Children in Reception were treated to a fantastic Dinosaur Workshop. Firstly, they had the opportunity to make some fossils, then 'Dino Man' talked to the children and showed them some examples of flying reptiles, carnivorous dinosaurs and some herbivores. He started with the long-necked dinosaur, Brachiosaurus. He showed them an experiment to replicate the contents of a herbivore’s stomach after they grind up their food. It looked disgusting and was rather stinky! Dino Man then explained that 100 million years ago, Brachiosaurus snapped its tooth. He showed the children a real Brachiosaurus tooth! The children were allowed to touch it! Dino Man explained that the tooth was now a fossil and had turned into stone.

Next, Dino Man discussed how dinosaurs defend themselves showing how the armour-plated, Ankylosaurs defended themselves with their tough skin plates and specialised tail club. He explained that meat eaters could not bite through Ankylosaurus tough skin even with their razor-sharp teeth. Dino Man explained that Pterosaurs are flying reptiles with sharp teeth that can swallow fish whole and that some dinosaurs were as tall as giraffes. The children had the opportunity to look at some models and pictures and to walk on dinosaur stilts. Here are some of the children's comments:

Daniel - 'That one has a crown because it’s the king of the dinosaurs.'

Lui - 'The armour tank is quite big like an Ankylosaurus.' 'It looks the same.'

Aoife - 'Volcano and a big rock.'

Eden - 'I like the T- Rex wearing the crown.' 'He’s the king.'

Afterwards, Dino Man introduced us to Therizinosaurus, the dinosaur with the largest recorded claws. The children were allowed to touch a real claw! Then, there was an experiment to act out the last day of the dinosaurs, 65 million years ago. At the end a huge dinosaur came to play with the children!