, which examine different popular dinosaurs, the site also features
games, songs and activity ideas.
http://pbskids.org/dinosaurtrain/
The PBS Kids Dinosaur Train website features episodes of the animated children’s show,
as well as an interactive field guide to dinosaurs, games, puzzles and downloads.
If you have a local museum that features prehistoric skeletons and/or fossils, then you might
want to get in touch to see if someone from the museum can visit your setting to talk about
their role and how we can learn about ‘long ago’. Some museums may be able to loan fossils
to schools, for the children to view first-hand.
The Big Picture for Children
Overview of learning
(The following information should be used as a guide and adapted to match children’s
individual needs and levels of understanding.)
A long time ago, before people like you and me lived on the Earth, there were dinosaurs! No
one has ever seen a real dinosaur before, but we know lots about them – what they looked
like, what they ate and just how big and tall they were. We are going to travel back in time to
the land of the dinosaurs to find out more about these amazing creatures. Get ready for an
exciting adventure!
In Learning Block 1, we’ll be:
■■Hatching our own dinosaur egg
■■Finding out how big dinosaurs really were
■■Exploring dinosaur opposites
■■Creating our own dinosaur world
■■Making model dinosaurs
■■Finding treasures
■■Digging up dinosaur bones
■■Finding out about fossils
■■Solving a dinosaur mystery
■■Running our own Museum of Dinosaur Wonders
■■Describing a missing dinosaur
■■Going on an adventure to find our missing dinosaurs
■■Finding out what dinosaurs ate
■■Helping our dinosaur friends
■■Finding out what happened to the dinosaurs
■■Moving and dancing like a dinosaur
■■Creating a dinosaur costume
■■Making dinosaur music
■■Getting messy with swamp play
■■Enjoying our own dino party!
Putting Dinosaurs Detectives into Action
Entry Point
Preparing your Jurassic adventure
Prior to the session, transform your setting into a ‘Jurassic forest’ to surprise the children.
You may want to simply decorate one corner of your setting, focus on the area around your
interactive whiteboard (if available), or use your creativity and imagination to transform the
whole environment. Decorations could include:
■■Jurassic vines and leaves – create a basic fern leaf template and then use to cut a
collection of leaves out of green card. These can then be taped or glued to green string/
cotton and suspended from the ceiling to create a hanging tree canopy. Longer vines can
hang down the walls or used to trail across features of your setting, such as doors, windows
and your whiteboard.
■■Trees – brown packing paper can be perfect for making trees. Scrunch and roll into
branches, or flatten out to make the trunks. Use double-sided sticky tape to fix to the walls,
rising up into your canopy of hanging leaves.
■■Background – if possible print off a jungle background/backdrop, which can be repeated
across your walls, with your packing paper trees hiding the joins! If you don’t have the
resources available in your setting, then a local printer may be able to provide large A1
style poster prints. Depending on the size of your chosen image, these could become grainy
when enlarged, but the effect will still be great when combined with your other display
materials. Suitable posters may also be available online or from a local museum shop.
Alternatively, use your interactive whiteboard (if available) to display a jungle/forest image.
If you are feeling creative, you could even paint your own, to create an exciting wall display.
■■Twigs and stones – natural twigs and fallen branches from your local outdoor setting/park
can add interest to your display. Pebble-style cushions are great stand-ins for rocks – or
you can simply cut stones and rocks from grey card, and tape these around the edges of
your setting.
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■■Jungle sounds – add to the atmosphere of your Jurassic world with some jungle
background sounds. CDs are readily available, or you could visit YouTube for suitable tracks.
For example:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=QE_jOCqKE3w
YouTube hosts this track of natural jungle sounds.
(To watch a YouTube video in restricted mode, scroll to the bottom of the page and click on the ‘restricted mode’ tab
which brings up the ‘restricted mode’ information. Under this section, select the ‘on’ option, then click ‘save’)
You can then have your background noises playing as the children enter and explore their
new setting.
Before the session, you will also need to create a dinosaur footprint, a nest of dinosaur eggs and
a simple picture puzzle game!
■■Dinosaur footprint – create a deep tray or container of sand or dirt. You may want to wet
this by adding a cup or two of water. Then make a dinosaur footprint template out of stiff
card – or if you are feeling adventurous, this could be drawn onto a polystyrene tile and
then cut out using a hot-wire cutter (Note: only an adult should use a hot-wire cutter and
always keep away from children.) Try and make your dinosaur footprint as large as you
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can. A Google Images search for ‘dinosaur footprint outline’ will bring up plenty of good
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examples. Press your template into the wet sand/dirt, as deep as it will go. Then place the
tray near to where your children will be sitting for your initial discussion. Surround with
some of your fern leaf vines, and perhaps even cover with a blanket, so that it will remain
hidden!
■■Dinosaur eggs – place a small-world prehistoric animal inside a balloon. Try and choose
plastic figures that have natural colours rather than those in bright yellows, reds etc. Blow
up the balloon and then tie off. Make papier-mâché by adding I cup of flour to a mixing
bowl, then gradually adding small amounts of water and stirring until you have a sticky
paste. Dip strips of newspaper into the paste and then layer onto the egg. Smear with an
extra coating of paste and leave to dry. Once dry, use a pin to pierce the shell and burst the
balloon. Then use paint to decorate your eggs in whatever colours and patterns you like.
The following video provides a visual demonstration:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=dL9LJtTQTZA
YouTube hosts this visual step-by-step guide to making a pretend dinosaur egg.
Try and have one egg per child if possible. The children will go on a hunt for these eggs
during your session, so place them somewhere in your indoor or outdoor setting, perhaps
hidden snugly amongst a mound of straw or twigs and leaves. Make some simple paper or
cardboard footprints leading to the nest, which the children can follow (see below).
■■Picture puzzle – have two or three images of well-known prehistoric animals, such as
Tyrannosaurus Rex, Triceratops, Stegosaurus, Plesiosaurus, Pteranodon, Ankylosaurus or
Brontosaurus. Hide these behind a series of squares which can slowly be revealed one
at a time by the children. This could be done on an interactive whiteboard by having the
images pre-prepared with square shapes placed on top, which can be dragged away by the
children. Alternatively, you could make a PowerPoint presentation, where the first slide has
a grid of nine squares covering the image, slide two has one square removed, slide three
has two squares removed and so on.
Time to go exploring!
The children will arrive surprised to see that their environment has changed into a fabulous
Jurassic world! Have the jungle sounds playing in the background. Gather the children together
on the carpet, and explain that you are all going on a special adventure.
Begin by showing the children a globe. Have the children ever seen a globe before? Explain
that it represents the Earth, the planet that we all live on. Use the globe to find your host
country and some of the children’s home countries. Explain that the Earth is very, very old –
much older than us – and we are going to go back in time, to the beginning of the Earth, before
there was cars and planes, and buildings and people. A time when the whole planet was one
big, deep forest. Shall we go and explore this new place?
What do you think we will find? Explore the children’s ideas.
Invite one child to uncover your giant dinosaur footprint. Look surprised to see it. What could it
be? Let the children gather around and investigate. Who could have left such a big footprint?
Encourage the children to describe what they think might have made it. You might want to
suggest some animals that the children may already be familiar with, such as an elephant
or a crocodile. If you have information books available and the children are confident with
using them, then you could look up pictures of animals and compare their feet to those of the
giant footprint. Let a child take their shoes and socks off and stand in the footprint. How many
children could stand in it? Do we think who made it is very big? Children could make their own
footprints in sand to compare.
Shall we see if we can find any more footprints? Perhaps we can follow them to find out who
made them. Take the children on a detective journey around your setting. Encourage them
to stay in role, pretending that they are stepping through a thick, dark forest. They need to
be careful, because there are lots of roots and branches on the ground. We don’t want to trip
up. Lead the children to the area where you have the footprints. Let them discover these for
themselves, then encourage them to follow the footprints. These will lead them to the nest of
dinosaur eggs. What a discovery!
What could they be? Who do they belong to?
Let children discuss and share their ideas about what the eggs might be. If necessary, prompt
them to think about any animals they might know of that lay eggs. What can hatch from an egg?
What do we think will hatch from these mysterious eggs? If necessary, watch some short video
clips of chicks hatching from eggs, or have books and images available to discuss and use as a
prompt.
Suggest that each child carefully pick up an egg and carry it back to your setting, to keep them
safe.
Back in the setting, ask children to draw or paint a picture of what they think will hatch from
their egg. Be prepared for some very imaginative ideas! Let children share these with the rest of
the class. Who do they think has the best idea?
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Explain that it is time to explore again. I wonder what we will see as we go deeper and deeper
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into the forest…

Open up your puzzle images and let children slowly reveal parts of the image, or click the
PowerPoint show to reveal different sections at a time. Let the children discuss what has been
revealed and what they think it might be. Then reveal the full image. Some children may know
that these creatures are dinosaurs. Explore any prior knowledge the children might have.
Continue to explore the images, comparing and contrasting the dinosaurs. Which one do they
think left the big footprint?
If you wish, you could end the session by reading the following storybook:
Oliver and his Egg, by Paul Schmid, Hyperion Books, 2014
In the book, a young boy called Oliver uses his imagination to turn an everyday rock in the
playground into a dinosaur egg. He then imagines all the adventures he might have with his
pretend dinosaur once the egg hatches!
Focus on the eggs that you discovered earlier. Do the children think that they might have a
dinosaur inside? Perhaps we should keep them safe until they hatch. Let the children help you
to make a safe and comfy area of your setting to place the eggs in. Children may want to help
making signs and practising their emergent writing, warning people to be quiet or to handle
with care.
Leave the eggs safely in their new nest. The children will be eager to see them hatch, which will
happen in the first activity!
Capturing Curiosity
Capturing curiosity is an ongoing process, beginning with the Entry Point. The process
should lead to finding out what children already know about a theme and what they are
curious to learn. This enables teachers to support child-initiated and personalised learning.
Some children may be able to express their curiosity during discussions, through drawings
or other expressive means; other children will need to be observed in order to see where
their interests lie. Circle-time, small group and one-to-one discussions lend themselves to
capturing a child’s curiosity, but often a child’s spontaneous exploration is when teachers
successfully capture their curiosity.
This IEYC unit provides a wide-range of experiences around a central theme. It might be
helpful to adapt the questions below, to find out what children already know about this
theme and what they would like to learn about. Sharing each other’s interests during circle-
time and group discussions often generates further curiosity.
■■Have you ever seen a dinosaur? What about a real dinosaur?

■■Where might we see a dinosaur?
■■Do all dinosaurs look the same?
■■How can we find out more about dinosaurs?
■■Do you know the name of any dinosaurs?
■■Can you describe this dinosaur to me?
■■What makes this dinosaur special?
■■How big do you think this dinosaur was?
■■Where did dinosaurs live?
■■What do you think they ate?
■■Why do you think there are no dinosaurs around today?
■■What makes something old?
■■Why are dinosaur bones useful?
■■How do we know what dinosaurs looked like?
■■What might you see in a museum?
■■How do you think this dinosaur moved about? Can you show me?
■■Would we like dinosaurs to be alive today?
Learning Block 1: Explore and Express
The central learning focus for this Learning Block is:

Dinosaurs big and small
Suggestions for this Learning Block’s continuous provision and play

experiences:
Provide an area with modelling materials and construction kits for children to explore and
build their own dinosaurs. Have reference material available, in the form of picture cards,
fiction and non-fiction books and dinosaur toys.
Have a ‘Dinosaur of the Day’ area, where a new dinosaur is introduced to the children. Perhaps
an image or a toy of the dinosaur could be placed in a papier-mâché egg for the children to
break open. Learn the name of the dinosaur, and use books and other resources to discover
some facts about the dinosaur. Compare its features with other dinosaurs that the children
are familiar with.
It may be possible to include a chick hatching program as part of this unit, which would allow
children to see real eggs hatch, and observe and look after the chickens that emerge. Children
will be able to make some comparisons between the features of the chicks and those of a
dinosaur, in terms of their movement, position of legs etc. Investigate the chick hatching
programs that are available in your area – or contact a local breeder/farmer. The process
usually takes approximately four weeks and would provide an exciting learning experience to
support your dinosaur theme.
The IEYC Personal Goals children will be helped to develop in this

Learning Block are:
■■Adaptability
■■Communication
■■Cooperation
■■Enquiry
■■Resilience
■■Thoughtfulness
The IEYC International Dimension children will experience in this

Learning Block is:
■■Learning and playing with others beyond their immediate friendship group
■■Applying the IEYC Personal Goals in various contexts
Suggestions for linking to Language and Mathematical development

to complement the setting’s policy for these areas:
Promote role play by having small world dinosaurs and picture books available, so that the
children can retell their own stories. Explore opposites by having two words or pictures
displayed each day, that reflect an opposite the children will be familiar with from the
storybook Dinosaur Roar!, by Henrietta Stickland, Picture Corgi, 2014 (see Activity 3). Let
children explore these opposites in their own play or through drama, with adult support.
What would happen if the two dinosaurs met?
Help promote and reinforce size vocabulary with 3D shapes and other objects that the
children can order based on their size. Have shape sorting puzzles, where children post 3D
shapes through holes. Provide a variety of sizes of shape so that children must pick out the
correct ones.
Have a selection of different dinosaur footprints to reveal to the children over time.
Encourage them to measure the footprints and compare with others. How many of their feet
can they fit inside the footprint? Which dinosaur do they think made the footprint? What
evidence is there that it was a big/small dinosaur? How do we think they moved?
Suggestions for linking physical development to complement the

setting’s policy for physical education:
Use dinosaur footprints chalked or taped to the floor for children to interact with. They can
enjoy running along the trails, following the patterns or attempt to ‘walk like a dinosaur’ by
stepping in the footprints and trying to mimic the way the dinosaur moved.
Encourage children to use big and small play equipment, such as different sized balls. Which
are easiest/hardest to throw and catch? Set up target games or simple team games and
change the size of the balls. Emphasise size vocabulary as you play/discuss the games.
Reflective Practices
During IEYC Explore and Express activities, teachers should reflect on the following
questions:
■■Are all children learning – is there evidence that learning is taking place?
■■Are learning experiences developmentally-appropriate – do children need to revisit Phase
A learning activities or extend to Phase B learning activities?
■■Is the learning sufficiently engaging and challenging?
■■Is anything helping learning to become secure?
■■Is anything hindering learning to become secure?
■■What types of learning experiences will further support children’s progression?

Activities
Activity 1: Sorting dinosaurs
Phase A
During this learning activity, children will experience:
IEYC Learning Strand 1: Independence and Interdependence

1.6a Expressing personal choices
1.7a Making choices with others
1.16a Participating in group activities
1.27a Learning independently, alongside and from others
IEYC Learning Strand 2: Communicating

COMMUNICATING THROUGH SPEAKING AND LISTENING
2.3a Expressing ideas and experiences through language
2.5a Describing objects, people, places and events that are present and not present
2.13a Listening to others and joining in listening activities for developmentally-
appropriate periods of time
COMMUNICATING THROUGH NUMBER
2.35a Sorting and grouping objects
2.41a Using mathematical language to describe groups containing more or less objects
2.43a Counting groups of objects
2.44a Separating a quantity of objects into groups with smaller number values
2.46a Creating groups of objects
2.47a Separating objects to make two groups
2.48a Comparing groups of objects
COMMUNICATING THROUGH SHAPE AND MEASURES

2.53a Exploring size and shape through real-life and play contexts
2.56a Describing objects according to size and shape
2.57a Identifying similarities and differences between shapes
COMMUNICATING THROUGH THE EXPRESSIVE ARTS AND CREATIVITY
2.75a Exploration of colour, texture, materials, textiles, space, line and shape involving
tools, manipulation, techniques and construction
2.77a Exploring and creating 2D and 3D artwork
2.79a Using illustrations to inspire drawings and artwork
IEYC Learning Strand 3: Enquiring

ENQUIRING ABOUT THE WORLD
3.14a Exploring features of living and non-living things
Explore: Phase A
Gather the children around the eggs (see Entry Point). Revisit their ideas for what might be
inside the eggs.
Pick one up and pretend to listen to it. Explain that you think you hear something inside,
wanting to get out. Perhaps it is time to hatch the eggs! But they may need a little help from
us first.
Invite each child to carry their egg carefully to a table. Provide blunt knives (such as those
used in role play areas) or safety scissors for the children to pierce and then break open their
eggs. Remind children to always handle the tools they use safely. An adult may need to assist
very young children. Once the eggs have been broken open, the children will discover their
very own dinosaur inside!
Note: for ease of understanding, all prehistoric animals that are studied in this unit are
referred to as dinosaurs. However, marine reptiles such as plesiosaurs and ichthyosaurs,
as well as flying reptiles like the pterosaurs, are not dinosaurs – although they are closely
related (see The Big Picture for more information). The decision to make the distinction clear
to children should be based on your professional judgement of children’s previous knowledge
and the next steps in learning. In the initial stages of exploration and learning, it may be
appropriate to categorise all the prehistoric animals you are exploring as ‘dinosaurs’.
Have the children ever heard the word dinosaur before? Explain that dinosaurs were animals
that lived ‘once upon a time’, at the very beginning of the Earth – before there were cars,
planes, buildings and people – and other animals, like those we see today.
Have the children bring their dinosaurs to a circle time session. Allow time for each child to
show their dinosaur to the other children. Can they describe it? If necessary, prompt them to
think about the colour of their toy, the number of legs it has, wings, flippers and any other
features that are interesting (e.g. horns, plates). Children may struggle with the words to
describe some features, so let them point to interesting parts of their toy and then help them
by describing the highlighted features. Compare and contrast those that are similar and those
that are different. It may be helpful to have some picture cards of the dinosaurs, so that some
features can be examined more closely. Use this opportunity to collect key vocabulary, which
can be used to create flash cards or make a wall display, to help children with their ongoing
learning.
Provide some sorting hoops. Ask the children to place all their animals in one hoop. Then
prompt them to think about ways that they could sort their big group into some smaller
groups. If children are struggling, then you could suggest something very simple – like
dinosaurs that have long necks and those that don’t. Pick out one or two examples to help
the children. Sort the dinosaurs into your two groups.
Next, choose another starting characteristic. For example: shall we put all the brown animals
in this hoop, and all the other animals in another hoop? Sort the animals and then make
a label ‘brown’ to label the first hoop. Next, focus on the second hoop and all the animals
that were other colours. Could we now sort these into further groups based on their colour?
Proceed until you have several labelled hoops. Count the number of groups you have made.
Compare groups by asking the children, which has more/less dinosaurs?
Congratulate the children on helping you sort all the dinosaurs.
If you wish, confident children could explore other ways of sorting the available toys, based
on features that they have explored (legs, wings, flippers, spikes/horns etc.). Provide plenty of
assistance to help the children to look closely at their toys and compare them with others.
Express: Phase A
In small groups with an adult, play a simple guessing game. Have the dinosaurs arranged
in a line. Explain that you are thinking of one of the dinosaurs and you will describe it. The
children have to listen carefully to your description and then choose the dinosaur you are
describing. Model this several times, describing the chosen dinosaur based on colour, number
of legs, tall or small, and other features. The children should then try and use a process of
elimination to arrive at the dinosaur you were describing. You could also extend this into a
memory game, by having the dinosaurs displayed. Cover them with a screen or blanket – or
have the children face away from you – then take one away. When the dinosaurs are revealed
again, challenge the children to describe to you the dinosaur that is missing!
End the session by providing playdough for children to model their own dinosaur. Provide
a range of colours and let children pick the colour (or colours) that they wish to use. Their
choices might be based on the dinosaur toys that they have previously explored. Children can
then use the playdough to make a dinosaur model. Ensure that they have their plastic toys
available for reference. As the children create their models, prompt them to talk about what
their dinosaur is going to look like. Pick out examples from the toy collection. Will it have
wings? Will it be tall and walk on two legs, or perhaps it will have lots of spikes. Encourage
children to talk and share their ideas.
Let children share their finished models at the end of the session.
Activity 1: Sorting dinosaurs
Phase B

1.6b Expressing own views and ideas
1.7b The importance of the views and ideas of others
1.16b Co-operating, taking turns and following the rules of group activities

2.5b Using increasingly complex language to describe objects, people, places and events
that are present and not present
2.6b Exploring and increasing vocabulary through play and developmentally-appropriate
contexts, for example role-play, story-telling, giving and receiving instructions
2.9b Using language to discuss the past and present and to make predictions about future
events
2.11b Demonstrating listening skills, taking turns in conversations and joining in language
activities
2.14b Joining in conversations and discussions
COMMUNICATING THROUGH READING
2.16b Exploring and observing the use of print, logos, labels and signs in the environment
2.25b Hearing and identifying sounds in words

2.35b Identifying common properties in and between groups of objects
2.41b Identifying ‘more than’ or ‘fewer than’ groups of objects
2.47b Separating objects into more than two groups and comparing group sizes
2.48b Exploring the total number of objects in groups by counting ‘how many altogether’
2.53b Ordering and classifying size and shape in practical contexts
2.54b Selecting sizes and shapes according to given criteria
2.75b Exploration of colour, texture, materials, textiles, space, line and shape involving
tools, manipulation, techniques and construction to create unplanned and planned effects
2.77b Designing and creating 2D and 3D artwork for a range of purposes
Explore: Phase B
Explain that, for your Entry Point, you pretended to visit a time ‘long ago’ – a time and place
that has already happened, a long time ago before there were any people like us on Earth.
We pretended to bring back some eggs from this place in the past. Shall we go and check on
them?
Gather the children around the eggs. Pick one up and pretend to listen to it. Explain that you
think you hear something inside. Perhaps it is time to hatch the eggs! But they may need a
little help from us first.
Invite each child to carry their egg carefully to a table. Provide safe tools for the children
to pierce and then break open their eggs. Remind them to handle their tools safely and
appropriately. An adult may need to assist children that require support with fine motor
control activities. Once the eggs have been broken open, the children will discover their very
own dinosaur inside!
Note: for ease of understanding, all prehistoric animals that are studied in this unit are
referred to as dinosaurs. However, marine reptiles such as plesiosaurs and ichthyosaurs,
as well as flying reptiles like the pterosaurs, are not dinosaurs – although they are closely
related (see The Big Picture for more information). The decision to make the distinction clear
to children should be based on your professional judgement of children’s previous knowledge
and the next steps in their learning. In the initial stages of exploration and learning, it may be
appropriate to categorise all the prehistoric animals you are exploring as ‘dinosaurs’.
Have the children bring their dinosaurs to a circle time session. Allow time for each child to
show their dinosaur to the other children. Can they describe it? If necessary, prompt them to
think about the colour of their dinosaur, the number of legs it has, wings, flippers and any
other features that are interesting (e.g. horns, plates). Children may struggle with the words to
describe some features, so let them point to interesting parts of their toy and then help them
by describing the highlighted features. Collect key vocabulary, which can be used to create
flash cards or make a wall display, to help children with their descriptions.
Provide some sorting hoops. Ask the children to place all their dinosaurs in one hoop. Then
prompt them to think about ways that they could sort their big group into some smaller
groups. If children are struggling, then you could suggest colour as a starting characteristic.
For example: shall we put all the brown dinosaurs in this hoop, and all the other dinosaurs
in another hoop? Sort the dinosaurs and then make a card with ‘brown’ written on it to label
the first hoop. Next, focus on the second hoop and all the dinosaurs that were other colours.
Could we now sort these into further groups? Proceed until you have several labelled hoops.
Congratulate the children on helping you sort the dinosaurs.
Gather the collection together into one group. Label three hoops with ‘walk’, ‘fly’ and ‘swim’.
Ask the children if they can sort the dinosaurs into those they think walk on land, those they
think can fly in the air and those that can swim in water. You might need to add some extra
dinosaurs to your collection to provide enough examples – or use images if necessary. Use
this opportunity to observe and talk about features, such as legs, wings and flippers.
Encourage children to make connections with animals they might already be familiar with,
such as birds and fish. Help them to sort their collection. If there are any differences of
opinion, then encourage children to give their reasons and let the group decide. Count the
number of dinosaurs in each group. Which group has the most/least dinosaurs?
Finally, take the land category and divide down the middle with some string. Sort the land
group into those that the children think walk on two legs and those that walk on four legs.
2legs 4legs
Walk Fly Swim
Remind the children that these dinosaurs were animals that lived a long time ago.
You may want to make a record of the sorting display, perhaps adding picture cards in place
of the plastic animals, so that the children can revisit their sorting decisions throughout the
course of the unit – adding new prehistoric animals to the collection as they discover them.
The hoops could even be decorated to become play areas, with cotton wool clouds glued to
blue card for the sky, shiny foil for the water and so on.
Express: Phase B
Children can play a ‘Guess who?’ game in pairs or small groups, with adult supervision. Ensure
that there are two sets of picture cards, displaying different prehistoric animals. One child (or
group) has one set of the cards and another child (or group) has the other. Ensure there is a
screen or some barrier between the children so they can’t see each other’s cards. The cards
can be arranged in front of them, in a line or grid.
Let one child choose a card from their selection. The other child must then play the ‘detective’
and guess which animal has been chosen. They can only ask ‘yes or no’ questions – for
example: does it walk on two legs? Does it have green skin? Does it have big spikes? Does
it fly? The other child can only answer yes or no. Based on their answers, the child who is
detective can eliminate their cards until they are left with the picture they think was chosen.
The other child can then reveal their chosen card to see if the detective was right! Children
can then swap roles.
An adult will need to model questions and help demonstrate the game for the first couple of
rounds, before children can then take over and play for themselves. Encourage the children to
try and guess the opposing player’s card in the least amount of guesses!
If you wish, children can go on to make their own hatching dinosaur egg, with a drawing or
painting of their own dinosaur inside! Have information books available so that children can
find more pictures of their prehistoric animal.
Children can begin by painting or drawing their ‘dinosaur baby’ onto a paper plate. Then take
a second plate for the outside of the egg and decorate. Draw a jagged line down the middle
and cut with scissors. Then have an adult pierce both plates and use a split-pin to join them
together. The egg pieces can then be opened up to reveal the dinosaur inside!
Confident children could learn the name of their animal, with adult assistance. Have these
written onto cards phonetically, to help children with the sounds.
Activity 2: Size is everything!
Phase A

1.15a Playing alone, alongside and with others in a wide range of contexts
1.24a Sharing experiences with others
1.26a The pleasure and delight of gaining new experiences

2.11a Listening to familiar sounds and identifying them; joining in stories, poems, action
songs and rhymes
2.12a Identifying and anticipating repetition in stories, poems, songs, rhymes and other
language activities
2.14a Following conversations and stories
2.19a Exploring books and reading for pleasure
2.27a Following simple texts when being read to
2.54a Exploring size and shape through construction materials, puzzles, modelling and
creative activities
2.55a Exploring size and shape in everyday objects in the environment

2.61a Exploring length and height through play and practical activities
2.62a Using language associated with length and height
2.74a Using the senses to explore materials and textures
2.76a Exploring how colour and texture can be changed
2.80a Freely experimenting with art materials and initiating own art adventures

ENQUIRING ABOUT PEOPLE
3.4a Exploring how we move
3.20a Exploring wildlife, domestic animals, birds, sea-life, insects and other life forms that
are of interest
IEYC Learning Strand 4: Healthy Living and Physical Well-Being

