Have you ever found a message in a bottle or been to an island far away?

Tom is a little boy who lives with his grandfather in a lighthouse. One day he finds a bottle washed up on the shore with an important message inside. It is from a girl called Katy who he has never met before. She has found herself shipwrecked on an island and desperately needs help. She is surrounded by dinosaurs and there is a smoking volcano in the distance. Tom makes it his mission to save Katy. With his trusty hot air balloon he sets off to find Katy. Will he make it in time? or will the volcano erupt and wipe out the whole island?

Reading Katy's message sparked lots of interest in volcanoes. We used the internet to research images and videos of real volcanoes erupting. The children were fascinated to see the thick lava flowing down the sides of the volcano. Using clay, the children made their own mini volcanoes. Next week we hope they will be dry and can paint them and then we will see if we can create some scientific magic to make them erupt!

Click here to see more photos of us making our volcanoes.

Outdoors we have been using sand and a range of natural materials to create our own dinosaur islands complete with volcanoes! We have then used that to inspire us and use our imagination to tell our own adventures and make up dinosaur stories. The children have worked very well together on this taking turns to listen to each other's ideas and take turns when speaking.

Click here to see more photos of our outdoor dinosaur adventures.