10 ways to foster your childs creativity

From a very early age it’s important to encourage your child to be creative. It’s not so much about discovering the next Matisses and Dalis, but about expression, fun and development. You might learn a thing or two too.

1.Painting – It’s going to get Messy! Children love nothing more than a selection of brightly coloured paints, a large sheet of blank paper and a selection of brushes or sponges. Put plenty of newspaper down, cover your little one in an old t-shirt or apron, and watch your child’s imagine let loose. For a bit of variety, swap traditional brushes for homemade potato prints, or let them experiment with fingers and toes

2.Drawing – this allows your child to hone their fine motor skills. Using felt tips, crayons, coloured pencils or chalk, encourage them to draw the world around them, offering encouragement when they get stuck. Sit down together and spend a happy half-hour drawing a woodland forest full of animals, a snowy mountaintop or a family portrait.

3. Model making – at this age it’s less about the Lego and more about the play dough and plasticine. Children just love to feel the texture of this malleable material and squidge it into different shapes. Why not ask your little one to fashion you some fish fingers, chips and peas for a tea party, or create some cute farm animals to play with?

4. Nature – go for a walk with your young artist and see what inspirational treats you can find along the way for a future piece of artwork. Leaves of different shapes and colours work very well with a dab of glue, likewise pebbles can be painted or used in a counting game.

5. Sand – whether you’re at the beach or in a sandpit, there’s nothing quite like the feel of sand running through tiny fingers and toes. With a bucket, spade and some basic plastic moulds, there’s no limit to the castles and other imaginary kingdoms you can build.

6. Water – in a similar way to sand, water can also stimulate children’s imagination. Make bath times fun by providing some basic bath toys – even an empty shampoo bottle will do! Children love to pour water from one container into another, and this is the place for it! Also investigate bath crayons and blowing bubbles – it’s just as much fun in the bathroom as outside in the garden.

7. Stories – make storytelling a part of your day, every day. There’s no better way to send your child happily into dreamland than with a cuddle from a parent and a bedtime story. It doesn’t always have to come from a book – try telling each other stories too. There’s no limit to where your imagination might take you.

8. Music – let your child experience and celebrate sound, rhythm and melody by playing music often. Invest in some inexpensive child-friendly instruments, or simply bang along on an upside-down mixing bowl. Make up your own songs and why not dance while you’re at it?

9. Trips – family visits to museums, concerts and shows will educate your child about other people’s imaginations and how they express their ideas. It’s a great way to encourage creativity by showing how society values art, music and literature.

10. Role-play – let your imagination run riot and build a fort, play shops or take a rocket ship to the moon. Pretending games are a vital way to get your child thinking creatively, as well as challenge her to blend her ideas constructively with those of her playmates. Have fun

Teddy Bears Picnic in Griffeen, so cute!

If you go down to the woods today
You’re sure of a big surprise
If you go down to the woods today
You’d better go in disguise.

For every bear that ever there was
Will gather there for certain, because
Today’s the day the Teddy Bears have their picnic.

Look at all these happy smiley faces, we had so much fun at our Teddy Bears Picnic, Griffeen, June 2014 x

Northern Cross Pre-school Graduation 2014

Our class of 2013 – 2014 Northern Cross had a wonderful graduation, thank you to all involved for making it so special x

Giraffe Staff run in the Flora Women’s Mini Marathon for LauraLynn

We are delighted that 91 of our staff are running in the Flora Women’s Mini Marathon on Monday June 2nd! All money raised will go to LauraLynn – Ireland’s Children’s Hospice.

Every penny helps as you can see from the donation outline below.

If you would like to sponsor us… go to our My Charity page here: www.mycharity.ie/event/giraffe_staff_event/

To see the full list of everyone running from Giraffe Childcare, just click here: Mini marathon

Best of luck to all! x

Sile the hen came to visit Rathborne

There was great excitement when Sile the hen came to visit the children at Rathborne! A big thank you to Ann, Katie Sheridans mum for bringing in Sile and teaching the children about the life cycle of a hen.