PHYSICAL WELL-BEING
4.10a Developing gross motor skills using a range of equipment
Explore: Phase A
Begin your session with a fun action song that will help reinforce some simple size
vocabulary:
We’re big, big, big – touch the sky (Children reach up with their arms, stretching as high)
Can you stretch, very high?
We’re big, big, big – touch the sky
We can stretch, so very high!
We’re small, small, small – crouch down low (Children crouch down, touching toes)
Can you touch, your little toes?
We’re small, small, small - crouch down low
We can touch our little toes.
We’re wide, wide, wide – reaching far (Children reach out with arms)
Can we make a shiny star?
We’re wide, wide, wide – reaching far (Children step one leg out to side, making star
shape)
We can make a shiny star.
We’re thin, thin, thin – hugging tight (Children stand straight, hold arms in tightly across
chest)
Don’t we make a funny sight?
We’re thin, thin, thin – hugging tight
We can make a funny sight!
We’re long, long, long – make a worm (Children form a line, hands on shoulders of child
in front)
Can we make it squirm, squirm, squirm? (Children wriggle bodies up and down)
We’re long, long, long – make a worm
We can make it squirm, squirm, squirm.
We’re short, short, short – bend our knees, (Children turn back to face the front, bend
knees)
Can we buzz like angry bees. (Children buzz around, turning on spot)
We’re short, short, short – bend our knees,
We can buzz like angry bees.
We’re big, big, big (Children repeat the actions as they are called out)
old new
We’re small, small, small
We’re wide, wide, wide
We’re thin, thin, thin!
We’re long like a worm
We’re short like a bee
We’re lots of things,
As you can see!
Now clap with me! Hooray! (Give everyone a round of applause!)
You could follow up your song with the following picture book, which uses animals (including
a dinosaur!) to introduce opposites and size comparisons:
Big, Bigger, Biggest, by Nancy Coffelt, Henry Holt & Company, 2009
Explore different groups of objects, such as 3D shapes in different sizes. Work together to
group them by size, from smallest to biggest. As you do so, reinforce use of size vocabulary
(small, smallest, bigger, biggest etc.). Encourage children to find objects that are bigger or
smaller than the ones that you select.
Look together at some images of dinosaurs, either in information books, on posters or via the
internet. Do the children think that if they met a real dinosaur it would be very big? How big
do they think it would be? Do we think they might be bigger than us – even if we stretch up
high? Have the children repeat the stretching action from the song.
old new
Encourage confident children to try and describe the size of a dinosaur. Prompt them to think
about some size comparisons based on your setting – such as taller than the ceiling, longer
than the wall, bigger than the playground etc.
Ask the children if they can remember the footprint they discovered in their Entry Point. Did
they think it was a big footprint? How about taking a look at another dinosaur footprint…
Visit the following website for a link to a printable PDF document that features a Triceratops
footprint (Note: this will print on 12 pages of A4 and then will need to be assembled – it’s
very big!):
www.schleich-s.com/dinos/en/footprints/
The Schleich website has a video demonstration and link to a template featuring a
Triceratops footprint.
Take the children to your giant footprint. Perhaps have this outdoors (in a sand pit) or in your
hall (taped down to the floor). Gather around the footprint. Would the children describe it as
big? Have a picture and/or toy of a Triceratops to look at. If appropriate, have children take off
their shoes. See how many of their shoes would fit inside the Triceratops footprint. Do all of
the children’s shoes fit inside?
Mark a line in your hall or playground and have a child stand on the line. Have an adult
measure 30 feet (9 metres) from the line and mark another line directly opposite the first. Ask
another child to stand on this line. This is how big/long Triceratops was! Take the children
on a walk along his length. He is almost as big as a bus! See if you can make a line, touching
shoulders or holding hands, to reach along the length.
Repeat with another dinosaur – Diplodocus. Again, view an image of the dinosaur and/or
have a toy version available for the children to handle. Do the children think Diplodocus was
bigger or smaller than Triceratops? Again, measure out the distance. Depending on how big
your hall or playground space is, this may even extend into another area! Diplodocus is 90
feet (27 metres) long. Again walk along his length from tail to head. This is one of the biggest
dinosaurs – bigger than two buses! You could also measure the height of Diplodocus (16 feet
or 5 metres) and have children lay down, one above the other, to see how many children it
takes to match the height of the dinosaur!
If you wish, you could contrast the big dinosaurs with the size of Compsognathus, who was
only 4 feet long from tail tip to head, and about 10 inches tall – smaller than the children!
Express: Phase A
It’s time for some giant dinosaur art!
Create a large canvas for groups of children to paint on. This could be a fabric blanket, sheets
of paper that have been taped together, or you could use large packing boxes, which have
been opened out to make a large surface. Have an adult draw a simple outline of a dinosaur
onto the chosen canvas area (such as a Diplodocus).
Provide paint and/or collage materials for the children to use to decorate their giant dinosaur.
Encourage different methods of spreading the paint – with wallpaper brushes, sponges,
rollers and even fingers and hands.
The activity will encourage the use of gross motor skills as children stretch and reach across
the canvas, using similar actions to those in the song. Let this become a free art adventure –
where children enjoy expressing their ideas and patterns onto the canvas, mixing colours and
exploring different textures., The experience of decorating and creating something bigger
than themselves will be rewarding and exciting one for children.
Once dry, display your colourful dinosaurs along a wall. If you wish, you could help children to
trim their finished artwork into the original dinosaur shapes. Then let the children stand back
and admire their new giant dinosaur friends. They may even want to give them a name too!
Activity 2: Size is everything!
Phase B
During this learning activity children will experience:

1.8b Demonstrating consideration in group situations
1.26b The joy and satisfaction of experiencing and learning something new
1.27b Being a member of a team and learning with others

2.3b Responding to the ideas and experiences of others through language
2.4b Asking increasingly complex questions, providing answers and explaining reasons
events
activities
2.18b Using illustrations to make predictions
2.61b Comparing and ordering length and height
2.62b Exploring how to measure length and height in practical contexts
COMMUNICATING THROUGH ICT AND COMPUTING
2.72b Using computers and other forms of ICT as tools to record, link and extend
experiences that happened away from the computer
2.76b Expressing ideas, moods and feelings through a wide range of art, construction and
model making activities
2.80b Freely experimenting with art and design and presenting ideas through artwork
Explore: Phase B
Begin your session with a fun action song that will help reinforce some simple size
vocabulary (see Explore: Phase A for lyrics and directions). Afterwards, challenge the children
to put a range of objects/shapes into size order, making a line from smallest to biggest. Again
this will encourage the use of size vocabulary as children compare objects.
Look together at some images of dinosaurs, either in information books, on posters or via the
internet. Do the children think that if they met a real dinosaur it would be very big? Are there
any clues in the images as to the size of a dinosaur (some might be shown eating leaves from
trees).
How big were the dinosaurs? Do we think they were bigger than us – even if we stretch up
high? Have the children repeat the stretching action from the song. Encourage confident
children to try and describe the size of a dinosaur. Prompt them to think about some size
comparisons based on your setting – such as taller than the ceiling, longer than the wall,
bigger than the playground etc.
old new
Ask the children if they can remember the footprint they discovered in their Entry Point. Did
they think it was a big footprint? How about taking a look at another dinosaur footprint…
Visit the following website for a link to a printable PDF document that features a Triceratops
footprint (Note: this will print on 12 pages of A4 and then will need to be assembled – it’s
very big!):
www.schleich-s.com/dinos/en/footprints/
The Schleich website has a video demonstration and link to a template featuring a
Triceratops footprint.
Take the children to your giant footprint. Perhaps have this outdoors (in a sand pit) or in your
hall (taped down to the floor). Gather around the footprint. Would the children describe it as
big? Have a picture and/or toy of a Triceratops to look at. If appropriate, have children take off
their shoes. See how many of their shoes would fit inside the Triceratops footprint. Do all of
the children’s shoes fit inside?
Mark a line in your hall or playground and have a child stand on the line. Have children help
you to measure 30 feet (9 metres) from the line (perhaps by using a trundle wheel) and mark
another line directly opposite the first. Ask another child to stand on this line. This is how
big/long Triceratops was! Take the children on a walk along his length. He is almost as big
as a bus! See if you can make a line, touching shoulders or holding hands, to reach along the
length. Count how many children can fit along Triceratops’ length.
Repeat with another dinosaur – Diplodocus. Again, view an image of the dinosaur and/or
have a toy version available for the children to handle. Do the children think Diplodocus was
bigger or smaller than Triceratops? Again, measure out the distance. Depending on how big
your hall or playground space is, this may even extend into another area! Diplodocus is 90
feet (27 metres) long. Again walk along his length from tail to head. This is one of the biggest
dinosaurs – bigger than two buses! You could also measure the height of Diplodocus (16 feet
or 5 metres) and have children lay down, one above the other, to see how many children it
takes to match the height of the dinosaur!
If you wish, you could contrast the big dinosaurs with the size of Compsognathus, who was
only 4 feet long from tail tip to head, and about 10 inches tall – smaller than the children!
With adult assistance, you could give pairs or small groups of children other dinosaur images
and size measurements to explore. Use a trundle wheel or metre stick to help record the
length and height of the dinosaurs. Some approximate measurements might include:
■■Tyrannosaurus Rex – length (40 feet, 12 metres), height (20 feet, 6 metres)
■■Stegosaurus – length (30 feet, 9 metres), height (20 feet, 6 metres)
■■Velociraptor – length (7 feet, 2 metres), height (9 feet, 3 metres)
■■Ankylosaurus – length (20 feet, 6 metres), height (6 feet, 2 metres)
Express: Phase B
It’s time for some giant dinosaur art!
Create a large canvas for the children to paint on. This could be a fabric blanket, sheets of
paper that have been taped together, or you could use large packing boxes, which have been
opened out to make a large surface. If you can have these displayed vertically, against a wall,
then children will have greater opportunity to practise their gross motor skills as they stretch,
crouch and reach across the canvas, just like in the song.
Encourage children to paint their own dinosaurs onto the canvas. Have some toys and images
available for reference, but don’t worry too much about what the children paint – the end
result is less important. The purpose of the exercise is to encourage them to think big and
enjoy filling the space with ideas.
You may want to start by showing the children how you can stretch and reach with the paint
brush. Perhaps making a head and a long sloping neck for a Diplodocus. The children can
then have a go at adding the body, legs and a long tail. Let this become a free art adventure –
where children enjoy expressing their ideas and patterns onto the canvas. Even if the theme
gets quickly forgotten, the idea of letting them create something bigger than themselves will
be rewarding and exciting.
You may want to add some additional canvas area (perhaps a few sheets of paper, taped
together) to move onto if your original space gets quickly covered. Children could be shown
how to take photographs of the art as it develops and expands. You might want to set up a
camera on a tripod, facing towards the canvas area, then have children take a photo every
couple of minutes. These images could then be loaded into a simple presentation program
such as PhotoStory or even PowerPoint, to create a time-lapse slide show that shows the
artwork gradually coming together!
As an alternative to the above, you can invite children to work on their own individual
squares, perhaps using bubble wrap, which can provide a nice scaly texture when painted on.
Again, have plenty of reference material available – perhaps including close up textures of
reptiles such as snakes and lizards. Children may need to work on several squares so that you
will have enough for the next part…
Once the children’s individual squares are complete, work together to assemble these to
make your own giant dinosaur. Again, the time lapse method of recording this can be a fun
way of showing the giant dinosaur coming together! Have the children stand next to it at
the end for a size reference! End the session by thinking of a name for your new dinosaur –
perhaps incorporating words that express just how big he is!
Activity 3: Dinosaur opposites
Phase A


2.1a Using gesture and body movement to communicate
songs and rhymes
2.16a Exploring and observing the use of printed materials and resources
2.18a Using illustrations to tell stories
2.61a Exploring length and height through play and practical activities
2.62a Using language associated with length and height
2.63a Exploring weight through play and practical activities
2.64a Using language associated with weight
2.87a Exploring movement and dance through role-play and imagination
old new
are of interest
Explore: Phase A
As a whole class, or in small groups with an adult, share the popular picture book, Dinosaur
Roar!, by Henrietta Stickland, Picture Corgi, 2014. You can listen to the story being read here:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8SXkbgttSY
YouTube hosts this video by ‘Nana’s Storytime’ featuring the picture book, Dinosaur Roar!
The book is about opposites, with each double-page spread exploring one set of opposites,
using dinosaurs to illustrate each pair – e.g. fierce and meek, slow and fast, short and long,
clean and slimy, and so on.
As you explore the book with the children, discuss the dinosaurs that are shown. Are any
familiar to the children. Have a toy collection available so that children can find matching
dinosaurs where appropriate, and focus on matching them with the features of those in the
illustrations. They could also use them to act out and join in with the story.
Discuss any words that may be unfamiliar to the children, such as meek, and explore their
meaning. Use the illustrations to help children make the link between the different words
used and the characteristics of the dinosaurs.
After reading the book, ask the children to choose two dinosaurs from the book to draw or
paint, perhaps showing their opposites (one long, one short/one big, one small etc.).
If you wish, confident could end the session by sharing the fun listen-and-respond game (see
Explore: Phase B).
Express: Phase A
Gather the children in the hall or another open space where children can move freely. Explain
that are going to pretend to be lots of different dinosaurs! You might want to have some
music to accompany the children’s movements, such as Carnival of the Animals – Fossils, by
Saint Saëns.
Begin by asking the children to be ‘tall dinosaurs’. Stretch your arms above your head. Ask
the children to imagine their arms are a long neck, stretching into the sky (many of these
movements and actions will be familiar to the children from the action song in the previous
activity). Move about the room with your arms above your head. Then explore other dinosaur
types, modelling the actions for the children to copy as you move about the space. Remind
them about the dinosaurs featured in the book Dinosaur Roar! Have the book available to use
as a stimulus, or have posters of dinosaurs around the room to point to when the children
explore:
■■Wide dinosaurs – Have legs and arms spread out. Blow out cheeks.
■■Fierce dinosaurs – Make hands into claws and pretend to roar.
■■Meek dinosaurs – Cower down, cover eyes and look afraid.
■■Fast dinosaurs – Make short quick dashes. Stop and look around. Then dash again.
■■Slow dinosaurs – Make slow, heavy strides.
■■Clean dinosaurs – Pretend you are washing yourself and looking happy.
■■Slimy dinosaurs – Imagine your feet are stuck to the ground. Struggle to lift them out of an
imaginary swamp as you take sticky, gloopy steps.
Encourage the children to practise the different movements until they have grown in
confidence. Repeat a few times. Then explain that, when you next play the music, the children
will all pretend to be a different dinosaur. Assign a different type to each child. Then let them
all act out their dinosaurs together. Some will be stomping about, making slow movements,
others will be running and so on. Model actions for children who are struggling. Encourage
the use of space, safe movement and awareness of others.
Activity 3: Dinosaur opposites
Phase B


2.7b Using language to recall, retell and sequence events
2.10b Extending vocabulary, exploring language patterns and sounds, word meanings and
word groups
activities
2.20b Exploring how print conveys meaning and recognising letters and features of
familiar words
2.22b The structures of stories: characters, settings, events, beginning, middle, end
2.27b Recognising and reading common words and familiar sentences
COMMUNICATING THROUGH WRITING
2.29b Writing for a range of purposes and meaningful real-life and play contexts
2.31b Copying and experimenting with letter formation
2.32b Creating a sequenced account and reading it
2.33b Using phonic awareness to write words
2.34b Writing and spelling some common words within simple sentences
old new
Explore: Phase B
As with Explore: Phase A, share the popular picture book, Dinosaur Roar!, by Henrietta
Stickland, Picture Corgi, 2014. You can listen to the story being read here:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8SXkbgttSY
YouTube hosts this video by ‘Nana’s Storytime’ featuring the picture book, Dinosaur Roar!
The book is about opposites, with each double-page spread exploring one set of opposites,
using dinosaurs to illustrate each pair – e.g. fierce and meek, slow and fast, short and long,
clean and slimy, and so on.
As you explore the book with the children, discuss the dinosaurs that are shown. Are any
familiar to the children? Have a toy collection available so that children can find matching
dinosaurs where appropriate, and focus on matching them with the features of those in the
illustrations.
Discuss any words that may be unfamiliar to the children, such as meek, and explore their
meaning. Use the illustrations to help children make the link between the different words
used and the characteristics of the dinosaurs.
After reading the book, ask the children if they can remember any of the describing words
that were in the text. Can they remember their opposite? Return to the book and read it
through a second time. This time, use a piece of card or a sticky label to cover the words on
the first or second pages of each spread (a second copy of the book is useful here, as this can
be prepared ahead of time). You can then challenge the children to guess the missing word/s
each time. Confident children could also be asked to think of other words that could have
been used instead, exploring alternate describing words.
Express: Phase B
Working in pairs or individually, children can make their own ‘dinosaur opposites’ book. Have
large sheets of paper stapled or fastened together with ribbons or tags to make the book,
providing two or three double-page spreads. Speech bubbles can be glued to each page. If
you wish, an adult can pre-prepare these with the opposites written for each double-page
spread – or children can write their own, practising their emergent writing.
I’m fast
I’m slow
Provide a varied selection of dinosaur images that the children can explore and cut out.
These can then be glued to the pages to illustrate each opposite. As the children work on
their books, use the opportunity to talk to them about the characteristics of the dinosaurs
they are exploring – and why they have chosen them to represent ‘big’, ‘fierce’, ‘fast’ and so on.
Children can also design a cover for their book and give it a title.
At the end of the session, children can share their books with each other, talking about their
choices of dinosaur for each page.
Activity 4: Making a dinosaur landscape
Phase A


2.6a Using language skills in play situations and a variety of developmentally-appropriate
contexts for example role-play, story-telling, giving and receiving instructions
2.8a Using language in imaginary play situations
songs and rhymes

2.22a Repeating and retelling familiar stories, filling in missing words/phrases/events
2.23a Choosing books for pleasure
creative activities
2.69a Using technology in practical activities
2.70a Using technology to perform simple functions
2.71a The use of computers, tablets and a range of ICT to convey information

3.1a Exploring the senses
3.12a Exploring natural materials and objects
3.15a Exploring significant features of the local landscape
3.16a Observing nature in the local environment
3.18a Representing the environment through model making, drawings and artwork
Explore: Phase A
Tell the children they are going to be making their own dinosaur world play area, with trees,
rivers, caves and other exciting features. You may even want to have your own pre-made
example that the children can look at (see Express below for more information).
If possible, take the children on a sensory exploration of a local forest or park to get ideas
for their dinosaur world. If such areas are not available in the host country, then focus on an
environment that has plenty of natural features to explore, such as rocks, trees, streams and
so on.
Ask the children to try and describe what they can see, hear, smell and touch as you walk
around the area. Explore the trees and the shapes that branches and roots make, and the
colour of leaves and other plants. Explore the ground debris, such as stones and twigs. You
might want children to collect some of these for use in their dinosaur world scenes.
Have an adult take photographs of any interesting features that the children discover, to print
out when you are back in your setting.
If time allows, you could end your walk with an outdoor storybook session, sharing some of
the children’s favourite dinosaur books. Guide the children in making their own freeze-frame
scenes from the book, using the natural outdoor area as a backdrop. Again, these could be
photographed to make into a book for your role play area, which the children can use as a
stimulus for retelling the story.
Express: Phase A
Back in your setting, provide pairs of children with their own box, which they can decorate to
become their dinosaur world. Cardboard postal boxes are ideal for this and can be purchased
in a range of sizes. Open out the box and glue the back/lid in place to provide a backdrop,
and remove the front section so children have easier access to the interior of their box.
You may want to prepare this ahead of time with green card or paper glued into the base for
grass (or another colour appropriate to the environment you have explored on your nature
walk) and blue card or paper for the sky backdrop.
Have a varied selection of art materials for the children to explore, including some natural
materials such as pebbles, twigs and pieces of bark. Some of these might have been chosen
by the children on their nature walk.
Then, provide assistance to help the children to make features for their dinosaur world. You
may want to have photographs (from your nature walk) and a selection of information and
story books about dinosaurs available for the children to look at as they make their scene.
Some ideas might include:
■■Dinosaur cave – a cardboard roll, a small round plastic container or plant pot can make
a great cave for dinosaurs. These could be decorated by shaping and gluing brown tissue
paper around the outside, or layering on papier-mâché.
■■Jurassic trees – pipe cleaners can be twisted and shaped to make trunks and branches.
Then cut out leaf shapes from different coloured paper or have chunks of sponge that
the children can paint and then press onto the pipe cleaner branches. You could also use
lolly-sticks or art straws to make tree shapes, or paint fir cones in greens and browns for a
ready-made tree or bush! Press into playdough bases to help them stay upright.
■■Stream or pond – blue tissue paper can be torn and glued into interesting shapes, to make
a fast-running stream cutting across the scene. Alternatively, children could use textured
blue paint to cover a length of card. Once dry, a pond or stream shape can then be cut
out and glued onto the base. Blue beads, sequins or gemstones could also be sprinkled or
arranged on glue to make an interesting water feature.
■■Mountains and volcanoes – appropriate 2D shapes can be cut out of card and then glued to
the backdrop. Alternatively, show the children how they can make a cone out of card, then
decorate with textured paint. If children are familiar with volcanoes from pictures in the
storybooks you have explored, then you could show them how to turn a mountain into a
old new
volcano, by cutting off the top of the cone and filling the space with red and orange tissue
paper flames and cotton wool ‘smoke’.
■■Rocks and logs – natural materials collected on your nature walk, such as twigs, pebbles,
stones and bark, can make ideal features for children’s dinosaur worlds. Painted pebbles
are also perfect for mini dinosaur eggs!
Once the dinosaur scenes are complete, children can populate them with plastic small-world
dinosaurs and act out their own exciting stories and adventures.
If you have access to an iOS tablet device, then you could also download the Make a Scene:
Dinosaurs app which allows children to click and drag dinosaurs from a simple menu to build
their own scene:
http://tinyurl.com/zemz6y4
iTunes hosts the Make a Scene: Dinosaurs app for iOS tablet devices.
Activity 4: Making a dinosaur landscape
Phase B

1.18b Offering support to others when able to
1.23b Demonstrating independence and increasing confidence in new situations
1.24b Seeking out others to share experiences

events
activities
2.13b Concentrating on what others are saying and responding at the appropriate time
2.19b Exploring different forms of print and following the conventions of text
familiar words
2.23b Choosing and using books for a purpose

2.24b Expressing preferences in a range of fiction and non-fiction
2.55b The names of given 2D and 3D shapes
2.70b Giving instructions, programming and operating digital toys, devices and computers
2.73b Presenting ideas and information using technology
2.78b Exploring cultural art and design
2.79b Using the styles of selected artists to inspire drawings and artwork

3.1b Using the senses to make discoveries
3.15b Exploring significant features of the wider world including oceans, deserts,
mountains and forests
3.18b Representing the environment through maps, plans, drawings, photographs and
diagrams
3.19b Exploring wildlife habitats
Explore: Phase B
Tell the children they are going to be working together to make a dinosaur world play area,
with trees, rivers, caves and other exciting features. Begin your session by asking the children
to describe what they think the land of the dinosaurs might have looked like. Children may
use your existing display/role play area as a stimulus for ideas.
If possible, take the children on a nature walk (see Explore: Phase A) to explore a forest, park
or other local environment that might provide a source of inspiration. Provide paper and
pencils for children to draw some of the natural features that interest them. Collect natural
materials, such as twigs, stones and bark, which may be useful for your display. You can also
take photographs to print out and use as reference in the Express session.
Back in your setting, set up some tables, with information books, posters and other resources
about dinosaurs that small groups can explore with an adult. Look together at the images.
Explore the presentation and layout of information books and compare with story books.
Focus on the features of the environments that are shown in the illustrations. Compare
and contrast with the natural features of the host country and the area/s that the children
explored on their walk. Let each child choose a favourite illustration that they think best
shows a ‘land of the dinosaurs’.
Gather the children together again, and discuss what they have learned from the books and
other resources. Let each child share their favourite illustration. Compare and contrast the
physical features shown in the illustrations. Decide together on what you will include in your
dinosaur land model, based on their research and first-hand experiences during the nature
walk.
Express: Phase B
Set aside an area of the setting for your dinosaur world. This could be several tables
positioned together against one wall. You may want to prepare this area ahead of time
with green card or paper taped to the tables for grass (or another colour appropriate to the
environment/s the children explored and researched) and blue card or paper for the sky
backdrop.
Set up tables with art materials, which the children can visit and explore as they wish, each
one focusing on making a different physical feature for the display (trees, mountains, caves
etc.). If possible, have an adult at each table to provide assistance. Have photographs (from
your nature walk) and a selection of relevant resources available for the children to look at as
they work. Encourage the children to help and support each other, reminding them that this is
a team project.
As with Express: Phase A, some ideas might include:
■■Dinosaur cave – a cardboard roll, a small round plastic container or plant pot can make
a great cave for dinosaurs. These could be decorated by shaping and gluing brown tissue
paper around the outside, or layering on papier-mâché.
■■Jurassic trees – children could paint or collage their own tree images onto white card,
which can then be cut around with scissors and slotted into card bases. Confident children
could explore how trees have been depicted by different artists, exploring their shapes,
colours and patterns. Japanese art and abstract art can be a great source of ideas (a Google
Images search will provide plenty of examples, e.g. by searching ‘Japanese art trees’). If
appropriate you could also view examples by artists from the host country. Alternatively,
children could use pipe cleaners, twisting and shaping them to make trunks and branches.
Then cut out leaf shapes from different coloured paper or have chunks of sponge that the
can painted and then pressed onto the pipe cleaner branches. You could also use lolly-
sticks or art straws to make tree shapes, or paint fir cones in greens and browns for a
ready-made tree or bush! Press into playdough bases to help them stay upright.
■■Stream or river – use plastic trays and lengths of tubing in the water area to explore
running water. Have children angle the trays/tubes and pour water onto them. Explore
the movement of the water. Experiment with adding stones and other obstructions, then
watching the water as it rushes around or over the objects. Look at images of streams and
rivers. Talk about the colours and shapes that can be seen. Let children use a combination
of paint and other art materials (cotton wool, tissue paper, glitter, foil etc.) to decorate
lengths of ‘river’ which can then be put together like a jigsaw to make a feature for your
display. Small pebbles or beads could be painted and glued to the river to represent rocks.
■■Mountains and volcanoes – appropriate 2D shapes can be cut out of card and then glued to
the backdrop. Alternatively, show the children how they can make a cone out of card, then
decorate with textured paint. If you want to turn your mountain into a volcano, then cut off
the top of the cone and explore filling the space with red and orange tissue paper flames
old new
and cotton wool ‘smoke’.
■■Rocks and logs – natural materials collected on your nature walk, such as twigs, pebbles,
stones and bark, can make ideal features for children’s dinosaur worlds. Painted pebbles
are also perfect for mini dinosaur eggs!
Place the different features onto your display area, and arrange to create an exciting dinosaur
world landscape. Add small-world dinosaur toys to complete the scene. The children can now
use this area to act out their own exciting stories and adventures!
If you have access to an iOS tablet device, then you could also download the Make a Scene:
Dinosaurs app which allows children to click and drag dinosaurs from a simple menu to build
their own scene:
http://tinyurl.com/zemz6y4
iTunes hosts the Make a Scene: Dinosaurs app for iOS tablet devices.
Children could be challenged to tell their own story using the app, by arranging the dinosaurs
to create each scene of the story.
Activity 5: Making model dinosaurs
Phase A

1.4a Developing positive friendships
1.10a Exploring how actions can have positive and negative outcomes
1.20a Recognising situations that impact on feelings and emotions
1.25a Exploring emotional and social contexts through play

2.4a Asking questions
2.7a Using language to recall events
songs and rhymes
language activities

