Hoo Zoo and Dinosaur World Workshops Shopshire

What are our school workshops like

Being one of the top Dinosaur Parks in the country (ranked no. 2 on TripAdvisor for 2023) we pride ourselves on not just using dinosaurs for entertainment but also education.

Unlike many Zoo’s, Dinosaur Parks and Outreach programs we keep all our content educational, interactive and entertaining without moving away from factual accuracy into sensationalism.

All our Dino-Rangers have an active interest in dinosaurs, fossils and anything prehistoric – this is not ‘just a job’ to them. You can be guaranteed a professional, informative and fun approach towards all our fossil workshops!

All our outreach visits can be tailored to your topics and requests. We have worked tirelessly putting together a program that hits all the key points in the National Curriculum whilst keeping children engaged. The standard 1 hour long outreach program includes:

1. Introductory talk about fossils, dinosaurs and prehistoric creatures – if AV equipment is available we can include some educational videos made for us by Walking With Dinosaur’s Nigel Marven – During this talk we will cover the fossilisation process and the difference between body and trace fossils whilst also showing some of our own fossils.

2. Tactile session where children can physically hold some of our fossils and touch others whilst being told about them and invited to ask questions.

3. Sorting session where children are encouraged to sort each fossil into trays indicating whether they are ‘trace’ or ‘body’ fossils.

4. Fossil rubbings – children are all given replica fossils and paper to make pencil rubbings. They are then taught how to identify each one.

5. Short show and tell of specific geodes and minerals with an explanation of how they form.

6. A short quiz on what the children have learned during the session.

7. We finish with a short Meet the Dinosaur session with one of our baby Dinosaurs

Finally, all children get to take their very own REAL fossil home with them!