Create, Imagine, Play

While fun and engaging, contemporary drama classes help children develop important skills through improvisation, mime, story-telling and creative play.

Children are increasingly drawn to more passive activities such as playing computer games and watching television. Both greatly influence a child’s development and it’s not uncommon for children to act as characters they see in games, cartoons or other television shows. (more…)

Class of 2002 Reunion!

Meet the class of 2002!

Parents and children from the class of 2002 met up last week in the Abbey Tavern in Howth.

They were the first children to attend Giraffe Childcare, our IFSC centre, and they have remained firm friends since then.

So many special friendships have started in Giraffe and we want to say a big thank you to the class of 2002 (parents and children) for sharing your story with us x (more…)

Healthy eating for our children

As all parents know young children are always on the go and need a wide variety of foods for growth and health. The best way to ensure that your child is eating a balanced diet is to offer a wide range of different foods each day.

Cereals, bread and potatoes -These foods are high in carbohydrate and provide energy your child needs to be active and play. Include at least one serving at every mealtime. (more…)

Physical Development in young children

Physical development in young children relate to their gross motor skills (coordination and control of large muscles), fine motor skills (coordination and control over small muscles) and their vision and hearing.

Physical development provides children with the abilities they need to explore and interact with the world around them. Wobblers are all about learning independence and this is an important element of developing their physical skills. They want to feed themselves, walk alone without support and run around and investigate their surroundings. (more…)

10 Amazing Foster Moms In Nature

Brought to you by Giraffe Creches Dublin

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Fairies and Folklore at Dublin Zoo This St Patrick’s Weekend

Dublin Zoo will be joining in the St. Patrick’s Day celebrations this year, with a very special event for all the family.

The Zoo will be transformed into a magical playground of leprechauns and fairies. There will be activities to keep the whole family entertained including maypole ribbon dancing and storytelling time with the leprechaun king.

Kids will also have the chance to get creative and join the fun at arts and crafts sessions happening throughout the day. Face painters will be on hand to make sure that the little ones are transformed into pretty fairies and laughing leprechauns and ready to dance and have fun at the Fairy Ball. (more…)

Montessori – How do we introduce it into our curriculum?

Montessori encourages children’s natural desire to explore and experiment in the world around them through Practical, Sensorial, Language, Mathematics and Cultural skills along with creative activities and the outdoor environment.

We provide a structured environment where play and learning go hand in hand. Our Reach Curriculum together with Montessori allows children experience fundamental skills in a prepared and inviting environment where everything is child sized, and safe for children to touch and use. (more…)

Basic Pancake Recipe

Pancake Mixture:

100g plain flour
Pinch of salt
1 egg
300 ml milk
1 tablsp. melted butter or sunflower oil

To Cook:

Sift the flour and salt into a mixing bowl and make a well in the centre. Crack the egg into the (more…)

Animals that Stay Together Forever

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Heuristic play within our setting

In Giraffe we believe play is a crucial part of any child’s development. Children play because they enjoy it, and its fun. We try to make each child’s learning experience from day one in our setting as positive, fulfilled, and as imaginative as possible on a daily basis.

We carry out many different activities daily to enhance and develop each child’s development, meeting each of the five areas. The following are the five areas of a child’s development:

ג¢ Physical

ג¢ Intellectual

ג¢ Linguistic

ג¢ Emotional

ג¢ Social (more…)

50 Unbelievable Facts About Chinese New Year

Brought to you by Giraffe Child Care Dublin

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Top children’s presents

From flying fairies to interactive puppies, here are some popular gifts that are sure to delight your childrenג¦

Lamaze My First Ted

Perfect for babies, this soft, snuggly teddy bear features contrasting colours to catch the attention, crinkly material to feel, squeaky feet to squeeze and a variety of textured fabrics to explore with little fingers. (more…)

50 Amazing Facts About the Moon

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Everything You Wanted to Know about Hibernation

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