2.22a Repeating and retelling familiar stories, filling in missing words/phrases/events
creative activities

are of interest

PHYSICAL WELL-BEING
4.9a Exploring movement including walking, running, kicking, skipping, climbing, rolling,
crawling, hopping, jumping, sliding, throwing, catching and swimming if appropriate
4.13a Following instructions, copying and repeating actions
Explore: Phase A
Prior to the session, create some mess in your setting (the children will be learning that
some dinosaurs have visited!). Have some chairs turned on their side, toys and art materials
out of their containers – perhaps some left on tables or the carpet. You could have board
games set up, suggesting that someone was playing with them, and so on. How chaotic your
environment looks should depend on your professional judgement of how the children will
respond, but always ensure that it doesn’t feel too threatening to the children when they first
enter. Have a big golden envelope in the centre of the room.
When the children enter, look surprised that there is such a mess. What could possibly have
happened? You might want to have some dinosaur footprints left around the space to provide
clues.
If the children haven’t already noticed the envelope, then suggest that the envelope might
contain something that will solve the mystery.
Open up the envelope and pull out a letter. Read the message that has been scrawled on it
(this could be done in messy paint!):
We really hope you don’t mind,

But we wanted to come and play
We might have left a bit of a mess
But we did have a lovely day!
From
The Dinosaurs.
Ask the children if they think the dinosaurs were right to leave such a mess. Suggest that
everyone helps to tidy up. Work together as a team to put things away and clean up. Praise
the children for supporting each other.
Afterwards, gather the children on the carpet. Explain that dinosaurs didn’t really visit, we
were just pretending (ask the children who really made the room untidy!) – but let’s imagine
that they could. What do we think having dinosaurs in our setting would be like? Would they
fun to play with? Explore the children’s ideas.
If possible, share the picture book, Dinosaurs In My School, by Timothy Knapman, Scholastic,
2015. In the story, a little boy imagines that his school has been taken over by dinosaurs, but
for most of the story, the adults don’t see them. Despite his best efforts, the little boy just
can’t make the dinosaurs behave themselves – and there is a surprise ending when he goes
to get help from the headteacher, and discovers she is a dinosaur too!
Many of the colourful illustrations have dinosaurs hiding in them. Encourage the children to
look closely at the images to try and spot them all. Talk about the different dinosaurs that are
mentioned. Are any familiar to the children? Have some of your plastic toys available to look
at and compare.
Afterwards, ask the children if they can remember all the different things that the dinosaurs
got up to in the school. Do they think the dinosaurs were showing respectful behaviour? What
might they say to the dinosaurs if they caught them doing some of those things? Link this
discussion to the IEYC Personal Goals and involve children in talking about how best to look
after property and show respect to others.
old new
Express: Phase A
It’s time to bring some dinosaurs to school! The children will be making and decorating
their own puppets, which they can then use to retell their own stories of dinosaurs visiting
their setting. Have some pre-prepared puppets for children to use as reference, as well as
a collection of picture books for children to look at and talk about, so that they can choose
their favourite dinosaurs.
Each puppet will need half a paper plate for the body as a starting point. Then children can
add simple pre-cut shapes from coloured card to their body to use as heads, necks, legs and
so on. The following site provides some useful shape templates:
www.thecrafttrain.com/1/post/2014/06/sparkly-paper-plate-dinosaurs.html
The Craft Train provides templates and a step-by-step to making paper plate dinosaur
models.
The children can begin by painting their body shapes. You may want to look at some of the
colours used by the illustrators in the picture books.
The shapes for the features of each dinosaur can then be glued to the rear of the plate. (If
you wish, an adult could add split pins to the models so that heads, legs and tail parts can be
moved.)
As children work on the puppets, use the opportunity to talk about the different features of
their dinosaur and why they might be important for that dinosaur – long neck for reaching up
high, plates or spikes to protect them from other dinosaurs, long legs for running fast and so
on. Reinforce the describing words that the children have been introduced to previously.
Finally, tape a wooden rod or lolly stick to each model so that the children can use them as
puppets.
In groups, ask the children to imagine that their dinosaurs have arrived at school. What will
they do today? Encourage the children to act out their own scenarios and stories using the
puppets. Provide plenty of assistance to help guide the children and give them confidence in
their storytelling. If necessary, revisit some of the scenarios from the book, Dinosaurs In My
School, for the children to act out with their puppets.
You could end your session with the following fun action song about dinosaurs. As an
alternative to the actions, the children could hold and move their dinosaur puppets:
The dinosaurs are making a mess (Put hands on hips and look cross, shaking head
Making a mess, making a mess
The dinosaurs are making a mess,
What are we going to do? (Put finger on chin)
They’re swishing their tails from side to side, (Sway hips and bodies from side to side
Side to side, side to side,
They’re swishing their tails from side to side,
They’re jumping around on tables and chairs, (Jump up and down on the spot)
Tables and chairs, tables and chairs,
They’re jumping around on tables and chairs,
They’re eating up all our tasty food, (Pretend to gobble up food)
Tasty food, tasty food
They’re eating up all our tasty food,
They’re reaching up high to grab the books, (Stretch arm up, make grabbing motion with
hand)
Grab the books, grab the books,
They’re reaching up high to grab the books,
They’re charging down all the corridors, (Run on the spot)
The corridors, the corridors.
They’re charging down all the corridors,
The dinosaurs are here to play (Hold hands and move in a circle)
Here to play, here to play
The dinosaurs are here to play
But it’s time they went away!
Good bye! (Stop and wave goodbye)
Activity 5: Making model dinosaurs
Phase B

1.4b Developing the interpersonal skills needed to form positive relationships
1.9b Reflecting on actions and consequences
1.11b Being respectful towards others

events
word groups
activities
familiar words

Explore: Phase B
As with Explore: Phase A, create some mess in your setting (the children will be learning that
some dinosaurs have visited!). Have some chairs turned on their side, toys and art materials
out of their containers – perhaps some left on tables or the carpet. You could have board
games set up, suggesting that someone was playing with them, and so on. How chaotic your
environment looks should depend on your professional judgement of how the children will
respond, but always ensure that it doesn’t feel too threatening to the children when they first
enter. Have a big golden envelope in the centre of the room.
When the children enter the room, look surprised that there is such a mess. What could
possibly have happened? You might want to have some dinosaur footprints left around the
space to provide clues.
If the children haven’t already noticed the envelope, then suggest that the envelope might
contain something that will solve the mystery.
Open up the envelope and pull out a letter. Read the message that has been scrawled on it
(this could be done in messy paint!):
We really hope you don’t mind,

But we wanted to come and play
We might have left a bit of a mess
But we did have a lovely day!
From
The Dinosaurs.
Ask the children if they think the dinosaurs were right to leave such a mess. Suggest that
everyone helps to tidy up. Work together as a team to put things away and clean up. Praise
the children for supporting each other.
Afterwards, gather the children on the carpet. Explain that dinosaurs didn’t really visit, we
were just pretending (ask the children who really made the room untidy!) – but let’s imagine
that they could. What do we think having dinosaurs in our setting would be like? Would they
fun to play with? Explore the children’s ideas.
Encourage the children to think about the different dinosaur types they have explored, and
their characteristics. Have picture cards and plastic toys available for reference. Consider what
types of things the dinosaurs might get up to in your setting? Do the children think that some
dinosaurs might be better behaved than others? Which ones might cause the most problems?
(Perhaps because they are fierce or maybe their tremendous size might be a problem!) Which
dinosaurs would (or wouldn’t) be able to follow the IEYC Personal Goals? Have fun thinking
about all the crazy things dinosaurs might do and what would happen as a result.
Pose the question: Do the children think that having dinosaurs in their setting would be fun?
Discuss and then take a vote.
If possible, share the picture book, Dinosaurs In My School, by Timothy Knapman, Scholastic,
2015. In the story, a little boy imagines that his school has been taken over by dinosaurs, but
for most of the story, the adults don’t see them. Despite his best efforts, the little boy just
can’t make the dinosaurs behave themselves – and there is a surprise ending when he goes
to get help from the headteacher, and discovers she is a dinosaur too!
Start by exploring some of the dinosaur names, which are spelt phonetically in the inside
jacket of the book. Talk about those that the children are already familiar with – and those
that might be new.
As you share the story, encourage the children to look closely at the images to try and spot
the dinosaurs that are often hiding. Compare the features of the little boy’s school with those
of your own setting.
Afterwards, ask the children if they can remember all the different things that the dinosaurs
got up to in the school. Do they think the dinosaurs were showing respectful behaviour? What
might they say to the dinosaurs if they caught them doing some of those things?
Imagine that your own dinosaurs want to visit your setting again. What might the children say
to them before they come to play in their room again?
Link this discussion to the IEYC Personal Goals and involve children in talking about how best
to look after property and show respect towards others.
This discussion could be extended by making your own display entitled ‘If dinosaurs come
to play…’ – where children can practise their emergent writing by scribing how to play in a
thoughtful, cooperative and respectful way onto dinosaur footprints and then gluing them to
the display.
Express: Phase B
It’s time to bring some dinosaurs to the school!
Provide groups with a varied selection of junk materials, such as boxes, egg cartons, paper
plates, cardboard rolls, plastic cups and so on, and art materials, such as paint, paper, card,
fabric, pipe cleaners, string etc.
Let groups decide what dinosaur they are going to make, based on pictures from storybooks
and information books. Have an adult assisting each group. Discuss any challenges, such as
making the dinosaur stand up – or making a long neck. The models could end up being a
combination of 2D and 3D shapes.
As the children work on their models, use the opportunity to talk about the different features
of their dinosaur and why these might be important – long neck for reaching up high, plates
or spikes to protect them from other dinosaurs, long legs for running fast, big teeth for eating
meat and so on. Reinforce the describing words that the children have been introduced to
previously.
If appropriate, revisit the children’s dinosaur art (see Activity 3) to discuss patterns and
colours. Again, you might want to have books available that show different colours and
markings on reptiles and amphibians, to use for inspiration.
The finished models can then be added to your display/role play area.

Digging up the past

experiences:
Over the course of this Learning Block, children will be developing their own museum
area. This can be used for a wealth of additional activities, to give children further learning
experiences linked to those in the activities. For example:
■■Museum artefacts – have deliveries of mystery artefacts to your museum. As well as
‘dinosaur bones’ or ‘fossils’ that the children can investigate, measure and catalogue, you
could also include other objects and artefacts, such as those explored in Activity 1. Children
can imagine who the object might have belonged to and what it was used for. With adult
assistance this could lead to further research, providing opportunity to show children how
they might use information books and other resources to find out more about their object.
■■Special guest – invite members of staff or the local community to visit and talk about a
personal treasure that is special to them. Perhaps it is an object that has been passed
down through many generations, and/or belonged to a grandparent or great grandparent.
Confident children can be encouraged to ask questions about the object.
■■Dinosaur dig – send out your museum experts to help with the latest dig. Add some new
old new ‘bones’ to your sand tray for the children to uncover and then use to build the skeleton of a
dinosaur.
■■Special exhibition – pretend that the museum must put on a special show about a
particular dinosaur or exhibit. Have the children plan their presentation, with adult
assistance, deciding what they will need to talk about and what props they might use to
help them.
As mentioned in Suggestions for Enabling the Environment, try and take the children to visit
a local museum. This will provide valuable first-hand experiences that the children can use to
develop their museum role play. Alternatively, you could take a virtual tour of a museum and
discuss the features and artefacts that you see as you explore together. Some good examples
of virtual tours include:
http://naturalhistory.si.edu/VT3/NMNH/z_NMNH-016.html
The Smithsonian Natural History Museum features a fully interactive virtual tour of their
permanent exhibitions.
old new
www.bostonchildrensmuseum.org/museum-virtual-tour
The Boston Children’s Museum allows you to take a virtual tour of its building and
exhibits.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=tdQDm4gdSOc
YouTube hosts this promotional video for the Natural History Museum in London, which
features many of their most popular exhibits.
If taking the children on a real visit, then use the opportunity to model and explain the
booking experience – from emailing or telephoning the museum, to receiving a reply, then
choosing a day/time and making the booking. This first-hand experience will be valuable for
when the children come to develop and role play new areas of their museum, such as the
booking office (see Phase B, Activity 5).
The children’s museum role play area can be added to and developed throughout this unit.
Include the children in helping you decide how your museum can be improved and what new
things it might include.

Learning Block are:
■■Adaptability
■■Enquiry
■■Communication
■■Cooperation
■■Resilience
■■Respect

Learning Block is:

The museum role play area can encourage children to practise mark-making and emergent
writing by creating resources for the museum, such as maps, guides, tickets, menus, posters,
postcards and so on. Likewise, the café and souvenir shop will provide plenty of role play
opportunity for exploring counting, quantities and money.
Also, cataloguing ‘new finds’ for their museum will give children the opportunity to practise
measuring (height, length, weight) and emergent writing, by creating their own labels for
their museum display.

With adult assistance, have children make their own dinosaur sculptures using their bodies.
Have them lie down, assuming different shapes, to create the skeleton/body of a big dinosaur.
Create relay races where teams of children must run to their own sand tray to uncover a piece
of a dinosaur jigsaw/construction toy, then run back to tag the next child. While one team
member is hunting for the next piece, the other team members can be putting the pieces
together. The first team to build their jigsaw/dinosaur is the winner!
During IEYC Explore and Express activities, teachers should reflect on the following questions:

Activities
Activity 1: Finding treasures
Phase A

1.21a Responding to praise and encouragement

2.7a Using language to recall events
2.21a Exploring words through games, play, art and digital means
2.29a Creating marks and symbols that have personal meaning in a range of play situations
2.30a Developing and applying fine motor skill control within a range of relevant contexts
2.34a Exploring writing and spelling through games, play, art and digital means
2.35a Sorting and grouping objects
2.55a Exploring size and shape in everyday objects in the environment
Explore: Phase A
old
In this session the children are going to be involved in their own archaeological dig, to find
new
‘treasures’ in and around your setting.

You will need a collection of objects that the children can discover. Your collection could
include an assortment of old coins, jewellery (rings, broaches, necklaces, lockets etc.) and
other items that will be of interest to the children (perhaps an old toy, metal thimble etc.).
Most educational suppliers and museum shops should be able to provide you with replica
artefacts. Some museums may also have ‘artefact boxes’ that can be loaned out to schools
– although check that they are happy for these to be ‘buried’ and handled by young children.
Avoid any items that are sharp or breakable.
A good example of an artefact set can be viewed here:
www.tts-group.co.uk/bag-of-historical-finds/1005146.html
TTS are a UK-based education supplier, providing a range of classroom resources
including this bag of historical finds.
Decide on an area for your ‘dig’. Ideally, try and choose an area in your outdoor setting where
there is plenty of top soil for the children to safely dig in and explore, without damaging or
disturbing nearby plants. This approach will feel more authentic to the children, as they will
feel that they are really digging for treasures around their setting.
If this is not possible, then you could set up some trays of soil for the children to dig in. You
can always pretend that the soil was taken from a certain area of your setting, and that it
might contain special treasures.
Hide your treasures around your chosen area, ensuring that they aren’t buried too deep. You
might want to keep your own checklist of the artefacts that you have buried and a rough map
of where they were placed, in case you need to go hunting for any missing ones!
Start your session by asking the children if they have ever searched for treasure. Perhaps they
might like to look around your setting to see what they can find?
Have a toy treasure chest hidden somewhere where it can be easily found. Once it has been
found, bring it back to your circle. Ask the children what they think they might find inside.
Consider what the word treasure means and explore some examples. Try and arrive at a basic
understanding that treasure is something that is special and precious. Open up your chest
and reveal the contents. (This could be some plastic gold coins and costume jewellery etc.)
Explain that there are some people who look for treasure for a living – or as a hobby. They
dig in the soil to find old objects from long ago that might have become buried. Shall we go
looking for some real treasure?
In groups with an adult, lead the children over to your dig area. The children can then use
spades, rakes, trowels and sieves to dig and sift through the soil. If you have a metal detector
then you could use this to help you search.
Have trays or boxes that the children can place their finds inside. There will be lots of
excitement as each item is discovered! Have old toothbrushes available that the children can
use to clean up their objects, ready for a closer examination back in your setting.
If necessary, provide some guidance for groups to ensure they are searching in the right areas
and that each group has their own collection of finds.
Express: Phase A
Back in the setting, let groups lay out their finds and explore them with an adult. What do
they think they are? Have hand lenses so that the children can examine them more closely.
Provide assistance to help them describe what they see – shapes, patterns, images of people,
writing etc. You might want to collect words from this initial discussion for display purposes,
to help with future learning.
Emphasise that these are treasures from long ago.
Invite children to draw their favourite treasure or make a drawing of all the treasures that
they found. Groups could also visit and view the treasures found by others. If appropriate,
compare similar treasures (like rings or coins). Discuss size (which is bigger/smaller?) and
details that they might have in common.
End the session by telling the children that, often when people find old treasures, they
take them to a place called a museum. A museum is a place where people can go to look
at these treasures. Have any of the children been to a museum? Explore the children’s
prior experiences. What did they see there? Did they buy anything while they were there? If
experiences are limited, then you could view one or more of the virtual museum tours (see
this Learning Block’s suggestions for continuous provision and play experiences for weblinks).
Afterwards, ask the children: shall we create our own museum?
Involve the children in the initial setting up of your museum role play area, which will
be added to over the course of this Learning Block. Decide on your display area for your
treasures, and encourage the children to help you arrange these into groups. Children could
use symbols, mark-making and pictorial representation to make their own labels and signs
for their display.
Take on the role of a visitor to the children’s museum. Can they tell you something about the
treasures that are on display? Ask the children to describe where and how the treasures were
found. Congratulate them on an exciting and interesting museum display.
Activity 1: Finding treasures
Phase B


events
activities
familiar words
2.28b Distinguishing differences and giving meaning to different marks and symbols
2.36b Exploring number in the environment and in real-life contexts
2.38b Exploring written numerals
2.47b Separating objects into more than two groups and comparing group sizes
2.58b Collecting simple data and representing pictorially

2.63b Comparing and ordering weight
2.64b Exploring how to measure weight in practical contexts

3.12b Classifying and comparing natural and man-made materials
3.24b Exploring evidence and artefacts that inform us about life long ago
Explore: Phase B
In this session the children are going to be involved in their own archaeological dig, to find
‘treasures’ in and around your setting. (See Explore: Phase A on guidance for setting up your
dig.)
Start your session by asking the children if they have ever searched for treasure. Perhaps they
might like to look around your setting to see what they can find?
Have a toy treasure chest hidden somewhere where it can be easily found. Once it has been
found, bring it back to your circle. Ask the children what they think they might find inside.
Consider what the word treasure means and explore some examples. Try and arrive at a basic
understanding that treasure is something that is special and precious. Open up your chest
and reveal the contents. (This could be some plastic gold coins and costume jewellery etc.)
Explain that there are some people who look for treasure for a living – or as a hobby. They are
called archaeologists (sound out the word for the children to repeat and practise), who dig in
the soil to find old objects from long ago that might have become buried. Shall we go looking
for some real treasure?
In groups with an adult, lead the children over to your dig area. The children can then use
spades, rakes, trowels and sieves to dig and sift through the soil. If you have a metal detector
then you could use this to help you search.
Have trays or boxes that the children can carefully place their finds inside. There will be lots
of excitement as each item is discovered! Have old toothbrushes available that the children
can use to clean up their objects, ready for a closer examination back in your setting.
If necessary, provide some guidance for groups to ensure that they are searching in the right
areas and that each group has their own collection of finds.
Express: Phase B
Back in the room, the groups can take a closer look at the objects that they have found.
What do they think they are? Have hand lenses available so that the children can examine
them more closely. Provide assistance to help the children describe what they see – shapes,
patterns, images of people, writing etc. Emphasise that these are treasures from long ago.
Now it is time for the children to record their finds, just like proper archaeologists. They
should ensure that each treasure is cleaned up, then give it a number. They can write the
number on a label and then take a photograph of it. Ask the children why giving a number
to each object and taking a photo might be helpful. (In case a treasure goes missing or they
get mixed up, for example.) Children can also weigh and measure their objects (height and
width), and this information could be recorded in a simple table, with the name or drawing of
the treasure and its number.
Groups can also view the treasures found by others. If appropriate, compare similar treasures
(like rings or coins). Discuss size (which is bigger/smaller?) and details that they might have
in common.
End the session by telling the children that, often when people find old treasures, they
take them to a place called a museum. A museum is a place where people can go to look
at these treasures. Have any of the children been to a museum? Explore the children’s
prior experiences. What did they see there? Did they buy anything while they were there? If
experiences are limited, then you could view one or more of the virtual museum tours (see
this Learning Block’s suggestions for continuous provision and play experiences for weblinks).
Afterwards, ask the children: shall we create our own museum?
Involve the children in the initial setting up of your museum role play area, which will
be added to over the course of this Learning Block. Decide on your display area for your
treasures, and encourage the children to help you arrange these into groups – perhaps based
on type, or based on the group of children that found them.
Children could use symbols, mark-making, pictorial representation or emergent writing to
make labels and signs for their display. The photographs could be printed out and used to
make a museum ‘catalogue’ of finds for each group.
Take on the role of a visitor to the children’s museum. Can the children tell you something
about the treasures that are on display? Ask the children to describe where and how the
treasures were found. Congratulate them on an exciting and interesting museum display.
Activity 2: Dinosaur dig
Phase A

1.21a Responding to praise and encouragement
1.22a Recognising that gratification is not always instant

2.39a Creating marks and symbols that represent numbers in a range of play situations
2.40a Exploring one-to-one correspondence
2.46a Creating groups of objects

creative activities

are of interest
Explore: Phase A
Prior to the session, you will need to make some salt dough dinosaur bones, which can then
be hidden in sand trays for the children to discover (see the Express activity). To make salt
dough:
1. Mix two cups of flour and one cup of salt.
2. Pour in ½ cup of water.
3. Mix and knead the mixture until you have a firm dough. Add more water if required.
Use the dough to shape your own dinosaur bones. Try and make these different sizes to add
interest to the children’s exploration. Leave the pieces to air-dry and harden – or you could
bake in the oven (around 200 degrees for ten to fifteen minutes).
Start your session by providing a selection of dinosaur jigsaws for the children to play with
and assemble. These could be a combination of 2D and 3D wooden puzzles, and images that
you have printed and laminated yourself, then cut into easy-to-assemble squares.
Talk to the children as they work on their jigsaw, prompting them to discuss any clues in the
shapes of the pieces or in the picture itself that will help them to put the jigsaw together.
Provide encouragement and praise as the children persevere with the puzzles.
You could also provide a selection of shapes that children can use to build their own
dinosaur. Begin by having a pre-drawn dinosaur template by drawing around the relevant
pattern of shapes, then removing them, and letting children choose and place the shapes
onto the picture to build the dinosaur.
Once children are confident with building the dinosaurs, they could go on to build one of
their own by having a clean sheet of paper, and placing the shapes in an arrangement of their
choosing. Provide assistance as necessary. Use this opportunity to talk about shape names
and develop counting skills by looking at the shapes which have been used for body parts.
For example, three triangles for Triceratops’s back, five rectangles for Diplodocus’s long neck,
four squares for Tyrannosaurs Rex’s legs etc.
Express: Phase A
Talk with the children about bones. Do they know what a bone is? Involve children in feeling
bones in their knees, elbows, hands and so on. Explain that bones all link together to make
our skeleton. Look together at images of a human skeleton, perhaps x-ray images and/or
illustrations and models. Involve children in talking about breaking bones – do they have
experience of this or know someone who broke a bone?
Set up your own gallery of images in and around your museum area, showing dinosaur
skeletons (both reconstructed and individual bones/skulls). This could be a selection of
enlarged photographs printed off from the internet (copyright permitting) and arranged to
provide an experience that the children can walk around and view. It may even be possible to
arrange for a local museum curator or a school dinosaur company to visit your setting to talk
about how we learn about the past, and provide example exhibits.
You could also have some replica models of dinosaur skeletons to look at.
Ask the children if they have ever seen a real dinosaur? Why do they think there are no
real dinosaurs around for us to look at? Guide the children towards an understanding that
dinosaurs are no longer around – they lived a long time ago – but we can see them in
museums, like the old treasures we looked at in the previous session.
Have an adult accompany groups of children around your museum display. Prompt the
children to talk about what they are seeing in the images. Help them to understand that
these are the remains of dinosaurs. Some children may be able to recognise and link some
of the skeletons to dinosaurs they have previously learned about. Explain that there are
people who travel all around the world, looking for the bones of dinosaurs. They are called
archaeologists and they dig for them in the soil, in the same way that we did to find our
treasures (see Activity 1).
When these people find the dinosaur bones, they use those bones to put the dinosaurs back
together again, just like the jigsaws that we made. Shall we go hunting for some dinosaur
bones?
In groups, encourage children to explore the sand trays using play equipment such as small
spades, trowels, brushes and so on. Have the bones you made prior to the session buried in
different parts of the tray. Let the children enjoy hunting for the bones and unearthing them.
These can then be carefully placed on a mat or in a basket. Take photographs to record the
children’s learning.
Once the children are confident they have found all the dinosaur bones, they can carefully
brush them to remove any sand. They can then pretend they are real scientists and examine
their bones through a hand lens. Prompt them to order their bones from biggest to smallest.
Practise counting the bones.
End the session by letting children arrange their bones to make a display for their museum.
Confident children could practise mark-making and emergent writing by giving each of their
bones a number or making labels for their display. Photographs of the children’s dinosaur dig
could also be added to the display, to show the ‘before’ and ‘after’ journey.
Activity 2: Dinosaur dig
Phase B


events
activities

3.14b Classifying living and non-living things
Explore: Phase B
Prior to the session, you will need to make some salt dough dinosaur bones, which can then
be hidden in sand trays for the children to discover (see Explore: Phase A). To make salt
dough:
1. Mix two cups of flour and one cup of salt.
2. Pour in ½ cup of water.
3. Mix and knead the mixture until you have a firm dough. Add more water if required.
Use the dough to shape your own dinosaur bones. Try and make these different sizes
and shapes to add interest to the children’s exploration. For example, you might want to
include some curved bones that could be from a rib cage, plate bones that could be from a
Stegosaurus’ back and so on. View some black and white illustrations of dinosaur skeletons
for reference.
Leave the pieces to air-dry and harden – or you could bake in the oven (around 200 degrees
for ten to fifteen minutes). Then place in the sand in different positions and depths for the
children to find when they go exploring.
Also, set up your own gallery of images showing dinosaur skeletons (both reconstructed
and individual bones/skulls) in and around your museum area. This could be a selection
of enlarged photographs printed off from the internet (copyright permitting) and arranged
around the setting to provide an experience that the children can walk around and view. You
could also have some models of dinosaur skeletons to look at. It may even be possible to
arrange a visit by a local museum curator or a school dinosaur company that can visit to talk
about artefacts from the past, the role of palaeontologists, and provide example exhibits.
Begin your session by asking the children if they have ever seen a real dinosaur? Why do they
think there are no real dinosaurs around for us to look at? Guide the children towards an
understanding that dinosaurs are no longer around – they lived a long time ago – but we can
see them in museums, like the old treasures we looked at in the previous session.
Have an adult accompany groups of children around your museum display. Prompt the
children to talk about what they are seeing in the images.
Help them to understand that these are the remains of dinosaurs. Some children may be able
to recognise and link some of the skeletons to dinosaurs they have previously learned about.
Remind children of the role of archaeologists (see previous Activity). Explain that, as well as
looking for treasures, some archaeologists also travel around the world, looking for the bones
of dinosaurs. They dig for them in the soil, in the same way that we dug in the soil to find
treasures.
And when these people find the dinosaur bones, they use those bones to put the dinosaurs
back together again, just like a jigsaw. Shall we go hunting for some dinosaur bones?
In groups, let children explore the sand trays using play equipment such as little spades,
trowels, brushes and so on. Have the bones you made prior to the session buried in different
parts of the tray. Let the children enjoy hunting for the bones and unearthing them. These can
then be carefully placed on a mat, where they can be brushed to remove any sand. If you wish,
confident children could be shown how to mark where they found their bones on a recording
sheet, and sketch them for reference later (see Express activity).
Express: Phase B
Children can carefully place their bones in a box to carry to their museum role play area.
Once the bones have arrived in the role play area, children can pretend to be scientists at the
museum who must carefully examine the finds and decide what dinosaur they might belong
to. If you wish, you could explain to the children that the scientists are a bit like detectives,
who must solve a mystery – by finding out who the bones belong to. The bones are like clues
that help to solve the mystery. Provide some examples of detectives in stories and movies
that children are familiar with to help develop an understanding of the role.
Have a couple of print outs of simple black-and-white drawings of dinosaur skeletons
(Google Images will provide an excellent selection, although always check for copyright
permissions first). Children can then compare their dinosaur bones with the images and
discuss which bone might belong to which dinosaur. There may be some differences of
opinion, so let children make a case for their own choices. You could prompt them to use their
recording sheets to consider which bones were found together, which might suggest they
belonged to the same type of dinosaur.
Confident children could catalogue their finds (giving each a name and a number). The latter
provides a good opportunity for children to practise their emergent writing, and counting
skills.
Finally, children can arrange their bones to make a museum display for others to view.
Activity 3: Dinosaur fossils
Phase A


