A TREASURE hunt with prizes that were hundreds of millions of years old helped tiny children with a school project yesterday.

Foundation stage pupils at Prince Bishops Community School, near Bishop Auckland, dug for dinosaurs and fossils with Paul Mercer, education officer for the North Pennines Heritage Trust.

Class teachers Dorothy Truby and Tracey Freeman chose a dinosaur theme to liven up lessons for their nursery and reception class pupils, who are all aged between three and five.

They find that making learning fun helps the youngsters remember what they are taught and encourages them to investigate.

Mrs Truby said: "They have loved the dinosaur dig. It is brilliant.

"It has really fired their imagination. They have sung songs and listened to stories and had a lot of fun.

"The older ones will write about it but the little ones will remember it as well.

"We have used the dinosaur topic across the whole curriculum and it has been really good."

After the dig, the children made fossils from Polo mints and liquorice laces.

Mr Mercer said: "It is a great activity for the children. Even at this age they have managed to identify fossils from reference cards.

"When they make the discoveries themselves it means more to them and they want to find out more."