Small Children Helping Small Dinosaurs
Of the various educational workshops that we run in schools across the country, some of our most popular are our baby dinosaur sessions, in which younger pupils get to meet a dinosaur for (probably) the first time. It’s an exciting time for the children and teachers alike, as we introduce the group to our new baby dinosaur.
Of course, like any good learning activity, there’s more to it than that. With the dinosaur eggs and activity packs that we provide ahead of our visit, the children become immersed in the delivery of the dinosaurs. Our team uses this approach for everyday problems that the children can relate to.
Early Learning Goals
All our sessions are designed to seamlessly intertwine learning with fun and personal development. They have been put together with careful reference to the Statutory framework for the early years foundation stage, as published by the Department for Education. Specifically, our baby dinosaur workshops are centred around the Personal, Social, and Emotional Development section of the framework’s Early Learning Goals.
This section of the framework paper details three core Early Learning Goals for this section – self-regulation, managing self, and building relationships. Our innovative baby dinosaur workshops allow us to approach each of these ELGs in a unique way by having the children interact with our new clutch of baby dinosaurs.
Problem solving and mental health
Our workshop includes several baby dinosaurs, including a spinosaurus, a pterosaur, a parasaurolophus, a carnotaurus and, of course, the ever-popular baby T-Rex. Each dinosaur has their own issues and we invite the children to offer advice and guidance regarding what the dinosaurs can do to solve their issues.
As former primary school teachers ourselves, we believe that primary schools have a vital role to play in supporting children’s mental health by teaching them the skills they need to recognise and deal with their emotions. Even young children – especially young children – should learn to be vocal about their problems and emotions. Being able to recognise different emotions and the causes of them in others (even if it’s just in our baby dinosaurs) plays a huge role in children identifying those emotions in themselves.
Lifelong learning
It often seems that many people find it difficult to discuss their feelings and emotions. We believe that doing so is learned behaviour and that, having been denied the chance to openly talk about their feelings as children, too many people consider it to be a taboo subject now that they are adults. With our EYFS workshops we are giving children the opportunity to learn about this at an early age and know now when they need support or guidance.
The shape of things to come
The success we have experienced with our baby dinosaur sessions has led to the development of a brand new workshop that we are very excited to announce…
…next time!
Get in touch
Meanwhile, to arrange a visit from our baby dinosaurs to meet your Key Stage 1 students, give Teach Rex a call on +44 7585 705 967, or send us an email to educate@teachrex.co.uk, and someone from the team will be in touch.