2.28a Mark making using a range of materials
creative activities

are of interest
Explore: Phase A
Set up some hands-on experiences for the children to explore. These might include:
■■Dinosaur imprints – have a selection of plastic dinosaurs that the children can press into
different materials and textures, such as wet sand, salt dough (see previous activity for
guidelines of making your own), clay, mud etc. Explore the types of marks that can be made.
■■Dinosaur footprints – dip the feet of plastic dinosaurs in paint and use them to create
colourful patterns and trails across a sheet of paper. Set up some obstacles on the paper
for the children to guide their dinosaurs around. Use different colours for different
dinosaurs and compare the size and shape of the marks that are made.
Have an adult guide and prompt the children as they explore. Look together at some images
of dinosaur fossils. Explain in simple terms that, as well as finding bones, people often find the
shape of dinosaurs in rock, where they have left a mark – like the marks we are making on the
paper and in the sand/salt dough etc. These marks are called fossils and they help us to learn
about what dinosaurs looked like and how big they were.
Express: Phase A
The children are going to become dinosaur detectives, just like the people who go hunting for
fossils to find out more about dinosaurs and the past.
Have some pre-prepared ‘fossils’ made by imprinting plastic dinosaurs into salt dough or air-
drying clay and then allowing to harden. Have some that feature one whole side of a dinosaur,
and others that might have one part of a dinosaur, such as an imprint of their tail or their
footprints.
You could bury these in your sand tray for the children to discover or have them placed around
your outdoor setting for the children to find.
When the ‘fossils’ have been found, let the children bring them to your museum role play area
(or the carpet) to look at and share as a group. Use hand lenses to take a closer look at the marks
that have been made. Can any of the children name the dinosaurs that might have made the
prints? Have some images available for the children to point to.
Challenge the children to see if they can find the correct dinosaurs (from a varied collection) to
match with the marks that have been made in the fossils.
The fossils can be added to your museum role play area for the children to continue to explore
and investigate.
Activity 3: Dinosaur fossils
Phase B


events
activities
2.30b Using a wide range of writing tools and materials to refine fine motor skill control

Explore: Phase B
As with Explore: Phase A, set up some hands-on experiences for the children to explore.
These might include:
■■Dinosaur imprints – have a selection of plastic dinosaurs that the children can press into
different materials and textures, such as wet sand, salt dough (see previous activity for
guidelines of making your own), clay, mud etc. Explore the types of marks that can be made.
■■Dinosaur footprints – dip the feet of plastic dinosaurs in paint and use them to create
colourful patterns and trails across a sheet of paper. Set up some obstacles on the paper
for the children to guide their dinosaurs around. Use different colours for different
dinosaurs and compare the size and shape of the marks that are made.
■■Dinosaur moulds – have a selection of dinosaur moulds, such as those used for cakes,
biscuits and jellies. Invite the children to push these into wet sand or balls of clay to leave
shapes and imprints.
■■Uncover the fossil – prior to the session, make a simple outline drawing of a dinosaur in
white crayon on watercolour paper. Then provide watercolour paints for the children to
paint over the paper to reveal the hidden fossil. Children could also have a go at making
their own, by drawing dinosaur shapes (or random patterns) on the paper with a white
old new
crayon then swapping papers with a partner, so each can discover the hidden fossil
patterns.
Have an adult guide and prompt the children as they explore. Look together at some images
of different fossils. Explain in simple terms that, as well as finding bones, people have learned
about the past by finding fossils.
Fossils are marks of plants and animals preserved in rock. This happens because the plant
or animal has been covered in lots of layers of mud for a very long time, pushing them into
the rock and leaving a mark. These marks are called fossils and they help us to learn about
the plants and animals that made the mark. Like finding bones, fossils have helped people to
learn about animals from the past, like dinosaurs.
If you wish, children could also view the following animated video that explains what a fossil
is and the different types of fossil that can be found:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVwPLWOo9TE
YouTube hosts this animated presentation by Sheppard Software, which explores different
types of fossil and how a fossil is made.
Express: Phase B
Children can make their own personal fossil art. Provide each child with a square of rolled
out salt dough or air-drying clay. Invite the children to decorate their dough or clay by making
marks with various materials (see suggestions below). Have an example that you have
prepared yourself for the children to view and use as reference.
Some ideas for mark-making might include:

■■plastic letters to imprint their name or initials
■■plastic dinosaurs to leave prints of their bodies or footprints
■■the blunt end of a brush to make a picture, create a pattern or spell their name
■■natural materials such as leaves, twigs and stones – exploring the marks that they make
■■hand prints or finger prints
■■pasta shapes and other objects with varied textures
If children would like to improve their initial designs, then the dough or clay can simply be
rolled out again, allowing children to continue experimenting and exploring until they are
happy with their creation.
Once the dough or clay has dried, the children can then paint them to look like real fossils.
This could be done by experimenting with different paints (white, black, orange, blue, red) to
mix earthy colours such as grey, brown and orange, then applying them to the fossil.
You could also add some of the dinosaur fossils that the children made (see the Explore
activity) to your museum role play area. Children can then pretend to examine these and
match the prints to the correct plastic toy dinosaurs.
Activity 4: Mystery dinosaur
Phase A

1.22a Recognising that gratification is not always instant

songs and rhymes
creative activities
2.71a The use of computers, tablets and a range of ICT to convey information

are of interest
Explore: Phase A
In this activity, children will have opportunity to bring together their skills and learning from
the previous activities to build and identify a dinosaur.
Prior to the session, you will need to create some pieces of a dinosaur skeleton. This can be
done by finding a basic template of a dinosaur skeleton online (Googles Images will bring up
some good examples) to either use as the basis for your own pieces or to enlarge and print.
These need to be glued onto thick white card and cut out, so that you have lots of separate
2D pieces that will combine to make a dinosaur.
You may want to have just four or five pieces, or include more to offer a more interesting
challenge for confident children. This decision should be based on your professional
judgement of children’s ability to engage and persevere with the task. Note that it isn’t
important that children arrive at something that is visually ‘correct’. The purpose of the
task is to develop creativity and to gain enjoyment by being detectives, using the pieces in
imaginative ways to create what they think might be a dinosaur. Therefore, providing more
pieces can add to this creativity.
Have one set of dinosaur pieces per group. For added excitement when the children arrive
in the room, your individual pieces could be packed in shoe-boxes and wrapped in packing
paper, with the address of your setting written on the paper. This will create the sense that
they have been posted to your setting. Also have an envelope, with a letter to read to the
children:
To the Museum of Dinosaur Wonders

I have discovered something truly marvellous, and I want to share it with you. I have found
what I think are the bones of a baby dinosaur. I have heard that you are the best at looking
at bones and putting dinosaurs back together again. Perhaps you can help me to find out
what dinosaur I have discovered. If you want, you can display it in your museum!
Good luck!
Signed, Dr Rattlebone.
Working in groups with an adult, help the children to open their set of boxes and carefully
remove the pretend bones. Lay them out and explore the different pieces. Which bones might
suggest a head, a tail, a leg bone and so on?
Encourage the children to arrange the bone pieces in different ways to suggest a dinosaur
shape. Offer guidance as necessary if the children are struggling – or perhaps have some
images of dinosaur skeletons to refer to. As mentioned previously, it doesn’t matter if the
children match their pieces in the correct way, but if you wish, you could reveal an image of
the completed version for the children to lay their pieces on top of.
Look together at a small selection of images of different dinosaurs and let groups pick the
dinosaur that they think best fits the skeleton. Help the children to learn the name of the
dinosaur they have found. Groups could share their finished dinosaur skeletons and names
with other groups to see if everyone agrees.
Express: Phase A
Ask the children to think of different ways that they could send a message to Dr Rattlebone.
Explore their suggestions, and focus in on the idea of sending a video message by recording
the children.
Have the children pretend that they are going to send a video message to Dr Rattlebone
about their discovery. In pairs or in their groups, children can be filmed by an adult using a
digital camera.
Have the bones and the image of the dinosaur for the children to use as props. Some children
will be more confident at speaking than others. Provide prompts from behind camera and
have an adult sit with the children to lead the presentation.
Offer plenty of guidance to help the children with what to say – such as a thank you message
for sending the bones. With an adult leading, children can then talk about how they put the
bones together and what parts of the puzzle were hard. And of course, they should reveal
what dinosaur they think it is!
Alternatively, you could rehearse and record a song for Dr Rattlebone to say thank you:
(Sing to ‘Baa, Baa, Black Sheep’)
Thank you, thank you
Dr Rattlebone
You gave us a puzzle
We had to guess who.
One bone, two bones, there bones, four,
We put together your dinosaur!
The videos can then be watched back by the children – or could be viewed as part of your
Exit Point show. Perhaps Dr Rattlebone could record his/her own message of thanks for the
children to watch a few days later (this could be a member of staff in a suitable disguise!). If
children are excited and engaged by the character, you could get them to think of questions
to ask Dr Rattlebone – who could respond with another video message.
Don’t forget to add your new dinosaur skeletons to the museum role play area!
Activity 4: Mystery dinosaur
Phase B

1.17b Overcoming challenges with increasing independence

events
activities
familiar words
2.32b Creating a sequenced account and reading it

Explore: Phase B
In this activity, children will have opportunity to bring together their skills and learning from
the previous activities to build and identify a dinosaur.
Prior to the session, you will need to create some pieces of a dinosaur skeleton (see Explore:
Phase A). This can be done by finding a basic template of a dinosaur skeleton online (Googles
Images will bring up some good examples) to either use as the basis for your own pieces or
to enlarge and print. These need to be glued onto thick white card and cut out, so that you
have lots of separate 2D pieces that will combine to make a dinosaur.
You may want to make the challenge more interesting by not offering a complete skeleton
and just providing enough pieces for the children to deduce a rough dinosaur shape. This will
encourage greater discussion about where different pieces might belong – and will also show
how difficult it can be for real scientists to identify and reconstruct a dinosaur, when very
often they don’t have all the pieces! (Remind the children of their role as detectives – see
Activity 2 –who must try and piece all the clues together to try and solve the mystery!)
The decision on the level of challenge for this task should be based on your professional
judgement of children’s ability to engage and persevere with the task. Note that it isn’t
important that children arrive at something that is visually ‘correct’. The purpose of the
task is to develop creativity and to gain enjoyment by being detectives, using the pieces in
imaginative ways to create what they think might be a dinosaur.
Have one set of dinosaur pieces per group. For added excitement when the children arrive
in the room, your individual pieces could be packed in shoe-boxes and wrapped in packing
paper, with the address of your setting written on the paper. This will create the sense that
they have been posted to your setting. Also have an envelope, with a letter to read to the
children:
To the Museum of Dinosaur Wonders

I have discovered something truly marvellous, and I want to share it with you. I was on an
expedition in Argentina [or a country of your choosing] and I have found what I think are
the bones of a baby dinosaur. I have heard that you are the best at looking at bones and
putting dinosaurs back together again. Perhaps you can help me to find out what kind of
dinosaur I have discovered. If you want, you can display it in your museum!
Good luck!
Signed, Dr Rattlebone.
Begin by using maps or globes to locate your host country and then the country where Dr
Rattlebone performed his/her dig. Have the packages travelled a long way? Trace their
journey using your map/globe.
Working in groups with an adult, help the children to open their set of boxes and carefully
remove the pretend bones. Lay them out and explore the different pieces. Which bones might
suggest a head, a tail, a leg bone and so on? If you wish, children could ‘catalogue’ their bone
collection by numbering and measuring them.
Next, encourage the children to arrange the available bone pieces in different ways to
suggest a dinosaur shape. Offer guidance as necessary if the children are struggling – or
perhaps have some images of dinosaur skeletons to refer to. As mentioned previously, it
doesn’t matter if the children match their pieces in the correct way – part of the fun will be
having lots of different interpretations! Children might want to draw in some of the shapes
that they think are missing.
Once groups are happy with their skeleton, allow time for children to view each other’s creations.
Compare and contrast, and decide if there is one version that they prefer or is the most accurate.
Look together at a selection of images of different dinosaurs and let groups pick the dinosaur
that they think best fits the skeleton. Help the children to learn the name of the dinosaur they
have found.
Express: Phase B
Children can create their own fact file to send to Dr Rattlebone with the results of their
investigation. This could include a photograph of the skeleton that the children created,
measurements of its size (height, width) and a drawing or cut out picture of the dinosaur they
think the skeleton belongs to. The fact file could also include examples of emergent writing if
the children want to label images or give additional information.
Perhaps Dr Rattlebone could record a video message of thanks, which the children can then
watch a few days later (this could be a member of staff in a suitable disguise!). If children
are excited and engaged by the character, you could get them to think of questions to ask
Dr Rattlebone, which they could then film using a digital camera. Dr Rattlebone can then
respond with a new video message.
Don’t forget to add your new dinosaur skeletons to the museum role play area!
Activity 5: Museum role play
Phase A

1.18a Recognising when others need support
1.23a Demonstrating independence in familiar situations

2.2a Using and valuing mother tongue language(s)

2.31a Experimenting with letters and patterns using a range of materials
2.34a Exploring writing and spelling through games, play, art and digital means
2.39a Creating marks and symbols that represent numbers in a range of play situations
2.51a Sharing quantities
2.52a Exploring money
COMMUNICATING THROUGH ICT AND TECHNOLOGY
2.73a Integrating technology in play contexts
2.90a Exploring role-play involving costumes and props

3.5a Exploring the roles of people who help us in the community
Explore: Phase A
The children will be adding to their museum role play area with further experiences. If
children have been able to visit a museum then they might have ideas of their own – or
perhaps you can view some of the virtual tours suggested in the continuous provision for this
Learning Block. You may need to provide plenty of prompts, to help the children to consider
the types of things that visitors may want to have, such as a café for food and drink, and a
shop to buy souvenirs. You might also want to include some of the Phase B suggestions, such
as an information kiosk and office area, if you feel the children will be confident in exploring
those situations. What you choose to include may also depend on the resources and time you
have available.
Involve the children in preparing props and other play accessories for each area. Have an
adult assist each group, providing prompts and guidance as necessary. Some children may be
more confident than others, and could be involved in helping in multiple areas, sharing ideas
and assisting with the making of props. Also, some tasks (such as making souvenirs) could be
performed as a separate session and involve all the children.
Activities might include:
■■Shop – if possible, have a toy cash register with pretend money and bank cards for the
children to play with and explore. Have one child being the museum shop keeper and
other children playing customers. Think about the types of things that people might want
to buy at a museum shop. Gifts, postcards, tickets to view the exhibits. Guide the children
to develop their ideas, and encourage them to use art materials and available resources to
make their own props. These might include dinosaur models as gifts made out of air drying
clay, a jigsaw puzzle gift created by gluing a dinosaur picture to card and then cutting up
into pieces and putting in a zip-lock bag, tickets that can be given to customers so they
can view the museum displays, postcards made by cutting and arranging pictures onto
card, and so on. A pricing list of what is available could also be made, enabling children to
practise making marks and symbols to represent numbers.
■■Café – set up a table for guests and a kitchen area, with any kitchen play equipment
you might have. Encourage children to role play being a waiter, chef and guests. Explore
ordering food – with the waiter talking through the available dishes and taking the order,
then having it made in the kitchens. The waiter can then serve the food and the guests can
enjoy tasting them. Think about some of the imaginative foods that guests might be able
to order – perhaps a dino burger, a Jurassic pizza or a Stegosaurus sandwich! Confident
children could attempt to make menus, with a drawing of each dish, or they could cut and
glue pictures from food magazines.
See Explore: Phase B for additional ideas for setting up an office and information kiosk.
Express: Phase A
Once your areas are complete and children have had experience of playing at different roles,
you could set up your own museum role play experience. Staff members could act as visitors,
with the children taking on the role of café staff, shop attendants and museum guides.
Visitors could stop by the shop to buy tickets before viewing the exhibits, then return to the
shop afterwards to buy souvenirs. Some visitors might be feeling hungry so could visit the
café for a dino burger or two. Perhaps they might be able to use a specific mother tongue
language, which some children in the class will be able to understand and translate. Let the
adults play along with the children, as you have fun experiencing what a real museum might
be like.
This will provide children with an opportunity to develop confidence in their roles, ready
for the Exit Point show when they invite parents/carers to visit their Museum of Dinosaur
Wonders!
Activity 5: Museum role play
Phase B

1.15b Initiating and participating in different types of play by taking on new roles and
responsibilities
1.22b Recognising that the needs of others may be a priority

2.8b Using language to describe roles, events and storyline in imaginary play situations
activities
familiar words

2.36b Exploring number in the environment and in real-life contexts
2.40b How numbers represent quantities and sets
2.50b Exploring early addition and subtraction through practical contexts
2.52b Counting and using money in a range of real-life and play contexts
2.69b Selecting technology that best matches practical activities
2.71b How computers are used in the environment and the language associated with
operating them
2.90b Exploring characters, storylines and roles through drama activities involving costume
and props

3.5b Exploring the skills of people who help us in the community
diagrams
Explore: Phase B
The children will be adding to their museum role play area with further experiences, such as
a café, shop, information kiosk and office area. What you choose to include may depend on
the resources and time you have available, as well as any previous experience the children
may have had of museum visits.
Involve the children in preparing props and other play accessories for each area. Have an
adult assist each group, providing prompts and guidance as necessary. Some children may be
more confident than others, and could be involved in helping in multiple areas, sharing ideas
and assisting with the making of props. Also, some tasks (such as making souvenirs) could be
performed as a separate session and involve all the children.
■■Shop – if possible, have a toy cash register with pretend money and bank cards for the
children to play with and explore. Have one child being the museum shop keeper and
other children playing customers. Think about the types of things that people might want
to buy at a museum shop. Gifts, postcards, tickets to view the exhibits. Guide the children
to develop their ideas, and encourage them to use art materials and available resources to
make their own props. These might include dinosaur models as gifts made out of air drying
clay, a jigsaw puzzle gift created by gluing a dinosaur picture to card and then cutting up
into pieces and putting in a zip-lock bag, tickets that can be given to customers so they can
view the museum displays, postcards made by sizing and arranging pictures on computer
then printing out, and so on. A pricing list of what is available could also be made, allowing
children to practise number formation and adding up customers’ orders.
■■Café – set up a table for guests and a kitchen area, with any kitchen play equipment you
might have. Encourage children to pretend to be a waiter, chef and guests. Explore ordering
food – with the waiter talking through the available dishes and taking the order, then
having it made in the kitchens. The waiter can then serve the food and the guests can
enjoy tasting them. Think about some of the imaginative foods that guests might be able
to order – perhaps a dino burger, a Jurassic pizza or a Stegosaurus sandwich! Confident
children could attempt to make menus, with a drawing of each dish, or they could cut and
glue pictures from food magazines.
■■Information kiosk – explain that people might often visit an information kiosk if they
are lost or want to find out more about the museum. This area could have telephones,
computers and notepads, so children can pretend to take telephone and email enquiries
about the museum – the opening times, what the museum contains, special shows and so
on. Children can make imaginary maps of their museum (have some real examples to look
at, if possible) and/or attempt to make signs pointing to different parts of the museum,
such as the café and the shop. An identification poster of dinosaurs could also be made, to
help inform guests on the types of dinosaurs they might be seeing on their visit.
■■Office – a ‘back office’ area could be created where children can use pretend phones and
recording sheets to take imaginary bookings for the museum. Children can consult and
use calendars and/or diaries to check days. With an adult assisting, children could make
their own pictogram posters to show visitor figures for a week, by rolling dice and using
the result to represent the number that visited. They can then talk about the busiest days
with the most visitors, and the quietest days with the least number. Office staff could also
be responsible for checking on other members of the museum and ensure everything is
running smoothly. Perhaps the café needs more food ingredients ordering or the shop is
running out of souvenirs.
Express: Phase B
Once your areas are complete and children have had experience of playing at different roles,
you could set up your own museum role play experience. Staff members could act as visitors,
with the children taking on the role of office and café staff, shop attendants, museum guides
and information kiosk attendants.
Visitors could stop by the shop to buy tickets before viewing the exhibits, then return to the
shop afterwards to buy souvenirs. Some visitors might be feeling hungry so could visit the
café for a dino burger or two. Perhaps someone is lost or has a question about the museum
opening hours, so might visit the information kiosk. The office staff can record the number of
visitors and add them to their record sheets and/or pictogram – then visit each area to ensure
that everything is running smoothly and visitors are happy. Perhaps they’ll need to put in
an order for more food if the visitors are proving particularly hungry or deal with one of the
guests who wishes to book a future trip for their family and friends.
Let the adults play along with the children, as you have fun experiencing what a real museum
might be like.
This activity will provide children with an opportunity to develop confidence in their roles,
ready for the Exit Point show when they invite parents/carers to visit their Museum of
Dinosaur Wonders!

Dinosaur dilemmas

experiences:
The starting point for this Learning Block is the storybook, Harry and the Bucketful of Dinosaurs,
by Ian Whybrow, Puffin Books, 2003. In the story, a young boy called Harry finds some old plastic
dinosaurs in his Grandma’s attic. He cleans them up and decides to keep them in his book.
Using his imagination, he has lots of different adventures with his dinosaur friends. There are
many books in the series, so you may want to provide others for the children to explore and
share with an adult. Harry’s adventures will provide lots of inspiration for children’s role play
and small world play, incorporating their dinosaur models and scenes from Learning Block 1.
Once children have been introduced to the dinosaur heads and the food cards (see the
feeding game in Activity 3), then these can be made available for the children to play with
in their own time. Prompt them to feed the dinosaurs with the correct types of food pictured
on the cards (for meat and plant eaters). Introduce new food cards regularly to discuss and
explore, then decide which dinosaur would like to try them.
You could also expand the theme to explore healthy eating and the importance of fruits,
meat and vegetables in a healthy diet – and eating less sugary foods such as sweets, cakes
and so on, which can be bad for our teeth. Use play food to explore making up different
meals, perhaps using your café role play area from Learning Block 2. You could imagine a
group of dinosaurs are coming to visit. Decide on the feast that the children will provide to
ensure that both plant and meat-eating dinosaurs are catered for.

Learning Block are:
■■Adaptability
■■Enquiry
■■Communication
■■Cooperation
■■Morality
■■Respect
■■Resilience

Learning Block is:

Develop the friendship theme by having the children make a friendship card for another child
in the class. This will provide opportunity to practise mark-making and emergent writing, as
the children write or copy the child’s name and their own name inside the card. Confident
children can attempt a simple message.
Children could make their own sequenced account of their dinosaur adventure (see Activity
2). This could include comic-book style panels to show the different obstacles they had to
overcome in order to find their missing dinosaurs. Children can then use the pictures as a
prompt to help them retell their adventure. Encourage use of sequencing vocabulary such as
first, then, next, finally.
Have a plastic see-through container filled with dinosaurs. Children can estimate how many
dinosaurs are inside the jar. Then they can tip out the dinosaurs and count them to see if
they were correct. Change the number of dinosaurs in the jar each day to provide a fresh
challenge.
Use buckets and plastic dinosaurs to practise and reinforce counting, one-to-one
correspondence, sharing and grouping (see Activity 1).

Develop the Jurassic adventure theme with linking PE activities, such as obstacle courses
(imagining they are jungle or forest environments filled with obstacles) or using mats as
islands for the children to use as stepping stones to navigate.
Explore a volcanic eruption by having children move about the space, then have adults roll
big sponge balls towards them (pretending they are balls of fiery lava!) for the children to
avoid. If a child is touched by a ball, then they must sit out – or can help the adults with
rolling more balls into the space.
Use streamers and ribbons for the children to imagine they are fire, erupting out of the
volcano and flying through the air. Use dramatic music (such as ‘Night on Bald Mountain’, by
Modest Mussorgsky) to accompany their movements, as they use their streamers to make
exciting shapes as they dance.
questions:

Activities
Activity 1: Our dinosaurs are missing!
Phase A


songs and rhymes
language activities
2.26a Letter and sound games, involving listening and responding skills
2.36a Counting through play activities, action songs, rhymes and games
2.45a Selecting a given number of objects
2.50a Exploring increasing and decreasing quantities through action songs, rhymes and
games
Explore: Phase A
Begin the session by sharing the picture book, Harry and the Bucketful of Dinosaurs, by Ian
Whybrow, Puffin Books, 2003. As you read the book, prompt the children to talk about how
Harry feels when he loses his bucket of dinosaurs. Can the children show you how he would
be feeling? If necessary, model a sad face for the children to copy.
Ask: how do we know that the dinosaurs are Harry’s favourite toys? Do we think he will get
his dinosaurs back?
When Harry is finally reunited with his dinosaurs at the end of the book, ask the children to
think about how Harry might be feeling now. Can they show you?
Ask the children if they would like to have their own bucketful of dinosaurs. You can do the
following activities as a whole class or in small groups.
Reveal a bucket and a small collection of plastic dinosaurs. Ask the children if they can help
you count the dinosaurs as you place them inside the bucket. Place the dinosaurs one by one.
Then ask the children if they can tell you how many dinosaurs are inside the bucket.
Remind the children that, in the story, when Harry calls his dinosaurs by name, they appear.
Shall we sing a song to make the dinosaurs appear?
The following is a variation of ‘Ten Green Bottles’. Adapt the numbers based on the children’s
confidence with counting and the number of dinosaurs that are inside the bucket:
There are ten dinosaurs hiding in the bucket
Ten dinosaurs hiding in the bucket.
And if we should say the name, of one of the dinosaurs…
(Hold up one of the dinosaurs from the bucket. Ask the children if they know the name
of the dinosaur and can say it out loud. Help them to say the name, singing it together
– for example, A-pat-o-saur-us. Then place the dinosaur in front of the children.)
Then there’ll be nine dinosaurs hiding in the bucket.
Continue with the song, calling out the name of a different dinosaur each time until
there are no dinosaurs left in the bucket. Then repeat the song in reverse, by calling
the dinosaurs back into the bucket:
There are no dinosaurs hiding in the bucket
No dinosaurs hiding in the bucket
But if we should say the name, of one of the dinosaurs…
(Again, hold up a dinosaur and say its name together. Place it inside the bucket.)
Then there’ll be one dinosaur hiding in the bucket.
Repeat until all the dinosaurs are back inside the bucket. Ask the children if they can
remember the names all the different dinosaurs that are inside the bucket. Can they
describe what they look like? As each one is mentioned, hold it up afterwards for the
children to look at. Provide assistance as necessary, to help the children recall the
dinosaurs and describe their characteristics.
If you wish, you could perform further counting activities by displaying the group of dinosaurs
and asking children to count and put different totals of dinosaurs inside the bucket. Can you
put three dinosaurs inside the bucket? Can we add one more dinosaur to the bucket? How many
dinosaurs are inside the bucket now? Count out the dinosaurs together to see if you were right.
If possible, provide pairs or individuals with their own bucket and selection of dinosaurs to
count and play with.
Express: Phase A
Gather the children together with their buckets of dinosaurs. Ask each child to pick out their
favourite dinosaur from the collection. Encourage them to describe their dinosaur and, if they
are able to, explain why it is their favourite.
Now we’re going to pretend that our favourite dinosaurs have gone missing! Ask the children
to give you their favourite dinosaurs (you can reassure them that they will be getting them
back!). Explain that, often, when things go missing, people might make a poster to let others
know that something is missing. If we show on the poster what is missing, then other people
know what to look for. (You could make a sample ‘lost and found’ poster for a missing cat that
the children could look at.)
Provide art materials for children to draw or paint a picture of their missing dinosaur. Can
they remember what it looks like? Can they remember the name of their dinosaur? Have
an adult draw a speech bubble coming from each dinosaur, with the name of the dinosaur.
Alternatively, children could imagine and describe the sound their dinosaur makes, for the
adult to scribe.
After children have created their picture, cut out and glue these onto one giant poster – with
the title ‘Missing! Have you seen our dinosaurs?’.
Display the finished poster on the wall. Hopefully, someone will be able to find the missing
dinosaurs and get in contact! (See Activity 2.)
Activity 1: Our dinosaurs are missing!
Phase B

1.19b Recognising and interpreting feelings and emotions in others
1.25b Sharing feelings with others

activities

familiar words
2.43b Counting groups of objects beyond 10 in quantity
2.49b Exploring ‘one more’ and ‘one less’
2.68b The safe use of a range of technology, including guidelines for using the internet and
phones
IEYC Learning Strand 4: Healthy Living and Physical Well-being

PHYSICAL WELL-BEING
4.9b Exploring direction and movement in games and physical activities
Explore: Phase B
Begin the session by sharing the picture book, Harry and the Bucketful of Dinosaurs, by Ian
Whybrow, Puffin Books, 2003. As you read the book, prompt the children to discuss how Harry
might feel when he loses his bucket of dinosaurs. Have they ever lost something, such as a
favourite toy? Be sensitive as you explore the children’s experiences.
Ask: how do we know that the dinosaurs are Harry’s favourite toys? What can we remember
from the book that tells us that they are special to him? (For example, the way he looks after
them (washing, unbending the damaged ones etc.), giving them a new home (the bucket),
learning their names, taking them everywhere with him, and so on.)
Do we think he will get his dinosaurs back?
When Harry is finally reunited with his dinosaurs at the end of the book, ask the children to
describe how Harry might be feeling now.
Ask children to tell you their favourite scene or part of the story. Was their scene at the
beginning, the middle or the end of the story? Revisit the relevant pages and share them
together.
Afterwards, provide groups with their own bucket of dinosaurs. With adult assistance, practise
counting the dinosaurs into and out of the bucket (see Explore: Phase A). Challenge children
to close their eyes and say the names of all the dinosaurs (like Harry in the book). Can they
remember all of them? Place each dinosaur in front of the children as they say the name.
When they open their eyes, will all the dinosaurs be there? Are there any that are missing,
that the children forgot? Encourage them to describe the missing dinosaur/s. Reveal the
dinosaur/s afterwards to see if the children were correct.
End the session with a fun name game:
■■Gather the children in a circle.
■■One child who is ‘Harry’ walks around the circle tapping each child on the head and saying
their name.
■■When Harry chooses to tap a child on the head and say the name of one of his dinosaurs
instead, the chosen child must jump up and chase Harry around the circle to try and catch
him.
■■If Harry reaches the chosen child’s space first and sits in it, then the chosen child becomes
‘Harry’ and must now go around the circle tapping each child on the head.
■■If the chosen child is able to tag Harry first, then the child playing Harry must have another
go and the chosen child can take their place again in the circle.
Express: Phase B
Gather the children together with their buckets of dinosaurs. Ask each child to pick out their
favourite dinosaur from the collection. Encourage them to describe their dinosaur and explain
why it is their favourite.
Now we’re going to pretend that our favourite dinosaurs have gone missing! Ask the children
to give you their favourite dinosaurs (you can reassure them that they will be getting them
back!). Explain that, often, when things go missing, people might make a poster to let others
know that something is missing. If we show on the poster what is missing, then other people
know what to look for. (You could make a sample ‘lost and found’ poster for a missing cat that
the children could look at. Discuss the different pieces of information and why they might be
important.)
Provide large sheets of paper and art materials. Tell the children that they will be making
a lost and found poster for their missing dinosaur. What will they need to include on their
poster? Explore the children’s ideas – using your sample poster for reference, if you wish.
Arrive at an understanding that a good poster should include:
■■The name of the thing that is missing
■■A picture
■■A description
■■A possible reward
■■A contact number or name
Let the children use the available art materials to work on their poster. Provide assistance as
necessary to help children plan the layout of the poster. An adult may need to scribe some of
the words for children to trace/copy. Confident children can use the opportunity to practise
their emergent writing.
If you wish, some children could create their poster on computer using a pre-made template.
Scan in a drawing of the dinosaur to use as an image, or help the children to perform a safe
internet search to locate an appropriate image. Demonstrate how the poster can be saved
and then printed out to produce a hard copy.
Display the finished posters on the wall. Hopefully, someone will be able to find the missing
dinosaurs and get in contact! (See Activity 2.)
Activity 2: Jurassic adventure
Phase A

1.17a Seeking help and support appropriately
1.18a Recognising when others need support

songs and rhymes

2.36a Counting through play activities, action songs, rhymes and games
2.41a Using mathematical language to describe groups containing more or less objects
2.45a Selecting a given number of objects
2.73a Integrating technology in play contexts

3.8a Using materials to carry out simple investigations

HEALTH AND SELF-CARE
4.2a Looking after our bodies and teeth
PHYSICAL WELL-BEING
4.10a Developing gross motor skills using a range of equipment
4.11a Developing confidence, control and coordination using small and large equipment
Explore: Phase A
When the children arrive in the room, have them discover an envelope addressed to the
class. Inside will be a letter from Harry telling the children that he has seen their posters
and knows where their missing dinosaurs are. To find them, the children will have to jump
into their bucket and go to Dino World, just like Harry – and there they will go on an exciting
adventure to get their missing dinosaurs back. Ask the children if they would like to go to
Dino World?
In the hall or outdoor setting, have the children stand in their own space. Have a hoop in
front of each child, which they can imagine is their dinosaur bucket.
Sing the following song and model the actions:
We’re off, we’re off (Put hands in air and sway from side to side)
We’re off on an adventure!
We run around our bucket (Children run around the outside of their hoop)
We’re off to Dino World.
We jump inside our bucket (Children jump up inside their hoop)
We spin around our bucket (Children turn on the spot several times, inside their hoop)
We’re off, we’re off
We crouch inside our bucket (Children crouch down)
We’re off, we’re off (Stand and put hands in air, and sway from side to side)
We stretch inside our bucket (Stand and stretch, with arms up straight)
We sit inside our bucket (Children sit in their hoop)
While the children are enjoying the song, an adult could be preparing some or all of the
following learning experiences for the children to explore when they return to the room:
■■Dinosaur raft – ‘we’ve met some dinosaurs who want to help us. They will show us the way.
But we need to get across the river first!’. Using your water tray, have a selection of plastic
dinosaurs and some materials that could be used for a boat (a square of wood, card, paper,
polystyrene, sponge, cork and so on). Encourage the children to experiment with seeing
which materials float and sink, and those that can support the most number of dinosaurs.
(Note: children who may have limited experience of floating and sinking, will need to be
introduced to the concept prior to the activity.) Children can then gently push their chosen
boat across the water to get to the other side.
■■Egg hunt – ‘Patsy the Apatosaurus knows where we need to go next, but first she wants us to
find her missing eggs. They are lost in the sand!’ Have some pebbles, plastic eggs or papier-
mâché eggs buried in the sand tray or hidden around your outdoor setting. Have these
painted with different numbers of spots or different coloured spots. Children can then be
given a description of Patsy’s eggs (‘Her eggs have green spots’ or ‘Her eggs have three
spots on them’). Children can find the correct eggs and place them carefully into an egg
carton, which can be placed inside a box of straw to make it feel like a special nest. Once
the eggs have been found, hide them ready for the next group.
■■Toothache – ‘Trike the Triceratops likes his food. So much so that he has got
terrible toothache. If we help him by removing his bad teeth, he promises to
help us find the missing dinosaurs.’ Place pink and white marshmallows
on a mouth template to represent good teeth (white) and bad teeth
(pink). Alternatively, you could use scrunched up paper, counting cubes,
or small pompoms. Children can then use tweezers to carefully remove
the bad teeth and place them in a tin or box (for Trike to keep). The
game will help children practise their fine motor control. You may wish
to extend this activity by talking about good dental health.
■■Which island? – make some islands out of playdough and place on a
blue blanket or sheet of tin foil to represent the sea. Have different
numbers of trees on each island, represented by green straws or
lolly sticks. These could be decorated and given paper leaves etc.
Alternatively, you could use any small world trees you have available. Help the children to
count the trees on each island. Which island has the most/least trees? Tell the children that
the missing dinosaurs were last seen on an island with ‘X’ amount of trees. (Use numbers
that are developmentally appropriate for the children involved.) Can the children pick out
the correct island that they should explore?
Ideally, have an adult support each activity, offering prompts to help promote the children’s
learning and also their immersion in the adventure. Groups can participate in the activities
in any order to build their own story of their adventure in Dino World and their search for the
missing dinosaurs!
Express: Phase A
Draw out a maze for the children to guide a plastic dinosaur or small world person through.
This could be drawn onto sheets of paper, chalked onto the playground or created using
strips of tape on the floor of your hall, or if space is limited you could use wet sand in a tray
by channelling out wide pathways. Explain that the maze is a set of paths through a thick and
tangled Jurassic forest. If they reach the star at the end, then they will have discovered their
missing dinosaurs!
Children can perform this activity as a class or in small groups.

Let a volunteer guide the toy dinosaur carefully along the maze. Prompt them to stay on the
path and away from the trees as best they can, encouraging the practice of fine motor skills
to follow the path. If you have a large outdoor area, it may be appropriate to use bicycles,
scooters and other resources that children can steer through the pathways. This will help
develop gross motor and coordination skills.
Other children can offer assistance to point out the correct route to reach the star and avoid
wrong turns. Listen out for any directional vocabulary, such as up, down, along, around, turn
etc.
When children reach the star, you can ask one of the children to describe their missing
dinosaur and call out its name. You can then reveal it and give it to the child. Then place the
star on a different space of the maze. A different volunteer can then guide the dinosaur to the
new star, while other children help direct. When they reach the star, another missing dinosaur
can be revealed. Repeat until all the missing dinosaurs have been found! How do they feel
now that they have their favourite dinosaurs back? Discuss how everyone helped one another
and praise the children on their cooperation skills and team work. Use this opportunity to talk
about the IEYC Personal Goals that were used.
If you wish, some children could perform the maze activity on computer. Simply create a maze
in a paint program or open up an image of maze that you have saved. Children can then use
the mouse cursor to represent their character and move it along the paths. Again, encourage
them to move with care, keeping their cursor on the pathway. The activity will encourage
mouse skills and communication, as well as fine motor control. You can have several mazes
available, so that when one is complete, you can open up the next for children to try.
End the session by encouraging children to draw or paint a picture of their favourite moment
from their adventure in Dino World, to find the missing dinosaurs.
Activity 2: Jurassic adventure
Phase B


2.2b Using the language(s) of instruction and/or other languages (if appropriate)
activities
2.41b Identifying ‘more than’ or ‘fewer than’ groups of objects
2.49b Exploring ‘one more’ and ‘one less’
2.57b Using positional language
2.67b Operating and controlling toys, objects and devices that use switches, control
buttons, pulleys, levers, knobs and mechanisms to produce movement, sound, light and
actions
2.70b Giving instructions, programming and operating digital toys, devices and computers
2.86b Freely expressing ideas, moods and feelings through movement, dance and rhythm

3.7b Asking questions, experimenting with ideas and finding out about the wider world
3.8b Selecting materials to carry out simple investigations

4.2b The effects of neglect on our bodies and teeth
Explore: Phase B
When the children arrive in the room, have them discover an envelope addressed to the class.
Inside will be a letter from Harry telling the children that he has seen their posters and knows
where their missing dinosaurs are. To find them, the children will have to jump into their bucket
and go to Dino World, just like Harry – and there they will go on an exciting adventure to get
their missing dinosaurs back. Ask the children if they would like to go to Dino World?
As with Explore: Phase A, children could perform the bucket action song, to imagine they are
jumping inside their bucket to travel to Dino World. You could extend this by playing some jungle
sounds afterwards and ask the children to imagine they have arrived. Have them explore their
new setting, imagining that they are clambering over tree roots, pushing past bushes and ferns,
and treading carefully to spot any footprints that might lead them to their missing dinosaurs.
While the children are enjoying the song and drama, an adult could be preparing some or all of
the following learning experiences for the children to explore when they return to the room:
■■Dinosaur raft – ‘we’ve met some dinosaurs who want to help us. They will show us the way. But
we need to build a raft to get across the river first!’. Using your water tray, have a selection
of plastic dinosaurs and some materials that could be used to make a boat, such as corks,
rubber bands, lolly sticks, tape, PVA glue, paper and so on. Let the children begin by
testing which of their materials float, then support them in thinking about how they can
combine materials to make a boat that will carry all the dinosaurs. Have fun coming up
with different designs. Can the children get their dinosaurs across the river so that you can
continue your adventure?
■■Egg hunt – ‘Patsy the Apatosaurus knows where we need to go next, but first she wants us to
find her missing eggs. They are lost in the sand!’ Have some pebbles, plastic eggs or papier-
mâché eggs buried in the sand tray or hidden around your outdoor setting. Have these
painted with different numbers of spots and/or different coloured spots. Children can then
be given a description of Patsy’s eggs (‘Her eggs have three green spots on them). Children
must then search and find the correct eggs, and place them carefully into an egg carton,
which can be placed inside a box of straw to make it feel like a special nest. Once the eggs
have been found, hide them ready for the next group.
■■Toothache – ‘Trike the Triceratops likes his food. So much so that he has got
terrible toothache. If we help him by removing his bad teeth, he promises to
help us find the missing dinosaurs.’ Place pink and white marshmallows
on a mouth template to represent good teeth (white) and bad teeth
(pink). Alternatively, you could use scrunched up paper, counting cubes,
or small pompoms. Children can then use tweezers to carefully remove
the bad teeth and place them in a tin or box (for Trike to keep). The
game will help children practise their fine motor control. Have children
count the teeth as they remove them. Ask: how many teeth are in the
tin? How many are left in Trike’s mouth, can we count them? If another
tooth went bad, how many good teeth would he have left? You may wish
to extend this activity by talking about good dental health.
■■Which island? – make a map showing different islands (this could be made to look old and
frayed by cutting or burning the edges slightly. Soak the paper with a tea bag to give it an
old parchment colour). Have different numbers of features on each island, such as trees,
ponds and volcanoes, and a simple key that children can refer to. Encourage children to
count the different features on each island. Ask questions such as, which island has the
most trees? Does this island have more ponds than this one?
Palm tree Pond Volcano
Finally, give the children a second piece of the map, which will tell them which of the
islands has their missing dinosaurs on it. This will give them the number of trees, ponds
and volcanoes on the island. Children must then use this information to pick out the
correct island.
Ideally, have an adult support each activity, offering prompts to help promote the children’s
learning and also their immersion in the adventure. Groups can participate in the activities
in any order to build their own story of their adventure in Dino World and their search for the
missing dinosaurs!
Express: Phase B
Draw out a simple maze for the children to guide a programmable toy through. The maze
could be drawn onto sheets of paper, chalked onto the playground or created using strips of
tape on the floor of your hall. Explain that the maze is a pathway through a thick and tangled
Jurassic forest. If they reach the star at the end, then they will have discovered their missing
dinosaurs! You may want children to help you decorate the sides of the maze with various
features, such as small world trees and playdough mountains.
old new
If necessary, demonstrate giving the toy instructions to follow. Let children practise on a mat
or carpet first. You may need to reinforce basic directional vocabulary first. The following
action song is ideal for practising left and right, and forward and back commands:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vgyer0IauyQ
YouTube hosts this fun action song which teaches left, right, forward and back commands.
Work together to give the toy commands to carefully guide it along the path. Prompt the
children to try and stay on the path and away from the edges as best they can.
When children reach the star, you can ask one of the children to describe their missing
dinosaur and call out its name. You can then reveal it and give it to the child. Then place the
star on a different space of the pathway. Again, help the children to program and move the
toy to reach the star, perhaps letting a different child input the commands. When you reach
the star, another missing dinosaur can be revealed.
Repeat until all the missing dinosaurs have been found! Ask the children how they feel now
that they have all their favourite dinosaurs back? Discuss how everyone helped one another
and praise the children on their perseverance and team work. Use this opportunity to talk
about the IEYC Personal Goals that were used.
End the session by letting children draw or paint a picture of their favourite moment from
their adventure in Dino World, to find the missing dinosaurs.
Activity 3: Stomach ache!
Phase A

1.1a Exploring personal identity


3.3a Exploring similarities and differences in people
are of interest

4.4a Exploring food and drink, textures and tastes
Explore: Phase A
Prior to the session you will need to create two dinosaur heads out of cardboard boxes – one
to represent a meat eater (such as Tyrannosaurus Rex) and one to represent a plant eater
(such as Brontosaurus). Paint each one a different colour – perhaps choosing a reddish-brown
for the meat eater and green for the plant eater, to help emphasize their difference. Cut a
space out of the front of each of the boxes for a mouth. Fill the meat eater’s mouth with
sharp pointed teeth and the plant eater’s mouth with square blunt teeth.
If you wish, you could add further decorations to your boxes, such as eyes, legs and a tail, to
add further interest and character to each of your dinosaurs.
If you don’t have boxes available, then you could simply make the faces out a square of card.
Simply ensure there is a ‘mouth’ that is big enough to post picture cards through (see Express
Activity below).
When the children arrive in the class, explain that you have two very sad dinosaurs. They have
each been eating the wrong type of food and now they have a stomach ache. Perhaps we can
help them by finding out what dinosaurs ate so that we can feed them the right foods.
Have a display of foods for the children to investigate. Include vegetables, such as lettuce,
broccoli, celery, cucumber, cabbage, carrot, spinach and those that are grown locally or
from children’s home countries if available. Also include some examples of different meats
(appropriate to your setting), such as slices of ham, turkey or cooked chicken pieces. Begin by
asking the children if they recognise any of the foods. Which have they tried before? Which do
they like/don’t like?
Do the children know which foods are meats and which foods are vegetables? Work together
to sort the available food types into two groups. Use this opportunity to talk about and
reinforce the names of the different foods.
Once the foods are sorted, explain that many people like to eat meats and vegetables, but
dinosaurs were different. There were meat eaters and there were plant eaters. What foods do
we think a meat eater would like? Explore your display and let the children name the meats.
Then ask them – what foods would a plant eater like? If children are struggling, then provide
assistance by explaining that a plant eater would love vegetables. Which of our foods are
vegetables?
End the explore session with the children creating their own dino snack. You might want to
provide bread or wraps so that the children can make their snacks into a sandwich. Prompt
them to think about whether they will make a tasty sandwich/snack for a meat eating
dinosaur or a plant eating dinosaur. Encourage children to try the different foods if they are
unsure about them – choosing those ingredients that they like.
As the children enjoy eating their snacks, prompt them to talk about their choices and what
they have included in their snack. Would a plant/meat eating dinosaur like them?
Important note: with any teaching that involves food and tasting, it is vitally important that
you are aware of any food allergies in your class. Before you begin this session, be sure to find
out from each child’s family if they have any specific allergies or dietary concerns and make
their family aware of any food items the children will have access to. Also check that it is
culturally appropriate to include all children in this activity. It may be necessary to use Halal,
Kosher or meat substitutes if families observe religious practices or are vegetarian. Always
check your own setting’s food policy for what foods are permitted.
Express: Phase A
old new
Have some picture cards with different meats and vegetables on them. Tell the children they
are now going to feed the dinosaurs, to help them feel better – but we must be sure that the
dinosaurs are eating the right food. Which dinosaur do we think likes to eat meat and which
do we think likes to eat vegetables/plants? If the children are struggling, then draw attention
to the different types of teeth. Meat eaters have long sharp teeth, to help them tear up their
meat. Plant eaters have flat teeth, to grind and chew leaves.
Display each card in turn and an invite a volunteer to choose which dinosaur to feed. They
can then ‘post’ the card into the dinosaur’s mouth. For added fun, you could play an ‘eating/
munching’ sound effect (if they get it correct) or a ‘burping’ sound (if they get it wrong).
The following site has some fun examples:
www.freesound.org/people/AquaChannel/sounds/214451/
Freesound is an online library of sound effects, which can be downloaded. Examples
include a burping noise (214451) and munching sound (180158).
Once both dinosaurs have been correctly fed, congratulate the children on helping the
dinosaurs to feel better.
The dinosaurs and food cards could remain in your role play area, for children to play with in
their own time. Introduce some new food cards to add further interest and discussion.
Activity 3: Stomach ache!
Phase B


events
activities
familiar words


3.20b Exploring the needs of wild-life, domestic animals, birds, sea-life, insects and other
life forms that are of interest
Explore: Phase B
Prior to the session you will need to create two dinosaur heads out of cardboard boxes – one
to represent a meat eater (such as Tyrannosaurus Rex) and one to represent a plant eater
(such as Brontosaurus). Paint each one a different colour – perhaps choosing a reddish-brown
for the meat eater and green for the plant eater, to help emphasize their difference. Cut a
space out of the front of each of the boxes for a mouth. Fill the meat eater’s mouth with
sharp pointed teeth and the plant eater’s mouth with square blunt teeth.
If you wish, you could add further decorations to your boxes, such as eyes, legs and a tail, to
add further interest and character to each of your dinosaurs.
If you don’t have boxes available, then you could simply make the faces out a square of card.
Simply ensure there is a ‘mouth’ that is big enough to post picture cards through (see Express
Activity below).
When the children arrive in the class, explain that you have two very sad dinosaurs. They have
each been eating the wrong type of food and now they have a stomach ache. Perhaps we can
help them by finding out what dinosaurs ate so that we can feed them the right foods.
With adult supervision, encourage children use available resources (such as posters,
information books and internet education sites) to help them find out about what different
dinosaurs ate. They can then share this information as part of a circle time session afterwards.
The children should have learned that there were plant eaters and meat eaters. Which
dinosaur do we think likes to eat meat and which do we think likes to eat vegetables/plants?
old
(Meat eaters have long sharp teeth, to help them tear up their meat. Plant eaters have flat
new
teeth, to grind and chew leaves.)

Have some picture cards with different meats and vegetables on them. Tell the children they
are now going to feed the dinosaurs, to help them feel better – but we must be sure that the
dinosaurs are eating the right food.
Display each card in turn. Ask the children if they recognise the food type. Then invite a
volunteer to choose which dinosaur they think best suits the food on the card. They can then
‘post’ the card into the dinosaur’s mouth. For added fun, you could play an ‘eating/munching’
sound effect (if they get it correct) or a ‘burping’ sound (if they get it wrong).
The following site has some fun examples:
www.freesound.org/people/AquaChannel/sounds/214451/
Freesound is an online library of sound effects, which can be downloaded. Examples
include a burping noise (214451) and munching sound (180158).
Once both dinosaurs have been correctly fed, congratulate the children on helping the
dinosaurs to feel better.
Afterwards, you could look at some picture cards of different dinosaurs. Ask the children to help
you sort them into those they think are meat eaters and those they think are plant eaters. Once
the dinosaurs are sorted, encourage the children to note some of the features of dinosaurs
in each category. For example, many plant eaters walk on four legs – they are slow moving
because they don’t have to hunt prey. Contrast this with the meat eaters, who run on two legs,
and are often fast and agile. They also have sharp claws on their feet as opposed to toes.
Express: Phase B
Provide groups with materials to make their own meat and plant-eater dinosaur heads. They
could be made by decorating boxes (an adult may want to pre-prepare these by cutting out
the gap for the mouth) or using large squares of card. If time allows, children might want to
make additional decorations for their dinosaur head based on their choice of dinosaur.
Once the heads are complete, children can play a fun ‘feed the dinosaur’ board game. To
play, children will need a very simple board (see example below) with squares or circles for
‘meat’ and ‘plants’, and some spaces with star symbols. You will also need meat and vegetable
picture cards and some cross and tick tokens.
To play:
1. Divide the children into two teams. Each team chooses one of their dinosaurs (meat or
plant eater). They can then take a plastic model of their dinosaur and place it on any of
the star symbols on the board.
2. The team with the youngest member can go first. On their turn a team rolls a dice and
moves their plastic dinosaur clockwise around the board (you might want to add arrows
to make this clear). If they land on a meat space then they must choose a meat picture
card and feed it to their dinosaur. If they land on a plant space then they must choose
a vegetable picture card and feed it to their dinosaur. If they land on a star space then
they can choose either.
3. If a team feeds their dinosaur the correct food type, they can take a ‘tick’ counter and
put it in front of their dinosaur. If they feed their dinosaur the wrong type of food then
he gets stomach ache! They must take a ‘cross’ counter and place it in front of their
dinosaur.
4. Play continues, with each team rolling the dice and moving their dinosaur around the
board, then feeding them a meat or vegetable card depending on the space they land
on. They must then take a cross or tick counter depending on whether the food item was
suitable for their dinosaur.
5. Once a team feeds their dinosaur correctly five times (they have five ticks) then they win
the game.
6. If a team gets five crosses first, then they automatically lose, as their dinosaur is too ill
with stomach ache to eat anything else!
Let teams swap roles and play again, so that the meat eaters become plant eaters and so on.
Activity 4: Friends in need
Phase A

1.1a Exploring personal identity
1.4a Developing positive friendships
1.11a Being empathic and sensitive towards others
1.12a Being treated fairly

songs and rhymes
language activities

old new

PHYSICAL WELL-BEING
Explore: Phase A
Begin your session by singing along to the ‘friendship’ song, ‘The More We Get Together’. You
can listen to a version of the song here:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=lldmkrJXQ-E
YouTube hosts the song, ‘The More We Get Together’, sung by the Learning Station.
Children can hold hands and move into the circle on each ‘get together’, then move out again
afterwards. When singing ‘your friends…, children can point outwards with both hands then
on ‘my friends’ can put both hands across their heart. Repeat the verses several times so that
the children can grow in confidence with the words and actions.
Next, share the picture book, The Dinosaur Who Lost His Roar by Russel Punter, Usborne
Publishing, 2012. In the story, Sid likes to frighten other dinosaurs, such as Spike, Ollie and
Ross, by scaring them with his roar. The dinosaurs don’t find it funny, but Sid does. Then Sid
loses his roar, because his throat has become sore. The other dinosaurs find his ‘croak’ very
funny, but Sid doesn’t. When Sid finally gets his roar back (thanks to some honey and warm
water), he can’t find the other dinosaurs. He follows some giant footprints and discovers that
the dinosaurs have been taken by a fearsome Tyrannosaurus Rex. Sid saves the day by roaring
and scaring the Tyrannosaurus away. Sid is a hero, and they all become good friends at the
end of the story.
As you share the book, encourage the children join in with the roars and the croaks. Prompt
the children to respond to what Sid is doing at the start of the book. Do they think what he
is doing (scaring the other dinosaurs) is a nice thing to do? At the end of the story, reinforce
the idea that the dinosaurs let Sid become their friend because he helped them. That is what
friends can do for one another. Suggest some other things that friends might do – such as
play together, share a toy, and so on. If you have existing rules for learning together, then you
may wish to revisit these.
Suggest that the children could become good dinosaur friends too! Share the following song
with the children, sung to the rhythm of ‘I Can Sing a Rainbow’:
Sid and Ollie and Ross and Spike (You could point to images of the four dinosaurs)
We are all dinosaur friends
We can play together
Play together
And you can play with us too.
Ask the children if they would like to play with the dinosaurs.
Next, go round the circle and ask each child in turn to say what game or activity they would
like to play with the dinosaurs. Then repeat by moving onto the next child in the circle.
Provide encouragement, support and suggestions if the children are struggling with recalling
favourite games and activities.
Then sing some additional verses, listing some of the children’s ideas. For example:
We can paint a picture
Paint a picture
Paint a picture too.
We can play a ball game
Play a ball game
Play a ball game too.
We can read a picture book
Read a picture book
Read a picture book too.
For each activity idea, model simple actions for the children to copy, such as painting with a
brush, throwing a ball, turning the pages of a book and so on.
Express: Phase A
Let children work in pairs to paint their own ‘dinosaur friend’. If you wish, children could
choose their partner, or you could group the children yourself – perhaps encouraging children
to work with someone outside of their usual friendship group.
Have some large outlines of dinosaurs drawn out on paper for the children to colour. Provide
one paint for each child, which they can use with brushes, hands or fingers to apply to their
picture. Prompt them to explore what happens when the two paints mix together on the
paper:
■■Blue and red will make purple
■■Blue and yellow will make green
■■Yellow and red will make orange
Talk about the new colour that they have made by mixing their paints together. Let them
continue to explore as they use their paints to complete the picture. Congratulate the
children afterwards on working together as friends.
If you wish, you could let children take their paint and swap with another partner to work on
a new dinosaur picture. What new colours can they make together?
Activity 4: Friends in need
Phase B

1.9b Reflecting on actions and consequences
1.11b Being respectful towards others
1.15b Initiating and participating in different types of play by taking on new roles and
responsibilities
1.22b Recognising that the needs of others may be a priority


activities
familiar words
2.46b Estimating groups of objects and checking for accuracy

3.8b Selecting materials to carry out simple investigations
3.10b Exploring energy sources, light, sound, forces and motion
Explore: Phase B
Begin your session by sharing the picture book, The Dinosaur Who Lost His Roar by Russel
Punter, Usborne Publishing, 2012. In the story, Sid likes to frighten other dinosaurs, such as
Spike, Ollie and Ross, by scaring them with his roar. The dinosaurs don’t find it funny, but Sid
does. Then Sid loses his roar, because his throat has become sore. The other dinosaurs find his
‘croak’ very funny, but Sid doesn’t. When Sid finally gets his roar back (thanks to some honey
and warm water), he can’t find the other dinosaurs. He follows some giant footprints and
discovers that the dinosaurs have been taken by a fearsome Tyrannosaurus Rex. Sid saves the
day by roaring and scaring the Tyrannosaurus away. Sid is a hero, and they all become good
friends at the end of the story.
As you share the book, let the children join in with the roars and the croaks. Prompt the
children to respond to what Sid is doing at the start of the book. Do they think what he is
doing (scaring the other dinosaurs) is a nice thing to do? Do we think it is funny? When Sid
loses his roar and the other dinosaurs laugh at him, ask the children if they think it is fair.
Explore their ideas.
At the end of the story, reinforce the idea that the dinosaurs let Sid become their friend
because he helped them. That is what friends can do for one another. Ask the children if they
can give examples of other things that friends might do for each other. Make a list of their
ideas, such as playing together, sharing a toy, helping someone, and so on.
If you wish, children or an adult could write these as ‘I can…’ statements onto dinosaur
footprints, to display in a ‘Dinosaur friends’ area.
Express: Phase B
It is time for the children to prove they are good ‘Dinosaur friends’ by giving some prehistoric
animals a helping hand.
Set up some hands-on activities that children can work on in pairs or small groups, to
encourage team work and discussion. If you wish, children could rotate between the activities
or focus on just one or two – then share their learning at the end of the session with the
rest of the class. If possible, have an adult available for each activity, to provide support and
guidance.

■■Up to my neck – poor Brontosaurus can’t reach the trees to eat the delicious leaves.
She needs the children’s help. Create a backdrop against the wall of the classroom with
different heights of palm trees, painted onto paper or collaged from cardboard. Then
provide the children with about a dozen cardboard rolls of the same size. These can be pre-
painted in a colour of your choosing. On one of the tubes, make a slot so that a dino-head
that can be placed onto it, to become the top of the dinosaur.
Choose the smallest tree on your display and challenge the children to carefully stack the
rolls, one on top of each other, so that Brontosaurus can reach the tasty leaves at the top
of the tree. This will provide a great opportunity for children to practise their fine motor
control skills and patience! Remind children to think about which IEYC Personal Goals
they are using when they are involved in this activity. When children have completed the
first challenge, help them to count the number of tubes that they used, then dismantle
the stack. Choose a different tree on your display. Ask the children if they can guess how
many tubes they will need to stack to reach this new height. Then let them stack the tubes
again. Were they correct? Repeat with different heights of tree, encouraging the children to
estimate then build their Brontosaurus neck each time.
■■Tea with Tyrannosaurus – have a box, covered with a blanket. Explain that there is a very
shy and sad dinosaur inside. He is a Tyrannosaurus Rex and he has no friends, because
the other dinosaurs are afraid of him. (You could revisit the end scenes of the story, The
Dinosaur Who Lost His Roar, if you wish.) Ask the children to think about the things that
they might say to the shy dinosaur to encourage him to come out. Explore their ideas.
Suggest that they hold a tea party (or other celebration) and invite the Tyrannosaurus to
join them. Children can then make invitations, which could include drawings and examples
of emergent writing. These can then be posted into the box. The Tyrannosaurus can then
emerge, nervous but excited! Provide a blanket and play equipment for children to role
play their tea party with the dinosaur, making him feel happy and at home.
■■Take to the skies – poor Padma the Pterodactyl has lost her wings! Can the children help
her to fly again? Provide the children with some simple Pterodactyl bodies made out of thin
cardboard. Carefully cut a slot along the body, where children can place their own wings.
Provide a selection of art materials for the children to draw and cut out their own pair of wings.
Materials might include paper, different thicknesses of cardboard, tissue paper, and so on. Look
at some images of Pterodactyls and observe the shape of their wings. Let children experiment
with different shapes, sizes and materials for the wings. Slot them into the Pterodactyl body
and see if their model will fly. Who can make their Pterodactyl fly the furthest?
■■Hide and seek – have white cut outs of different dinosaurs placed onto different coloured
backdrops (see below). Explain that they are playing hide and seek, and they want to be
the same colour as their background so they won’t be spotted! If you wish, you could use
this opportunity to explain what camouflage is, and look at examples of animals that use
camouflage to blend in with their surroundings, such as chameleons. In pairs, provide each child
with a colour of paint (which when mixed will match the background colour). For example:
■■Blue and red (purple)
■■Blue and yellow (green)
■■Yellow and red (orange)
Children will need to work together to carefully colour in the dinosaur and mix their
individual paints to create the correct background colour. For the next dinosaur, you could
let children experiment with the paints provided until they find the two colours they need,
which they can then use on their dinosaur. If you wish, you could have a final challenge for
confident children where the background is split into two different colours. The children
will need to mix and paint each side of their dinosaur to hide it!
Congratulate the children at the end of the session for working together and helping the
dinosaurs!
Activity 5: Dinosaurs in trouble!
Phase A


songs and rhymes

3.9a Exploring solids and liquids
3.18a Representing the environment through model making, drawings and artwork
are of interest
3.24a Exploring significant times in own and others’ lives and recent past events

HEALTH AND SELF_CARE
4.1a Basic hygiene
PHYSICAL WELL-BEING
Explore: Phase A
It is time to add some volcanic destruction to your Jurassic display area. Use available art
materials to add a volcano or two to the display, with flames and smoke, and lava pouring
down the sides. You could extend the lava onto your table top, with red ribbon, tissue paper
or cardboard pieces. Place some trees and other features on their sides, or remove entirely.
Also have some pictures of volcanoes, and other resources if available (videos, posters etc.),
so that children with no prior knowledge will be able to gain an insight into what they are.
Also take away and hide any dinosaurs.
Aim to make your display as dramatic as possible, but also ensure that the environment
doesn’t feel too threatening to the children when they first enter. Use your professional
judgement of how the children will respond.
Prior to your session, you will also want to set up the volcano experiment, ready to perform to
the children. For this you will need:
■■A small plastic cup or drinks bottle
■■Vinegar
■■Baking soda
■■Food colouring (red)
■■Washing up liquid
■■Modelling clay
Begin by using sticky tack to fix the plastic cup to the base of a tray or paper plate. Then use
modelling clay to build a ‘volcano’ around the cup. Alternatively, you could make a cone out of
brown card to represent your volcano.
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When performing the experiment, add three teaspoons of baking soda to the cup (inside the
volcano). Then add vinegar to a bottle, a few drops of red food colouring and a small amount
of washing up liquid.
Pour a small amount of the vinegar into the ‘volcano’, then watch as the vinegar reacts with
the baking powder to create an exciting eruption! Add more vinegar to continue the effect.
Note: try and ensure that children stand back and watch the experiment. If you wish, children
could be allowed to touch the lava – on the understanding that they do not attempt to taste
the vinegar or ‘lava’ solution, or touch their face/eyes. Make sure the children wash their
hands afterwards.
You can watch a step-by-step guide to this experiment here:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uw8bkc-nR9U
YouTube hosts this video demonstration of the vinegar volcano science experiment.
You may want to prepare several volcanos, which adults can perform with small groups.
When the children enter the room, they will be surprised to see the changes to the display.
Some children may also be wondering where all the dinosaurs have gone! Start by looking at
the display and pointing out the new features, such as the volcanoes, smoke, flames and lava.
Introduce these words to the children. Some children may have some limited knowledge of
what volcanoes are. Look at your available images of volcanoes to aid understanding.
Pose the question: what has happened to the dinosaurs? Explore the children’s ideas.
Ask the children if they have ever seen a real dinosaur. Do we see them in zoos or in safari
parks? Help guide the children towards an understanding that dinosaurs are no longer
around. They lived a long time ago. Some people believed that one of the reasons the
dinosaurs disappeared was because lots of volcanoes erupted all at the same time and made
everywhere very hot and dangerous!
Shall we see what happens when a volcano erupts?
As a whole class, or in small groups with an adult, gather the children around your volcano
science experiment (see details above). Add small amounts of the vinegar to the baking
powder and enjoy the children’s reactions as the volcano erupts and lava spills out over the
sides. Add more vinegar to continue the effect. Explain that lava, which pours out of real
volcanoes is very hot and dangerous.
If you wish, you could provide paper and art materials for children to make their own picture
of an erupting volcano. You could even use the ‘blow paint’ or spray methods (see Express:
Phase B).
Express: Phase A
Gather the children in the hall or another large space where you can perform your own
volcano dance!
Begin by having the children standing in a row. Then call out the following words and
commands, modelling the actions yourself for the children to copy:
Rumble, rumble, rumble (Wiggle hips from side to side)
The ground is shaking!
Rumble, rumble, rumble (Wiggle hips from side to side)
My knees are quaking! (Wiggle into a crouch position)
BOOM! (Jump up into the air)
BOOM! (Crouch, then jump again)
BOOM! (Crouch, then jump again)
Flames, crackle, crackle (Reach arms high, wiggle fingers)
Fire reaching high!
Flames, crackle, crackle (Lift arms again, wiggle fingers)
Zooming into the sky!
Lava, rolling, rolling (Rolling arms in big circles)
Down the mountain side.
Lava, rolling, rolling,
Rivers spreading wide! (Spread out arms to either side)
BOOM! (Jump up into the air)
Everybody hide! (Let children run around, then crouch down and pretend to hide!)
Repeat the song, allowing the children to enjoy responding to the actions as they grow more
confident with the sequence.
If you wish, you could extend your session by having a dodge the lava game, by setting
out hoops and mats to represent the hot lava. Play some fast-paced music, as the children
pretend to be dinosaurs dodging and moving about the space, avoiding the hot lava. Add
more hoops as the game progresses, making the space more cluttered. Encourage safe
movement and awareness of others as the children continue to avoid the obstacles!
Don’t forget to return the plastic toy dinosaurs to the children afterwards – or hide them
around your setting for the children to find and ‘rescue’ from the lava.
Activity 5: Doom of the dinosaurs!
Phase B

1.20b Controlling emotions and applying self-regulation strategies
1.25b Sharing feelings with others

events
activities

3.9b Exploring how solids and liquids can change
3.15b Exploring significant features of the wider world including oceans, deserts,
mountains and forests
3.17b Exploring Earth and space
diagrams
Explore: Phase B
It is time to add some volcanic destruction to your Jurassic display area. Use available art
materials to add a volcano or two to the display, with flames and smoke, and lava pouring
down the sides. You could extend the lava onto your table top, with red ribbon, tissue paper
or cardboard pieces. Place some trees and other features on their sides, or remove entirely.
If you wish, you could also add an asteroid to the sky, ready to crash down – with a flame trail
behind it.
Also take away and hide any dinosaurs.
Aim to make your display as dramatic as possible, but also ensure that the environment
doesn’t feel too threatening to the children when they first enter. Use your professional
judgement of how the children will respond.
When the children enter the room, they will be surprised to see the changes to the display.
Some children may also be wondering where all the dinosaurs have gone! Start by looking at
the display and pointing out the new features, such as the volcanoes, smoke, flames and lava
– and the asteroid if you have included it. Introduce these words to the children.
Some children may have some limited knowledge of what volcanoes and asteroids are. As a
starting point, you could ask children to describe how they feel when they are angry about
something. How do they feel? (For example, hot.) What do they sometimes want to do? (For
example, explode, break things etc.) Explain that a volcano is like an angry mountain. When
it gets angry it gets hot and wants to explode! Whereas we can control our anger and calm
down using strategies – such as slow breathing, counting, listening to soothing music etc. – a
volcano cannot. It explodes with anger and produces heat and flame, and lava. An asteroid
could be similarly described as an angry rock, charging through space. It doesn’t know how to
stop and calm down, so keeps on charging looking for something to crash into!
Revisit the children’s understanding that there are no real dinosaurs around today. Pose the
question: what happened to the dinosaurs? Explore the children’s ideas.
Explain that people don’t know for sure, but two of the popular ideas are that:
■■Lots of volcanoes erupted at the same time and made everywhere very hot and dangerous!
■■A very large asteroid fell down from space and hit the earth, throwing up lots of dust and
smoke into the air, and covering the sun for a long time.
If you wish, you could look together at images and footage of volcanoes erupting, and also
images of the Chicxulab crater in Mexico, which is thought to be the impact site of the
asteroid that might have wiped out the dinosaurs.
Do the children think it is a good thing that dinosaurs are no longer alive? Help guide the
children to explore the pros and cons of having dinosaurs around today. Take a vote to see
how many want to see real dinosaurs!
Express: Phase B
In pairs or small groups, with an adult supervising, children can perform their own volcano
experiment. For this you will need:
■■A small plastic cup or drinks bottle
■■Vinegar
■■Baking soda
■■Food colouring (red)
■■Washing up liquid
■■Modelling clay
Begin by using sticky tack to fix the plastic cup to the base of a tray or large paper plate.
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Then use modelling clay to build a ‘volcano’ around the cup. Alternatively, you could make a
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cone out of brown card to represent your volcano. Tape this and place over the cup, trying to
ensure that the lip of the cup is close to the top of the volcano (you may want to pre-prepare
the cone template ahead of time).
When performing the experiment, add three teaspoons of baking soda to the cup (inside the
volcano). Then add vinegar to a bottle, a few drops of red food colouring and a small amount
of washing up liquid.
Pour a small amount of the vinegar into the ‘volcano’, then watch as the vinegar reacts with
the baking powder to create an exciting eruption! Add more vinegar to continue the effect.
Note: ensure that children are aware that they should not taste the vinegar or ‘lava’ solution,
or touch their face/eyes after handling these. Make sure children wash their hands afterwards.
You can watch a step-by-step guide to this experiment here:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uw8bkc-nR9U
YouTube hosts this video demonstration of the vinegar volcano science experiment.
Afterwards, children could create their own volcano art. Explore different effects by moving or
applying the paint in interesting ways – for example:
■■Pour paint onto the paper, then use straws to blow the paint outwards to mimic the
explosive flames spreading out from the top of the volcano.
■■Use spray bottles to spray paint and glitter onto the paper, to make a speckled effect. This
is great for creating embers of flame or clouds of ash.
■■Dip sponges in paint and apply to the paper to make ash clouds – or use cotton wool balls,
dipped in paint and then glue to the paper.
The volcano itself could be made using card and gluing to the paper. Add papier-mâché
strips to the card to model the rough slopes of the volcano. When dry, children can paint the
mountain, and add rivers of lava pouring down the sides.
Some children may wish to make asteroids out of papier-mâché, by moulding it into balls.
Once dry and painted, children can glue or tape streamers made of ribbon and tissue paper to
their asteroid to represent the flaming trail.
Don’t forget to return the plastic toy dinosaurs to the children at the end of the session – or
hide them around your setting for the children to find and ‘rescue’.

Dinosaur dance!
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experiences:
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The focus of this Learning Block is the picture book, Dinosaurumpus!, by Tony Mitten,
Scholastic, 2003. If possible have the dinosaurs from the story available as stick puppets or
plastic toys so that children can act out the story.
There are also other dance-themed dinosaur storybooks that can be shared with the children.
These include:
Stomp, Dinosaur, Stomp!, by Margaret Mayo, Orchard Books, 2011
Saturday Night at the Dinosaur Stomp, by Carol Shields, Walker Books, 2008
Stomp, Chomp, Big Roars! Here Come the Dinosaurs, by Kaye Umansky, Puffin, 2006
Children can use the movements they have learned to dance and act along to the story. They
could also use their percussion instruments (see Activity 3) to accompany the story with their
own sound effects.
Once children have started on their costume making, have an area put aside with art and
craft materials that the children can explore – which they could use to make additions to
their costumes, or create their own dinosaur characters to act along to the stories.

Learning Block are:
■■Adaptability
■■Enquiry
■■Communication
■■Cooperation
■■Resilience

Learning Block is:

Children could make their own ‘dinosaur diary’ to record their favourite moments from
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this unit – such as making a costume, performing a dinosaur dig, watching the volcano
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experiment and so on. Print out the photographs that you have taken over the course of
the unit, for the children to view and select their favourites. These can then be glued onto
large sheets of paper. Encourage children to be creative with how they place/sequence
their pictures to help tell the ‘story’ of their learning. They could also use the opportunity to
practise mark-making and emergent writing to make labels and speech bubbles, to describe
what they are doing in the pictures.
If you wish, you could combine ICT with your diaries by using recordable photo albums. These
are available from most educational suppliers, and allow children to insert a picture into a
sleeve on each page and then record a short message to support it. Examples can be viewed
here:
www.tts-group.co.uk/a5-talking-photo-album/1002052.html
The TTS Group are a UK education supplier, who can provide recordable ‘talking’ photo
albums.
Extend your party planning activities by creating a seating plan for your dinosaur party. Use
squares and rectangles to create a table arrangement based on your room or venue, then use
coloured circles for ‘plates’ to represent each child/dinosaur. Let children help you count the
guests and then assign plates and names to each table. As an added challenge, children could
think about how they might group different dinosaurs (based on the children’s costumes) so
that the plant eaters and the meat eaters are all sitting together.
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Have a dinosaur warm up session each morning, where the children stomp along like a
dinosaur and get their bodies warmed up and ready for learning. The following song provides
an excellent example:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=gzesbQaqhCY
YouTube hosts this ‘dinosaur stomp’ song with simple actions for the children to enjoy.
If the children are feeling particularly energetic, then you might want to try out this lively
dance music too:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Imhi98dHa5w
YouTube hosts this dance-along video where children get to stomp and chomp!
Children could also create their own dinosaur exercise routine, using the different
movements that they have learned to make a sequence. An adult could video these to make a
resource that the children can view and enjoy, and join in with the movements.
questions:

Activities
Activity 1: Move like a dinosaur
Phase A


songs and rhymes

2.86a Freely expressing ideas through movement and dance
2.88a Responding to a range of stimuli through movement and dance

are of interest

PHYSICAL WELL-BEING
Explore: Phase A
Begin the session by sharing the picture book, Dinosaurumpus!, by Tony Mitten, Scholastic,
2003. In the story, we follow a group of dinosaurs who are all headed to the sludgy old
swamp for a dinosaur party (referred to in the story as a ‘romp!’) As we meet each dinosaur,
we are introduced to a different set of movements – Triceratops jumps along, Apatosaurus
swishes her tail, Pteranodon dives and swoops, Deinonychus runs and zooms, and so on. At
the end of the story the exhausted dinosaurs all lie down and fall asleep, snoring loudly!
As you read the book, you might want to give each child a plastic dinosaur that matches
those in the book as closely as possible. Then, when their dinosaur is mentioned, the child
can make the appropriate movements with their toy. Some of the dinosaurs might be new to
the children – such as Deinonychus and Deinosuchus. Sound out these names slowly, for the
children to join in with and repeat.
After reading the book through, gather the children in an open space, such as the hall or
playground, to act out some of the movements from the book. Call out the following and
model the actions for the children to copy. These might include:
■■Dive – spread arms out and pretend to glide around the space
■■Zoom – run as quickly as possible, moving safely to avoid others
■■Swish tail – move hips from side to side as you move slowly around
■■Spin – turn slowly on the spot
■■Jump – make ‘slow, heavy’ jumps around the space
■■Shake – shake head and body
■■Stomp – take long heavy strides as you move around the space
Keep calling out movements, until the children have grown in confidence. Then play some
lively music and invite the children choose their favourite movement or movements to dance
along.
Express: Phase A
Retell the story from the Explore session, but this time have a child or group of children take
on the role of each of the dinosaurs in the story. As each dinosaur is mentioned, choose a
child (or a group in the case of the Stegosauruses and the Deinonychuses) and help guide
them in performing the correct actions for that dinosaur, using the vocabulary and actions
you established in the Explore session.
When you get to the end of the retelling, the children can all dance, choosing their favourite
dinosaur. Then have them curl up and pretend to go to sleep. Don’t forget to snore, as loudly
as you can!
Congratulate the children afterwards for performing an excellent dinosaur romp!
If you wish, you could end the session with the dance movement game (see Express: Phase B),
perhaps playing the game in small groups with fewer colours and dinosaur cards.
Activity 1: Move like a dinosaur
Phase B


word groups
activities
familiar words
2.87b Exploring sequenced movement through dance

PHYSICAL WELL-BEING
4.13b Body and space awareness
Explore: Phase B
Begin the session by sharing the picture book, Dinosaurumpus!, by Tony Mitten, Scholastic,
2003. In the story, we follow a group of dinosaurs who are all headed to the sludgy old
swamp for a dinosaur romp! As we meet each dinosaur, we are introduced to a different set
of movements – Triceratops jumps along, Apatosaurus swishes her tail, Pteranodon dives
and swoops, Deinonychus runs and zooms, and so on. At the end of the story the exhausted
dinosaurs all lie down and fall asleep, snoring loudly!
Ideally, choose a location for your reading where the children will have lots of space to move
and express themselves.
As you read the book, you might want to give each child a plastic dinosaur that matches as
closely as possible, those in the book. Then, when their dinosaur is mentioned, the child can
make the appropriate movements with their toy. Some of the dinosaurs might be new to the
children – such as Deinonychus and Deinosuchus. Sound out these names slowly, for the
children to join in with and repeat.
Reread the book. This time, have a child or group of children take on the role of each of the
dinosaurs in the story. As each dinosaur is mentioned, choose a child (or a group in the case
of the Stegosauruses and the Deinonychuses) and explore appropriate body movements to
match the actions and words that are being described.
When you get to the end of the retelling, the children can all dance, choosing their favourite
dinosaur movement. Then have them curl up and pretend to go to sleep. Don’t forget to snore,
as loudly as you can!
Express: Phase B
As a whole class or in small groups, play a dance memory game! You will need:
■■A dice with numbers or colours (ideally a large sponge dice that the children can have fun
throwing!)
■■Six picture cards of the dinosaurs from Dinosaurumpus, each with a matching number or
coloured border to match the dice
Display the six picture cards. Invite children to take it in turns to roll the dice. They should
then perform the dance action of the dinosaur shown on the card that matches the number
or colour thrown. Continue until the children are familiar with the game.
Now turn the picture cards over, so the dinosaurs are hidden. Have children throw the dice.
Then perform the dance action that they think matches the correct hidden dinosaur. Turn the
relevant card around to see if the child was right.
Continue the game, testing the children’s memory skills as they try to perform the dance
moves of the hidden dinosaurs.
As a fun extension, you could play a sequence game. Have the picture cards facing the
children. One child can roll the dice three times. Then another child must look at the cards,
remember the sequence and perform the relevant actions in order. For example, they
might have to jump (like Triceratops), shake (like Styracosaurus) and dive (like Pteranodon).
Confident children could have a go at remembering four, five or even six different results!
Activity 2: Making a dinosaur costume
Phase A


2.90a Exploring role-play involving costumes and props

are of interest
Explore: Phase A
Explain to the children that they will be joining their favourite dinosaur at the special
‘Dinosaur romp swamp party’ – but to do so, they will need to dress up as a dinosaur! Talk to
the children about costumes and dressing up. Explain that they will be making their very own
dinosaur costume!
Begin by asking the children to think about all the different dinosaurs they have explored. As
they mention each one, have an image available that you can display and look at. Encourage
each child to pick a dinosaur that they would like to be.
Look closely at the features of the chosen dinosaurs and discuss these, such as wings, legs
and so on. You may also want to think about colouring and pattern.
If you wish, children could paint a picture of their dinosaur character, to provide enough time
for them to think about these features. As the children create their pictures, visit each child in
turn and talk with them about their dinosaur and what they already know about it.
Provide art and craft materials, and adult assistance, to help the children to make simple
masks and a body tabard for their chosen dinosaur. Have some examples to show the
children so that they can see what a finished version looks like. As you work on each costume,
encourage children to refer back to their picture and images for reference.
Some examples of costume accessories might include:
Box mask – the easiest mask to make is to have an adult cut a large mouth hole out of a box,
which a child can wear on their head and look out of. The child can then paint the box, and
then add eyes and teeth to complete their dinosaur.
Cylinder mask – create a cylinder to sit on the child’s shoulders, with a letterbox eyehole cut
into the card. Children can decorate this before it is taped together. Then create a 2D head
shape that can be decorated. This can then be slotted into the cylinder.
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By using this technique, children can make a long-necked dinosaur, like Brontosaurus. You can
alter the size of the cylinder to make a really long neck!
Face mask – use a traditional face mask template as the starting point for a dinosaur mask.
Some useful templates are available at:
www.firstpalette.com/tool_box/printables/superhero.html
First Palette has four ‘superhero’ mask templates that can be used as the starting point for
making your own dinosaur masks.
You can then glue or tape these to a band that can rest around the child’s head. An additional
band could be created to fit across the top of the head, which could have spike or plate
decorations, depending on the type of dinosaur:
Body tabard – use a large sheet of card to hang down the child’s chest and legs. This can be
decorated with patterns and shapes, and other features to represent their dinosaur.
Tape or staple two hoops of card to the back of the body piece, so that a child can put their
arms through the loops and wear it. If you are using staples, then always stick a length of
tape over the staple to ensure it doesn’t snag on clothing or skin.
Dinosaur feet – large tissue boxes can make ideal dinosaur feet. Paint or cover the sides with
coloured paper, ensuring that the slot is left open so that children can slide their feet inside.
Add toes or claws to the sides of the box to complete the effect.
Express: Phase A
When the costumes are complete, gather the children together in the hall or other large
space. Ask them to imagine how their dinosaur might have moved. If necessary, recap some
of the words and actions you explored in Activity 1. Allow time for the children to practise
and explore their movements while in costume. Draw attention to those children who are
performing confidently and with imagination. It may be possible to group the dinosaurs into
those that move fast or slow, or fly and walk. Work together to sort the children into groups of
dinosaurs who can perform together.
Take photographs of the children’s costumes, so they can be printed out and sent home with
the child. This will enable the child’s parents/carers to add to the costume (with coloured
t-shirts, leggings etc.) for the children to wear at their party (see Activity 5) and at their Exit
Point.
Activity 2: Making a dinosaur costume
Phase B


activities
Explore: Phase B
Explain to the children that they will be joining their favourite dinosaur at the special
‘Dinosaur romp swamp party’ – but to do so, they will need to dress up as a dinosaur! Begin
by asking the children to think about all the different dinosaurs they have explored. As they
mention each one, have an image available that you can display and look at. Ask each child
pick a dinosaur that they would like to be.
Look closely at the features of the chosen dinosaurs and discuss these, such as wings, legs
and so on. You may also want to think about colouring and pattern.
Have some pre-made examples of accessories that the children could use as part of their
costume (see Explore: Phase A for examples). Based on these, invite the children to draw their
ideas for what their costume could look like, using information books and other resources for
reference. Provide plenty of adult assistance to help the children think about their outfit, and
also consider colours and materials that they might want to use.
Encourage children to explore some of the craft supplies you have available, which may
include coloured card, paper, fabric and junk materials. Consider ways that the children’s
costume ideas could be made more interesting and tactile by using the different materials.
This may be as simple as creating textured paints to decorate costume parts – or may involve
using junk materials to create effects, such as egg cartons for plate armour. Again, provide
plenty of assistance to help the children link their curiosity – as they explore the materials –
to their dinosaur costume ideas.
Some additional costume ideas might include:
Body backpack - use a large sheet of card to hang down the child’s back. This can be
decorated with patterns and shapes to represent the dinosaur’s scales and other features. You
could also tape a long piece of card to the bottom of the tabard for a tail.
Tape or staple two hoops of card to the back of the body piece, so that a child can put their
arms through the loops and wear it. If you are using staples, then always stick a length of
tape over the staple to ensure it doesn’t snag on clothing or skin.
Face masks – add further decoration to the mask ideas from Explore: Phase A, by creating
additional pieces that can taped or glued to a mask or cylinder. In the below example, to
create a Triceratops, a head shape was made and folded from card. Then a paper plate was
glued to the back to create the bony frill and cones of card added for spikes.
Express: Phase B
Less confident children may wish to focus on making the simpler costume accessories, such
as the headbands or masks, while more confident children may want to explore different
ideas. Encourage plenty of experimentation and do not worry if some of the end results don’t
quite match up to expectations – use it as a learning opportunity to revisit ideas and come
up with new ways of implementing them. Remind children of the IEYC Personal Goals of
Adaptability and Resilience.
Invite children to parade their finished costumes at the end of the session. Allow time for
them to talk about their costumes and how they made them.
Take photographs of the children’s costumes, so they can be printed out and sent home with
the child. This will enable the child’s parents/carers to add to the costume (with coloured
t-shirts, leggings etc.) for the children to wear at their party (see Activity 5) and at their Exit
Point.
Activity 3: Stomp to the groove!
Phase A


songs and rhymes
language activities
2.81a Exploring sounds and music through games and play contexts
2.82a Singing songs, making sounds, exploring musical instruments and their sounds and
joining in musical activities
2.85a Exploring rhythm and beat by clapping, tapping, banging, stamping and moving
Explore: Phase A
Provide the children with a range of un-tuned percussion instruments to explore. The
children will be using these to represent the different sounds and movements mentioned in
the storybook, Dinosaurumpus!, by Tony Mitten, Scholastic, 2003.
If possible, try and include:
■■bells
■■shakers
■■triangles
■■drums
■■tambourines
■■cymbals
■■claves
In groups, encourage the children to experiment with the types of sounds that they can
create. Practice keeping to a beat by having an adult clap. Introduce a hand gesture for ‘put
instruments on the floor’ – when children should stop playing and listen.
Next, explain that they are going to be using their instruments to make the sounds of
dinosaurs. You may want to display pictures of each dinosaur as you explore their movements.
Start with a big dinosaur (like Triceratops or Stegosaurus from the book), and have the
children play their instruments as you slap the ground with your hands. Experiment with
making the footsteps slower, to encourage the children to change the tempo of their beats,
imagining that it is a very slow and heavy dinosaur. Then contrast with a fast dinosaur, like
the Deinonychus. Tap your fingers quickly on the ground and see if the children can play in
time with your movements, making faster beats. Children will need practise, support and
encouragement in order to alter their tempo.
Once the children display confidence, alternate the different speeds by calling out ‘slow
dinosaur’ and then ‘fast dinosaur’, and making the appropriate beats with your hands on
the floor. Encourage the children to match your beat with their instruments as you call out
different dinosaurs.
Express: Phase A
Gather the children together. Explain that you are going to be re-reading the story,
Dinosaurumpus!, but this time the children will be providing all the sound effects for the story
using their instruments.
As each dinosaur is revealed, encourage the children play their instruments, deciding if they
will be fast or slow, and then having an adult beat the ground with the palm of their hands to
show the tempo. For example:
■■Triceratops – (slow) children can beat along to the donks and the bumps.
■■Deinosuchus – (fast) children can imagine the dinosaur is spinning faster and faster,
speeding up their beat
■■Apatosaurus – (slow) make slow beats as the children imagine the big tail swishing one
way and then the next
■■Pteranodon – (medium tempo) tap the ground as you make ‘whoosh’ noises
■■Stegosaurus – (slow) heavy beats as the slow dinosaur stomps along
■■Styracosaurus – (fast) play quickly for the rattle, rattle, rattle as he shakes his collar
■■Deinonychus – (fast) imagine fast footsteps as the dinosaurs zoom quickly towards the
swamp
■■Tyrannosaurus – (loud, slow) emphasise playing as loudly as possible to represent the
heavy footsteps and roar of the Tyrannosaurus.
If you wish, you could revisit the book again, and this time explore different instruments
for different dinosaurs. For example, using the drums and claves for the stomping heavier
dinosaurs, the shakers and triangles for the ‘rattle, rattle, rattle’ of Styracosaurus, the
loud cymbal for the Tyrannosaurus Rex, the guiro for the Pteranodon and the spinning
Deinosuchus, and so on. Be prepared for children to express themselves creatively, interpret
their dinosaur sounds in different ways and add their own musicality! For this stage of
development, group participation, enjoyment of sound making and personal expression are
valuable learning experiences that this activity will provide rather than a sequenced end
result.
Children can then play their instruments together at the same time for the final dinosaur
romp, then play them slower as the dinosaurs get tired, finally stopping and putting
instruments on the floor as the children pretend to sleep (and snore!).
Activity 3: Stomp to the groove!
Phase B


activities

2.81b Experimenting making sounds and music in a wide range of activities
2.82b Expressing ideas, moods and feelings through songs, sounds, music and musical
instruments
2.84b Freely experimenting with music making and presenting ideas through sound and
music
2.85b Responding to rhythm and beat in creative ways including linking music to art,
dance and movement
Explore: Phase B
Provide the children with a range of un-tuned percussion instruments to explore. The
children will be using these to represent the different sounds and movements mentioned in
the storybook, Dinosaurumpus!, by Tony Mitten, Scholastic, 2003.
If possible, try and include:
■■bells
■■shakers
■■triangles
■■drums
■■tambourines
■■cymbals
■■claves
In groups, encourage the children to experiment with the types of sounds that they can
create. Practice keeping to a beat by having an adult clap. Introduce a hand gesture for ‘put
instruments on the floor’ – when children should stop playing and listen.
Revisit the book, Dinosaurumpus!. Explain that the children will be providing all the sound
effects for the story using their instruments. Begin by thinking about some of the movements
that you explored in Activity 2 (such as spinning, jumping, shaking/rattling, stomping,
swishing tails, diving/gliding and so on). Consider which instruments would be best at
representing these movements – such as drums for stomping and jumping, shakers for
shaking/rattling, and so on. Also consider the voice as an instrument. For gliding, you might
want to explore sounds for flying such as ‘whoosh’ and perhaps alternate with the beat of
drums for the wings. Provide guidance and support as necessary to help the children with
their ideas. Explore tempo (fast and slow) and dynamics (loud and quiet) to achieve different
effects.
Read through the book together. As each dinosaur is introduced, decide on which method you
will use to represent them. For example, using the drums and claves for the stomping heavier
dinosaurs like Triceratops and Stegosaurus, the shakers and triangles for the ‘rattle, rattle,
rattle’ of Styracosaurus, the loud cymbal for the Tyrannosaurus Rex, the guiro for the spinning
Deinosuchus, and so on. Have fun matching the sounds you have explored to each dinosaur
you meet.
At the end of the story, children can play their instruments together at the same time for the
final dinosaur romp, then play them slower as the dinosaurs get tired, finally stopping and
putting instruments on the floor as the children pretend to sleep (and snore!).
Express: Phase B
Create your own dinosaur orchestra. Have images of each of the dinosaurs from the book.
Display each image in turn and decide which child will represent each dinosaur, using their
instrument. Practise by choosing a picture at random and holding it up. When the picture is
displayed the child who has been matched to that dinosaur should play their instrument to
represent the dinosaur’s movement. When you lower the card, the child should stop playing
and place their instrument on the floor. Practise this a few times so that the children can
become confident in responding to the cards.
Next, practise displaying more than one card, and having the relevant children play together.
Then lower a card, so that one child stops playing but the others continue. Gradually lower
all of the cards so that there is silence again. Repeat with different dinosaurs. Allow time
for children to get used to playing together, then stopping when their card is lowered.
Congratulate the children on putting the IEYC Personal Goal of Cooperation into action. If
children have found this activity challenging, then praise them for putting the IEYC Personal
Goal of Resilience into action. Use this opportunity to talk about working as a team and the
value of everyone’s contribution.
Now you are ready for your dinosaur dance! You might want another adult to help with
displaying cards. Begin with one dinosaur and then gradually add more, displaying the cards
for the children to respond to. Then lower one or two cards, letting some children fall silent
while others play. Then add in more again, to build up your dinosaur dance. It will take some
practise for the children to get used to playing together and maintaining their own personal
beat. Don’t worry if the outcome isn’t perfect – have fun switching dinosaurs in and out of the
music, and encourage the children to enjoy playing together and responding to the prompts.
Be prepared for children to express themselves creatively, interpret their dinosaur sounds in
different ways and add their own musicality!
You can then reveal Tyrannosaurus Rex. Have a child clash the cymbals, then everyone falls to
silence… then the party starts again! Everyone can play their instruments as all the dinosaurs
come together for a final dance. Then, as with the Explore session, the children can play
their instruments slower and slower as the dinosaurs get tired, finally stopping and putting
instruments on the floor as the children pretend to go to sleep.
If you wish, you could record one of your sessions to play back to the children. See if they
can pick out the different dinosaurs by listening to the instruments that are playing. Children
may also want to break off into smaller groups, with their own cards and instruments, to
explore being conductor and directing the music. Encourage children to explore their musical
instruments and sound-making and recording during their role play.
Activity 4: Swamp play
Phase A


songs and rhymes
language activities

2.28a Mark making using a range of materials
2.78a Exploring art in the environment
2.88a Responding to a range of stimuli through movement and dance

3.12a Exploring natural materials and objects

4.1a Basic hygiene
Explore: Phase A
Remind the children of the story, Dinosaurumpus!, by Tony Mitten, Scholastic, 2003, in which
the dinosaurs are all headed to the ‘sludgy old swamp’ for a dinosaur romp. Have any of
the children know what a swamp is? Explain that is a big area of slimy, sticky mud and the
dinosaurs love playing in it – just as much as they love dancing!
Now it’s time to enjoy our own swamp play!
Set up a ‘mud kitchen’ area in your outdoor space, where children can experience getting
their hands dirty by mixing their own mud and using it for play. Provide containers and pots,
watering cans, and natural materials to add to mud cakes, such as shells, pebbles, pine cones
and so on.
Note: As a precautionary measure, always notify parents/carers that children will be involved
in learning activities where they will be exploring natural materials including mud. It may
be appropriate for children to wear clothing that is suitable for hands-on exploration. You
may also want to ask parents/carers to send a small towel, soap and a change of clothes in
ahead of these activities. Mud play also provides opportunity to talk about the importance of
hygiene and self-care.
With the children all ready for their messy play, encourage them to try out some of the
following:
■■Muddy feet – have children put their bare feet into the mud. Can they describe what it feels
like? Can they make the mud ooze and squelch between their toes? Spread out sheets of
paper and invite the children to make their own muddy footprints by walking across the
paper.
■■Mud sculptures – have a tray or bowl of mud and encourage the children to pick up the
mud in their hands. Encourage them drip or splat the mud onto a large sheet of paper or
card. Explore the shapes and sculptures that can be made by dripping more mud onto the
old new
picture. Add water and/or dirt to the mix to see what happens.
■■Stick in the mud – spread out a layer of mud across a tray. Encourage children to use sticks
to make patterns and practise mark-making. The mud can be smoothed over afterwards, so
the children can make a new picture. Explore other objects and see what impressions they
make in the mud.
■■Dino swamp – provide plastic dinosaurs and encourage the children to create their own
muddy swamp area. They can decorate this with natural materials, such as twigs, leaves,
pebbles and so on. Children can then play with the dinosaurs, imagining they are having a
fun swamp party!
You can find out more about mud play and its educational benefits here:
www.educationsupplies.co.uk/classroom-ideas/mud-kitchens-outdoor-learning-and-play
Education Supplies provides an overview of outdoor learning with a mud kitchen, with
photographs and advice.
As children play with the mud, prompt them to talk about the smell, feel and texture of the
mud. Introduce useful vocabulary such as wet, muddy, slimy, sludgy, smelly and so on.
Express: Phase A
Gather children in the hall or other large space. Begin by asking the children to imagine that
they are dinosaurs. Encourage children to move about the space as their chosen dinosaur. If
necessary, revisit some of the actions you explored from Activity 2.
Next, ask the children to pretend that they have arrived at the old, stinky swamp. Imagine
that the mud that is sticking around their feet and making it difficult to move. Model moving
around the sticky swamp and let the children copy your actions.
Once you have explored your swamp, it’s time for the dinosaurs to do what they do best –
dance!
Gather the children in a circle. Sing the following song (sung to the rhythm of the ‘hokey
cokey’ or ‘hokey pokey’ dance), with the following suggested actions:
We like to play in the swamp (Step on the spot)
Play in the swamp
It’s slimy
It’s smelly (Wave hand in front of your nose)
It’s perfect for me.
We like to jump and splash (Jump up on the spot)
And do our special swamp dance. (Turn around on the spot)
Come on and get swampy!
Oh, muddy, muddy, muddy (Hold hands and move into the centre of the circle, then out
again)
Oh, sludgy, sludgy, sludgy (As above)
Oh, stinky, stinky, stinky (Again, move into centre and then out again)
Knees bend
Arms stretch
Ra, ra, ra! (Clap hands above head)
Repeat the song, until the children are confident with the actions. Afterwards, children could
draw or paint a picture of their favourite dinosaur playing in a swamp – or make their own
pop up swamp dinosaur from Explore: Phase B.
Activity 4: Swamp play
Phase B


activities
2.30b Using a wide range of writing tools and materials to refine fine motor skill control
2.51b Solving practical number problems involving halving, sharing and doubling


4.1b Hygienic habits
PHYSICAL WELL-BEING
4.10b Taking part in games and activities involving equipment
4.11b Exploring balance
4.12b Exploring team games and associated rules
4.13b Body and space awareness
Explore: Phase B
Remind the children of the story, Dinosaurumpus!, by Tony Mitten, Scholastic, 2003, in which
the dinosaurs are all headed to the ‘sludgy old swamp’ for a dinosaur romp. Do any of the
children know what a swamp is? Explain that is a big area of slimy, sticky mud and the
dinosaurs love playing in it – just as much as they love dancing!
Now it’s time to enjoy our own swamp play!
Set up a ‘mud kitchen’ area in your outdoor space, where children can experience getting
their hands dirty by mixing their own mud and using it for play. Provide containers and pots,
watering cans, and natural materials to add to mud cakes, such as shells, pebbles, pine cones
and so on. Also set up some guided activities that the children can experience (see Explore:
Phase A for examples and guidance).
Afterwards, the children can create their own swampy art by making a pop-up dinosaur card.
To begin, children should draw a picture of their favourite dinosaur onto a rectangle of card,
perhaps showing it playing in the mud! Alternatively, children could find an image on the
internet and print it out (copyright permitting) to stick on the card.
Then fold this card in half.
Next, children can draw and then cut out their own swampy puddle, out of thin card. Adult
assistance may be needed for this. Glue the folded card into the centre of the swamp to make
a lift up flap.
Children can then decorate their swamp by painting over the puddle and the closed card.
Explore the ‘muddy’ effects that can created by making textured paint. Have bowls with
various ingredients that the children can mix with the paint, such as salt, flour, oats, sawdust,
shredded paper, sand, soil and so on, to see what effects can be made.
Once dry, the children will be able to lift the flap of their card and reveal the dinosaur hiding
in the swamp!
Express: Phase B
Gather the children in the hall or other large space where they can move freely. Explain that
after the dinosaurs have enjoyed dancing and playing in the swamp, they like to hold their
own Dinosaur Swamp Games!
Children may enjoy dressing up in their dinosaur costumes for this session.
Set up the following simple games for the children to enjoy:
■■Sludge monster – have a set of hoops or mats placed around the space. Have a number
on each one (1 to 6) and a large sponge dice. Play some music and encourage the children
to imagine they are moving about the sticky swamp, lifting their heavy legs out of the
sticky slime as they move. Then when you stop the music everyone must hurry to one
of the hoops or mats as the sludge monster is coming. Once children have chosen their
mat/hoop, roll the dice. Any children on the mat/hoop with the same number as the dice
are gobbled up by the monster and must sit out of the game. Continue the game, letting
children who are ‘out’ have a go at rolling the dice and announcing the result. After a few
more rounds, let everyone join back in for a second go. If you wish, the game can be made
more challenging by giving children a simple number problem to solve (such as addition
and subtraction, or halving and doubling numbers). They must move to the mat/hoop that
displays the answer. If they are correct, they are safe. If they are wrong, they are gobbled up
by the sludge monster!
■■Swamp ball – have teams standing in a line, a few metres apart. Each team should have
some large sponge balls (or bean bags) in a basket, next to the first person in the line. The
goal is to throw the balls from one child to the next, along the line so that the last child
can place the ball in another basket at the opposite end.
Team A Team B Team C
Target Basket
Basket with
sponge balls
The children should imagine they are stuck in the gloopy mud, so they can turn but they
must try and keep their feet together. As the children play, if a ball is dropped, have an
adult pick it up and return it to the team’s basket. Continue play for a set amount of time,
then total up the balls in the end basket to see who won!
■■Sticky feet – this is a fun version of musical statues, where the children dance and move
around to the music (perhaps imagining they are dinosaurs enjoying their dinosaur romp!).
When you stop the music, the children must freeze, imagining they are stuck in the mud.
They must hold their position as best they can until you start up the music again. If they
move or fall over then they are out. This activity helps develop children’s listening skills as
well as supporting the development of spatial awareness and body control.
If you wish, you could end your swamp games by performing the swamp dance song (see
Express: Phase A).
Activity 5: Dino party!
Phase A


songs and rhymes
language activities
2.23a Choosing books for pleasure
2.51a Sharing quantities

2.86a Freely expressing ideas through movement and dance


4.4a Exploring food and drink, textures and tastes
Explore: Phase A
In this session, children will get the chance to help prepare dinosaur-themed food, which
they can then enjoy when they attend a special ‘Dinosaur Romp Party!’ (see Express activity).
Important note: with any teaching that involves food, food preparation and tasting, it is
vitally important that you are aware of any food allergies in your class. Before you begin
this session, be sure to find out from each child’s family if they have any specific allergies or
dietary concerns and make their family aware of any food items the children will have access
to. Always check your own setting’s food policy for what foods are permitted.
The following are a selection of ideas, which provide children with opportunities to explore
the textures and tastes of different foods, and how foods can be prepared and combined to
make attractive and interesting dishes:
■■Pteranodon wings – flatbread is easy to make with children, and once the dough is
prepared it can be rolled out and then cut to shape, before cooking. There are many
flatbread recipes. The following is a simple one that the children can help with:
You will need:
■■350g self-raising flour
■■Pinch of sea salt
■■1 teaspoon baking powder

■■350g natural yoghurt
1. Add all the ingredients into a mixing bowl and mix with a spoon. Alternatively, you can
place all the ingredients in a secure plastic sandwich bag and encourage the children to
squeeze and mix it with their hands.
2. Dust a work surface with flour and then tip out the dough. Knead with your hands until
it is sticky but is keeping its shape.
3. Pat and flatten the dough. Cut into equal pieces. Then flatten each piece further using a
rolling pin.
4. Use a knife to cut your wing shape from the bread. Continue until all the pieces have
old new
been cut to shape.
5. .The flatbreads can then be cooked by an adult on a griddle pan – a couple of minutes
on each side until the bread becomes puffy. These can be frozen afterwards, if you are
making ahead of time, then defrost, wrap in foil and warm through in the oven before
serving.
The following video provides a step-by-step guide to making a more basic version of
flatbread, which you may wish to try:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_cnGT0T7uU
YouTube hosts his video demonstration of how to make flatbread.
■■Fossil biscuits – use your favourite biscuit recipe to make biscuit dough. Cut the dough and
shape into individual balls. Then let the children press the side of a plastic toy dinosaur
into the dough ball to leave a fossil impression (ensure that the toys are thoroughly
washed and disinfected ahead of time). The biscuits can then be baked in the oven.
■■Dino bone swamp – cook different shaped pasta, such as macaroni, fusilli, shells and so on.
These are the ‘dinosaur bones’. Create your own sauce for the ‘swamp’. One suggested recipe
for a creamy sauce is to melt unsalted butter in a saucepan, then add 1 cup of heavy cream
and whisk. Gradually add a cup of grated cheese and continue to whisk. Stir in parsley (for
swamp weed!) and then serve with the pasta. Children will enjoy picking out the ‘bones’
and making their own dinosaur skeletons out of the various shapes.
■■Jurassic juice - add food colouring to lemonade to make a selection of different coloured
liquids. Children can then experiment with mixing the colours to make their own swampy
Jurassic punch.
■■Lava smoothie – have a selection of red and black fruits for the children to taste – both
whole (to view and handle) and cut into small pieces for tasting. The selection could
include blackberries, pitted cherries, strawberries, raspberries, cranberries, grapes etc.
If possible, include some from the children’s different home countries. Encourage the
children to explore these with their senses – feeling them, smelling them, examining
them, then tasting them if they wish. Ask children to choose their favourite fruits to make
a lava smoothie. Simply add these to a blender with half a cup of fruit juice (e.g. grape
or cranberry) and two large tablespoons of yoghurt (check for dairy allergies). As an
alternative to the yoghurt, you can add half a cup of ice instead.
Further suggestions are included in Explore: Phase B, which you may want to prepare
yourself or have other adults prepare, for the children to enjoy.
Express: Phase A
Involve children in helping you to prepare your party table, by counting plates and cups, and
placing them at each place-setting. As well as the dinosaur dishes that have been prepared,
you could also have chopped fruit and vegetables that the children can share out.
If you wish, children could wear some or all of their dinosaur costumes as they enjoy their
Jurassic feast. Afterwards, play some party music, encouraging the children to move and dance
like their favourite dinosaur. End your session with a story-time session, by asking children
to pick their favourite book/s from over the course of this unit. Share the stories, allowing
the children to join in with familiar lines and rhymes, or acting out scenes with their toy
dinosaurs.
Activity 5: Dino party!
Phase B


activities
2.24b Expressing preferences in a range of fiction and non-fiction
2.86b Freely expressing ideas, moods and feelings through movement, dance and rhythm


4.4b Healthy eating, sleeping and choices
Explore: Phase B
In this session, children will get the chance to help prepare dinosaur-themed food, which
they can then enjoy when they attend a special ‘Dinosaur Romp Party!’ (see Express activity).
Important note: with any teaching that involves food, food preparation and tasting, it is
vitally important that you are aware of any food allergies in your class. Before you begin
this session, be sure to find out from each child’s family if they have any specific allergies or
dietary concerns and make their family aware of any food items the children will have access
to. Always check your own setting’s food policy for what foods are permitted.
The following are a selection of ideas, which provide children with opportunities to explore
the textures and tastes of different foods, and how foods can be prepared and combined to
make attractive and interesting dishes:
■■Dinosaur nests – make cakes using puffed rice cereal. Simply melt butter in a pan then add
marshmallows. Once the marshmallows have melted, pour the mixture into a bowl of the
puffed rice. Use a spoon to mix up the marshmallow mixture with the cereal. Then children
can help you mould the mixture into nests. Simply pour some of the mixture into a bun
case. Shape into a ball, then gently push with your thumbs into the centre of the ball to
make a depression. Allow to cool. Then add chocolate mini eggs to the nests to complete
the effect!
■■Lava cakes – use your favourite cake recipe to make individual cakes for the children to
decorate. Provide icing, coloured with red and/or orange food-colouring, for the children to
carefully pipe onto the top of the cakes. You can then decorate with some chocolate balls,
to represent broken rocks bobbing along on the lava.
■■Mashed potato volcano – children will have fun making their own mashed potato
mountains at the centre of their plate. Adding salad to the edges will help create a Jurassic
forest at the base. Make a hole/depression at the top of the mountain, to turn it into a
volcano. Then pour a warm tomato sauce into the depression to create your volcanic
eruption. You can make a suitable sauce using a simple bolognaise recipe, then adding one
or two tablespoons of corn starch to thicken the sauce.
■■Herbivore salad – involve the children in helping you to prepare individual plates/bowls
of salad. Children can cut the available fruits and vegetables, such as tomatoes, carrot,
cucumbers, peppers and hard-boiled eggs. Show the children how they can turn their slices
of cucumber into dinosaur feet by cutting triangles out of one edge:
You could also cut triangles out of the peppers or lengths of carrot to make dinosaur
teeth. Once the ingredients are prepared, they can be arranged on the plate or in the
bowl. Children may want to experiment with making their own dinosaur shapes out of the
ingredients. Take photographs of the finished arrangements before greedy fingers spoil the
effect!
You may also want to include some of the ideas from Explore: Phase A, such as the dino bone
swamp and fossil biscuits.
You could also use this opportunity to explore/reinforce the importance a healthy balanced
diet. Explain that cakes and chocolate, that have lots of sugar, are okay to enjoy but we
should try not to eat too much of them, as they can be bad for our teeth and our bodies. That
is why it is a good idea if we try and eat more of the healthy foods, like salads and fruit, and
less of the sugary foods to ensure that we stay healthy.
Express: Phase B
Involve children in helping you to prepare your party table, by counting plates and cups, and
placing them at each place-setting. As well as the dinosaur dishes that have been prepared,
you could also have chopped fruit and vegetables that the children can share out.
If you wish, children could wear some or all of their dinosaur costumes as they enjoy their
Jurassic feast. Afterwards, play some party music, encouraging the children to move and dance
like their favourite dinosaur.
End your session with a simple dinosaur quiz, to see how much the children have
remembered from over the course of the unit. This can be based on simple facts, such as
knowing whether a particular dinosaur walks on four legs or two, or whether they are a meat
or plant eater. You could also have a picture or poster available where children must name
the different dinosaurs that are displayed – or make it a memory game, where the dinosaurs
are displayed and then hidden, and children must try and name them from memory.
Exit Point
Remind the children of their museum role play (see Learning Block 2, Activity 5). Explain that
they will be opening up their museum to their family/carers, so that they can share their
learning with them.
Recap the different areas of your museum, such as the display area, café, information kiosk,
shop, office area, and so on – and what takes place in each of these. Think about how you
might incorporate some of the children’s other learning into your museum experience.
Perhaps you could have a ‘Jurassic Park Adventure Tour’, where guests are shown the children’s
models and pictures, and perhaps get to perform their own dig for dinosaur bones at the end.
Assign children to the different areas of the museum, where they have shown confidence in
the roles that they will be playing (see Learning Block 2, Activity 5). Practise these, perhaps
with staff members pretending to be guests to the museum.
Depending on the time you have available, you could work with the children to create
museum invitations and other resources for your museum area (signs, menus, place mats,
decorations and so on). Perhaps you might want to create a set of dinosaur footprints that
will lead guests from one area to the next, for example.
You could also serve up some of the dinosaur treats you explored in Learning Block 4, Activity
5, to serve up in your museum café.
When guests arrive, invite them to enjoy the museum experience by checking in at the office,
viewing the ‘exhibits’ (such as the fossils and dinosaur skeletons), visiting the café and shop,
experiencing the Jurassic tour of artwork and models, and using the information kiosk if
they have any questions. Encourage children to guide the visitors and share what they have
learned, and to take pride in exhibiting their work.
End your celebration, by getting children to change into their dinosaur costumes and perform
their ‘dinosaur romp’ (see Learning Block 4, Activity 1). This could be a retelling of the
Dinosaurumpus! story, with the children performing the different roles, or you could play some
suitable party music and let the children dance and perform as their chosen dinosaur!
Appendix 1
Home Letter: This draft letter should be adapted to fit the context of
the setting.
Dear ______________,
Our next International Early Years Curriculum (IEYC) unit of learning will be ‘Dinosaur
Detectives!’ through which children will be exploring the theme of ‘Dinosaurs’.
Each Learning Block will provide new learning experiences.
■■Hatching our own dinosaur egg
■■Finding out how big dinosaurs really were
■■Exploring dinosaur opposites
■■Creating our own dinosaur world
■■Making model dinosaurs
■■Finding treasures
■■Digging up dinosaur bones
■■Finding out about fossils
■■Solving a dinosaur mystery
■■Running our own Museum of Dinosaur Wonders
■■Describing a missing dinosaur
■■Going on an adventure to find our missing dinosaurs
■■Finding out what dinosaurs ate
■■Helping our dinosaur friends
■■Finding out what happened to the dinosaurs

■■Moving and dancing like a dinosaur
■■Creating a dinosaur costume
■■Making dinosaur music
■■Getting messy with swamp play
■■Enjoying our own dino party!
Our learning will help us to develop the IEYC Personal Goals of:
■■Adaptability
■■Communication
■■Cooperation
■■Enquiry
■■Morality
■■Resilience
■■Respect
Our learning will also help to develop the IEYC International Dimension as children will learn
about:
In an environment that enables them to:
■■Develop knowledge and an increasing understanding beyond that related to their own
nationality and identity.
We would like to form a ‘learning-link’ partnership with you, in this way we can work together
to help your child learn in the best possible way.
Please help by capturing your child’s curiosity; this means keeping your child’s teacher
informed about what he/she is most interested in during this IEYC unit of learning and
finding out what he/she would like to learn more about. This helps us to plan relevant
learning experiences that will appeal to your child’s curiosity.
You can do this by (insert the way you would like the home to inform you - it may be by writing a
note in the child’s home communication book, or another means that your setting uses on a daily
or weekly basis).
We hope this IEYC unit of learning will help your child learn new knowledge, increase their
understanding and develop new skills that they can demonstrate to you.
We look forward to sharing what we have learned at the end of the IEYC unit of learning
when we hold our Exit Point. We will send details of when this will be in advance.
We look forward to forming a successful learning-link partnership with you so that we can
support your child’s learning together!
To find out more about the IEYC, please visit: www.greatlearning.com/ieyc
Appendix 2
The Learning Strands, Learning Outcomes, Personal Goals and
International Dimension Linked to the Activities in Dinosaur
Detectives
Note: A full description of the IEYC Learning Strands, Learning Outcomes, Personal Goals and
the International Dimension can be found in the document entitled ‘The IEYC Learning Strands
and Learning Outcomes’.
IEYC LEARNING STRAND 1: INDEPENDENCE AND LEARNING OUTCOMES: INDEPENDENCE

INTERDEPENDENCE AND INTERDEPENDENCE
PHASE A – learning PHASE B – learning By the end of the IEYC, children will have
experiences with the experiences providing more typically developed –
youngest children in mind. of a challenge.
Children will experience Children will experience
and learn about: and learn about:
1.1a Exploring personal 1.4b Developing the Knowledge and an increasing understanding of:
identity interpersonal skills needed to
form positive relationships 1. Themselves as a unique individual with a
1.4a Developing positive cultural heritage, positive qualities, abilities,
friendships 1.6b Expressing own views views, feelings and personal needs
and ideas
1.6a Expressing personal Skills of being able to:
choices 1.7b The importance of the
views and ideas of others 5. Convey ideas
1.7a Making choices with
others 1.8b Demonstrating 7. Form positive relationships and respond to
consideration in group own and others feelings
1.10a Exploring how actions situations
can have positive and 9. Play, cooperate and collaborate with others in
negative outcomes 1.9b Reflecting on actions and a variety of situations
consequences 10. Approach routines and tasks with increasing
1.11a Being empathic and
sensitive towards others 1.11b Being respectful confidence and independence
towards others
1.12a Being treated fairly
1.15b Initiating and
1.15a Playing alone, participating in different types
alongside and with others of play by taking on new roles
in a wide range of contexts and responsibilities
1.16a Participating in group 1.16b Co-operating, taking
activities turns and following the rules
1.17a Seeking help and of group activities
support appropriately 1.17b Overcoming challenges
1.18a Recognising when with increasing independence
others need support 1.18b Offering support to
1.20a Recognising others when able to
situations that impact on 1.19b Recognising and
feelings and emotions interpreting feelings and
emotions in others
1.21a Responding to praise 1.20b Controlling emotions

and encouragement and applying self-regulation
strategies 1.22b Recognising
1.22a Recognising that that the needs of others may
gratification is not always be a priority
instant
1.23b Demonstrating
1.23a Demonstrating independence and increasing
independence in familiar confidence in new situations
situations
1.24b Seeking out others to
1.24a Sharing experiences share experiences
with others
1.25b Sharing feelings with
1.25a Exploring emotional others
and social contexts through
play 1.26b The joy and satisfaction
of experiencing and learning
1.26a The pleasure and something new
delight of gaining new
experiences 1.27b Being a member of a
team and learning with others
1.27a Learning
independently, alongside
and from others
IEYC PERSONAL GOALS: LINKED TO INDEPENDENCE AND INTERDEPENDENCE

Children should have learning experiences that help To support development of the IEYC Personal Goals,
them develop the personal qualities of: children should be active learners in an environment
that enables them to:
ENQUIRY ■■ Be curious and ask questions
■■ Engage in new experiences
■■ Express new findings and make connections in
learning
■■ Develop personal interests through exploration
ADAPTIBILITY ■■ Explore new roles
■■ Explore different ideas
■■ Become increasingly at ease in a variety of situations
RESILIENCE ■■ Approach challenging tasks
■■ Persevere with tasks when success is not instant
MORALITY ■■ Demonstrate appropriate behaviours depending on
the context
■■ Identify when actions are right and wrong
■■ Reflect on choices
COMMUNICATION ■■ Express ideas using verbal and/or non-verbal means
■■ Use different forms of communication in a wide-
range of contexts
■■ Receive, interpret and respond to various forms of
verbal and non-verbal messages
THOUGHTFULNESS ■■ Reflect on own and others learning
■■ Overcome challenges by considering solutions
■■ Demonstrate kindness and consideration
■■ Consider personal strengths
■■ Consider areas for improvement
COOPERATION ■■ Learn and play considerately alongside and with
others
■■ Develop collaboration skills
■■ Become aware that there are different roles and
responsibilities in groups
■■ Take turns and share
RESPECT ■■ Demonstrate care and consideration for people,
living things and the environment
■■ Participate in activities which impact positively on
people, living things and the environment
■■ Consider the feelings and needs of others
THE IEYC INTERNATIONAL DIMENSION: LINKED TO INDEPENDENCE AND INTERDEPENDENCE

To support development of the IEYC International To support development of the IEYC International
Dimension, children will learn about: Dimension, children should be active learners in an
environment that enables them to:
Learning and playing with others beyond their Develop knowledge and an increasing understanding
immediate friendship group beyond that related to their own nationality and
identity
Applying the IEYC Personal Goals in various contexts
IEYC LEARNING STRAND 2: COMMUNICATING LEARNING OUTCOMES: COMMUNICATING

COMMUNICATING THROUGH COMMUNICATING THROUGH COMMUNICATING THROUGH SPEAKING AND
SPEAKING AND LISTENING SPEAKING AND LISTENING LISTENING
2.1a Using gesture and body 2.2b Using the language(s) Knowledge and an increasing understanding of:
movement to communicate of instruction and/or other
languages (if appropriate) 11. A mother tongue language, language of
2.2a Using and valuing instruction and other languages if appropriate
mother tongue language(s) 2.3b Responding to the ideas
and experiences of others 12. The roles and needs of listeners and
2.3a Expressing ideas through language speakers
and experiences through
language 2.4b Asking increasingly Skills of being able to:
complex questions, providing 13. Express themselves in a variety of contexts
2.4a Asking questions answers and explaining
2.5a Describing objects, reasons 14. Use past, present and future tenses
people, places and events 2.5b Using increasingly 15. Recall and retell a sequences of events
that are present and not complex language to
present describe objects, people, 16. Participate in discussions
2.6a Using language skills places and events that are 17. Follow and give simple instructions
in play situations and a present and not present consisting of two or more parts
variety of developmentally- 2.6b Exploring and
appropriate contexts for increasing vocabulary
example role-play, story- through play and
telling, giving and receiving developmentally-appropriate
instructions contexts, for example role-
2.7a Using language to play, story-telling, giving and
recall events receiving instructions
2.8a Using language in 2.7b Using language to

imaginary play situations recall, retell and sequence
events
2.11a Listening to familiar
sounds and identifying 2.8b Using language to
them; joining in stories, describe roles, events and
poems, action songs and storyline in imaginary play
rhymes situations
2.12a Identifying and 2.9b Using language to

anticipating repetition discuss the past and present
in stories, poems, songs, and to make predictions
rhymes and other language about future events
activities 2.10b Extending vocabulary,
2.13a Listening to exploring language patterns
others and joining in and sounds, word meanings
listening activities and word groups
for developmentally- 2.11b Demonstrating
appropriate periods of time listening skills, taking turns
in conversations and joining
in language activities
2.14a Following 2.13b Concentrating on

conversations and stories what others are saying
and responding at the
appropriate time
2.14b Joining in
conversations and
discussions
COMMUNICATING THROUGH COMMUNICATING THROUGH COMMUNICATING THROUGH READING
READING READING
Knowledge and an increasing understanding of:
2.16a Exploring and 2.16b Exploring and
observing the use of printed observing the use of print, 18. How print conveys meaning
materials and resources logos, labels and signs in the 19. What has been read to them
environment
2.18a Using illustrations to 20. What they have read
tell stories 2.18b Using illustrations to
make predictions Skills of being able to:
2.19a Exploring books and
reading for pleasure 2.19b Exploring different 21. Use phonic awareness to decode simple
forms of print and following words
2.21a Exploring words the conventions of text
through games, play, art and 22. Recognise and read some common words
digital means 2.20b Exploring how print and familiar sentences
conveys meaning and
2.22a Repeating and recognising letters and
retelling familiar stories, features of familiar words
filling in missing words/
phrases/events 2.22b The structures of
stories: characters, settings,
2.23a Choosing books for events, beginning, middle,
pleasure end
2.26a Letter and sound 2.23b Choosing and using
games, involving listening books for a purpose
and responding skills
2.24b Expressing
2.27a Following simple preferences in a range of
texts when being read to fiction and non-fiction
2.25b Hearing and
identifying sounds in words
2.27b Recognising and
reading common words and
familiar sentences
COMMUNICATING THROUGH COMMUNICATING THROUGH COMMUNICATING THROUGH WRITING
WRITING WRITING
2.28a Mark making using a 2.28b Distinguishing
range of materials differences and giving 23. The link between letter sounds and written
meaning to different marks words
2.29a Creating marks and and symbols
symbols that have personal Skills of being able to:
meaning in a range of play 2.29b Writing for a range of 24. Apply phonic awareness in writing activities
situations purposes and meaningful
real-life and play contexts 25. Write and spell some common words and
2.30a Developing and simple sentences
applying fine motor skill 2.30b Using a wide range of
control within a range of writing tools and materials
relevant contexts to refine fine motor skill
control
2.31a Experimenting with 2.31b Copying and

letters and patterns using a experimenting with letter
range of materials formation
2.34a Exploring writing and 2.32b Creating a sequenced
spelling through games, account and reading it
play, art and digital means
2.33b Using phonic
awareness to write words
2.34b Writing and spelling
some common words within
simple sentences
COMMUNICATING THROUGH COMMUNICATING THROUGH COMMUNICATING THROUGH NUMBER
NUMBER NUMBER
2.35a Sorting and grouping 2.35b Identifying common
objects properties in and between 26. How numbers represent quantities
groups of objects 27. A range of mathematical language
2.36a Counting through
play activities, action songs, 2.36b Exploring number in Skills of being able to:
rhymes and games the environment and in real-
life contexts 28. Count beyond 10
2.39a Creating marks and
symbols that represent 2.38b Exploring written 29. Order numbers and identify which number
numbers in a range of play numerals comes before and after; is one more or less than
situations a given number
2.40b How numbers
2.40a Exploring one-to-one represent quantities and sets 30. Add two single digit numbers together using
correspondence practical materials
2.41b Identifying ‘more than’
2.41a Using mathematical or ‘fewer than’ groups of 31. Subtract two single digit numbers using
language to describe groups objects practical materials
containing more or less
Objects 2.43b Counting groups 32. Solve simple problems involving halving,
of objects beyond 10 in sharing and doubling
2.43a Counting groups of quantity
objects
2.46b Estimating groups
2.44a Separating a quantity of objects and checking for
of objects into groups with accuracy
smaller number values
2.47b Separating objects
2.45a Selecting a given into more than two groups
number of objects and comparing group sizes
2.46a Creating groups of 2.48b Exploring the total
objects number of objects in groups
by counting ‘how many
2.47a Separating objects to altogether’
make two groups
2.49b Exploring ‘one more’
2.48a Comparing groups of and ‘one less’
objects
2.50b Exploring early
2.50a Exploring increasing addition and subtraction
and decreasing quantities through practical contexts
through action songs,
rhymes and games 2.51b Solving practical
number problems involving
2.51a Sharing quantities halving, sharing and
2.52a Exploring money doubling
2.52b Counting and using
money in a range of real-life
and play contexts
COMMUNICATING THROUGH COMMUNICATING THROUGH COMMUNICATING THROUGH SHAPE AND

SHAPE AND MEASURES SHAPE AND MEASURES MEASURES
2.53a Exploring size and 2.53b Ordering and Knowledge and an increasing understanding of:
shape through real-life and classifying size and shape in
play contexts practical contexts 33. The names of a range of shapes and
measures
2.54a Exploring size and 2.54b Selecting sizes and
shape through construction shapes according to given Skills of being able to:
materials, puzzles, criteria 34. Compare quantities and objects according to
modelling and creative shape and measures
activities 2.55b The names of given
2D and 3D shapes 35. Solve simple mathematical problems
2.55a Exploring size and involving shape and measures
shape in everyday objects in 2.57b Using positional
the environment language
2.56a Describing objects 2.58b Collecting simple data

according to size and shape and representing pictorially
2.57a Identifying similarities 2.61b Comparing and

and differences between ordering length and height
shapes 2.62b Exploring how to
2.61a Exploring length and measure length and height
height through play and in practical contexts
practical activities 2.63b Comparing and
2.62a Using language ordering weight
associated with length and 2.64b Exploring how to
height measure weight in practical
2.63a Exploring weight contexts
through play and practical
activities
2.64a Using language
associated with weight
COMMUNICATING THROUGH COMMUNICATING THROUGH COMMUNICATING THROUGH ICT AND
ICT AND COMPUTING ICT AND COMPUTING COMPUTING
2.69a Using technology in 2.67b Operating and Knowledge and an increasing understanding of:
practical activities controlling toys, objects
36. The safe use of everyday technology
2.70a Using technology to and devices that use
perform simple functions switches, control buttons, 37. The uses of computers and technology in
pulleys, levers, knobs and familiar contexts
2.71a The use of computers, mechanisms to produce
tablets and a range of ICT to movement, sound, light and Skills of being able to:
convey information actions 38. Operate a range of technology
2.73a Integrating technology 2.68b The safe use of 40. Select and programme technology according
in play contexts a range of technology, to the task and purpose
including guidelines for
using the internet and
phones
2.69b Selecting technology
that best matches practical
activities
2.70b Giving instructions,
programming and operating
digital toys, devices and
computers
2.71b How computers are

used in the environment
and the language associated
with operating them
2.72b Using computers and
other forms of ICT as tools
to record, link and extend
experiences that happened
away from the computer
2.73b Presenting ideas
and information using
technology
COMMUNICATING THROUGH COMMUNICATING THROUGH COMMUNICATING THROUGH THE EXPRESSIVE
THE EXPRESSIVE ARTS AND THE EXPRESSIVE ARTS AND ARTS AND CREATIVITY
CREATIVITY CREATIVITY
2.74a Using the senses 2.75b Exploration of
to explore materials and colour, texture, materials, 41. The uses of a range of art tools, materials
textures textiles, space, line and and musical instruments
shape involving tools, 42. A range of songs and music
2.75a Exploration of manipulation, techniques
colour, texture, materials, and construction to create Skills of being able to:
textiles, space, line and unplanned and planned
shape involving tools, effects 43. Experiment and express ideas using a range
manipulation, techniques of art tools, materials and musical instruments
and construction 2.76b Expressing ideas,
moods and feelings 44. Represent ideas through music, movement,
2.76a Exploring how colour through a wide range of dance, role-play and drama
and texture can be changed art, construction and model
2.77a Exploring and creating making activities
2D and 3D artwork 2.77b Designing and
2.78a Exploring art in the creating 2D and 3D artwork
environment for a range of purposes
2.79a Using illustrations to 2.78b Exploring cultural art

inspire drawings and artwork and design
2.80a Freely experimenting 2.79b Using the styles of

with art materials and selected artists to inspire
initiating own art adventures drawings and artwork
2.81a Exploring sounds and 2.80b Freely experimenting

music through games and with art and design and
play contexts presenting ideas through
artwork
2.82a Singing songs,
making sounds, exploring 2.81b Experimenting making
musical instruments and sounds and music in a wide
their sounds and joining in range of activities
musical activities 2.82b Expressing ideas,
2.85a Exploring rhythm and moods and feelings through
beat by clapping, tapping, songs, sounds, music and
banging, stamping and musical instruments
moving 2.84b Freely experimenting
2.86a Freely expressing with music making and
ideas through movement presenting ideas through
and dance sound and music
2.87a Exploring movement 2.85b Responding to rhythm

and dance through role-play and beat in creative ways
and imagination including linking music to
art, dance and movement
2.88a Responding to a
range of stimuli through 2.86b Freely expressing
movement and dance ideas, moods and feelings
through movement, dance
2.90a Exploring role-play and rhythm
involving costumes and
props 2.87b Exploring sequenced
movement through dance
2.90b Exploring characters,
storylines and roles through
drama activities involving
costume and props
IEYC LEARNING STRAND 3: ENQUIRING LEARNING OUTCOMES: ENQUIRING

ENQUIRING ABOUT PEOPLE ENQUIRING ABOUT PEOPLE Knowledge and an increasing understanding of:
3.1a Exploring the senses 3.1b Using the senses to 45. Similarities and differences in people, living
make discoveries things, the environment and materials
3.3a Exploring similarities
and differences in people 3.5b Exploring the skills of 46. How things can change
people who help us in the
3.4a Exploring how we community 47. Features in the environment
move
Skills of being able to:
3.5a Exploring the roles of
people who help us in the 48. Investigate by:
community Posing questions
ENQUIRING ABOUT THE ENQUIRING ABOUT THE Exploring ideas
WORLD WORLD
Making observations
3.8a Using materials to carry 3.7b Asking questions,
out simple investigations experimenting with ideas Providing simple explanations
and finding out about the
3.9a Exploring solids and wider world
liquids
3.8b Selecting materials
3.12a Exploring natural to carry out simple
materials and objects investigations
3.14a Exploring features of 3.9b Exploring how solids
living and non-living things and liquids can change
3.15a Exploring significant 3.10b Exploring energy
features of the local sources, light, sound, forces
landscape and motion
3.16a Observing nature in 3.12b Classifying and
the local environment comparing natural and man-
made materials
3.18a Representing the 3.14b Classifying living and

environment through model non-living things
making, drawings and
artwork 3.15b Exploring significant
features of the wider world
3.20a Exploring wildlife, including oceans, deserts,
domestic animals, birds, mountains and forests
sea-life, insects and other
life forms that are of 3.17b Exploring Earth and
interest space
3.24a Exploring significant 3.18b Representing the

times in own and others’ environment through maps,
lives and recent past events plans, drawings, photographs
and diagrams
3.19 Exploring wildlife
habitats
3.20b Exploring the needs of
wild-life, domestic animals,
birds, sea-life, insects and
other life forms that are of
interest
3.24b Exploring evidence
and artefacts that inform us
about life long ago
IEYC LEARNING STRAND 4: HEALTHY LIVING AND LEARNING OUTCOMES: COMMUNICATING

PHYSICAL WELL-BEING

HEALTH AND SELF-CARE HEALTH AND SELF-CARE Knowledge and an increasing understanding of:
4.1a Basic hygiene 4.1b Hygienic habits 49. The importance of healthy eating and
physical activity
4.2a Looking after our 4.2b The effects of neglect
bodies and teeth on our bodies and teeth 50. How to stay safe and how to seek help
4.4a Exploring food and 4.4b Healthy eating, sleeping Skills of being able to:
drink, textures and tastes and choices
51. Take care of basic hygiene and personal
PHYSICAL WELL-BEING PHYSICAL WELL-BEING needs
4.9a Exploring movement 4.9b Exploring direction and 52. Demonstrate control, coordination and
including walking, running, movement in games and increasing confidence in a range of physical
kicking, skipping, climbing, physical activities activities
rolling, crawling, hopping,
jumping, sliding, throwing, 4.10b Taking part in games
catching and swimming if and activities involving
appropriate equipment
4.10a Developing gross 4.11b Exploring balance

motor skills using a range 4.12b Exploring team games
of equipment and associated rules
4.11a Developing 4.13b Body and space
confidence, control and awareness
coordination using small
and large equipment
4.13a Following
instructions, copying and
repeating actions
Appendix 3
Example of an ‘IEYC Learning Journey’

This example can be easily adapted for your setting; it provides a starting point to capture
each child’s unique Learning Journey. The template is a simple way of recording what children
have learned about through the IEYC and child-initiated learning. Learning Journeys are an
effective way to inform planning and next steps in learning.
■■Teachers, children and families should contribute to an evidence base that demonstrates
children’s knowledge, skills and increasing understanding to support the Learning Journey.
■■The evidence base may include photographs, samples of learning, anecdotal records and
observations.
■■The evidence base is a way of gathering an insight into what children know, understand
and can do.
■■An evidence based Learning Journey can be used to track progress over time and is a
reliable assessment tool – building a picture of children’s learning and development over
time.
■■This example can be replicated for all four Learning Strands, and used for recording and
tracking what has been covered throughout the unit, linking to next steps for learning and
development.
Child’s Details:
IEYC Unit Title:
Implementation Date:
IEYC LEARNING STRAND 1: INDEPENDENCE AND INTERDEPENDENCE
IEYC Learning Child-initiated Working towards Reflections and

Experiences IEYC Learning IEYC Learning Evaluations
Experiences Outcomes
Phase A Phase B Links with Links with
Learning Learning Phase A Phase B
Experiences Experiences Learning Learning
(e.g. 1.6a) (e.g. 1.6b) Experiences Experiences
Next steps in learning and development:
INTERNATIONAL EARLY YEARS CURRICULUM
18 King William Street London EC4N 7BP

+44 020 7531 9696
info@greatlearning.com
greatlearning.com/ieyc
TheInternationalEarlyYearsCurriculum
The_IEYC
From Fieldwork Education, a part of the Nord Anglia Education family

©WCL Group Limited. All rights reserved.

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Dinosaur Detectives!

An Overview of Dinosaur Detectives! 4

Putting Dinosaur Detectives into Action 14

Learning Block 1: Explore and Express 19

Learning Block 2: Explore and Express 59

Learning Block 3: Explore and Express 96

Learning Block 4: Explore and Express 139

Exit Point 175

The IEYC Process of Learning

An Overview of Dinosaur Detectives!

A Mindmap of the Learning Experiences Included in Dinosaur Detectives

Sorting DINOSAURS BIG DIGGING UP Museum

DILEMMAS Strand 1: Independence and Interdependence DANCE

Stomach Friends in Dinosaurs in Move like a Making a Stomp to

A Suggested Pathway through Dinosaurs Detectives

Learning Block 1 Learning Block 2 Learning Block 3 Learning Block 4

5. Dinosaurs in trouble! 5. Dino party

Suggestions for Enabling the Environment

From a Jurassic forest…

…to a museum of wonders

Introducing the concept of ‘long ago’

■■Plastic dinosaurs (in a range of sizes and colours)

■■Art and craft materials

■■Junk materials (cardboard boxes, tubes, egg cartons etc.)

■■Water and sand tray

■■Fiction books linked to the theme – including the following:

The Big Picture for Teachers

All shapes and sizes

Herbivores and carnivores

What happened to the dinosaurs?

The Big Picture for Children

Putting Dinosaurs Detectives into Action

into the forest…

■■Have you ever seen a dinosaur? What about a real dinosaur?

Learning Block 1: Explore and Express

The central learning focus for this Learning Block is:

Suggestions for this Learning Block’s continuous provision and play

The IEYC Personal Goals children will be helped to develop in this

The IEYC International Dimension children will experience in this

Suggestions for linking to Language and Mathematical development

Suggestions for linking physical development to complement the

Learning Block 1: Explore and Express

IEYC Learning Strand 1: Independence and Interdependence

IEYC Learning Strand 2: Communicating

COMMUNICATING THROUGH SHAPE AND MEASURES

IEYC Learning Strand 3: Enquiring

Activity 1: Sorting dinosaurs

IEYC Learning Strand 1: Independence and Interdependence

IEYC Learning Strand 2: Communicating

COMMUNICATING THROUGH NUMBER

Walk Fly Swim

Activity 2: Size is everything!

IEYC Learning Strand 1: Independence and Interdependence

IEYC Learning Strand 2: Communicating

2.56a Describing objects according to size and shape

IEYC Learning Strand 3: Enquiring

IEYC Learning Strand 4: Healthy Living and Physical Well-Being

Activity 2: Size is everything!

IEYC Learning Strand 1: Independence and Interdependence

IEYC Learning Strand 2: Communicating

Activity 3: Dinosaur opposites

IEYC Learning Strand 1: Independence and Interdependence

IEYC Learning Strand 2: Communicating