Step-by-step guide to Pumpkin carving

Pumpkin carving can be a fun activity for you and your child to enjoy. Here we tell you how to do it safely, with your child’s help.

At this time of year, pumpkins are easily sourced in most supermarkets and farmers’ markets. Choose a small to medium-sized sturdy pumpkin by knocking on the skin (as you would a melon). If it sounds hollow, then it is ripe and ready for the carving!

Let your child design the pumpkin face by drawing on the skin in biro or felt tip pen. Don’t be overly ambitious; especially if this is the first time you have attempted this together. For younger children, two circular eyes, a triangle for a nose and a semi circle for a mouth should be sufficient, although you might want to experiment with teeth, eyebrows, star shapes and other designs for older, more experienced carvers.

The next step is to carve a lid’. Draw a circle around the pumpkin about 5cm below the stalk, and then cut carefully round it and through the flesh, using a large serrated bread sharp. A really clever idea at this point is to carve a very small corresponding notch on both the base and the lid, which will help you to remember where the two best fit together.

After this you must scoop out the innards, which is a messy, squidgy, fragrant business that your little one is bound to enjoy. Use spoons, fingers and whatever tools you deem necessary to remove all the seeds and flesh, and scrape the skin clean until the pumpkin is thin enough to effectively shine a torch through. If you’re careful, seeds can be saved for toasting and/or planting out next year to grow more pumpkins, and the flesh can be saved for pumpkin pie (if it’s removed hygienically of course!).

The next step is to start carefully carving out your design. For younger children it’s safest if you do this with a small, sharp knife while they watch; older children might be able to use some of the specialist pumpkin carving tool kits that are readily available online and in larger supermarkets around this time of year. If you’re using a knife, use a gentle sawing motion and take your time, as any slip-ups might necessitate a swift change of design.

Now it’s time to choose the source of light for your Pumpkin. Traditionally candles are used, and tea lights are well suited to this purpose, providing you have scraped out a relatively flat base for them to sit on. A candle will need enough oxygen to stay alight, so if you intend to put the lid back on top of the pumpkin, make sure enough large holes have been incorporated into the design to provide sufficient ventilation.

If safety is a concern, many people nowadays choose to use small torches and battery operated flashing LED lights; the latter creates a particularly striking effect.

Finally place your pumpkin on a heat proof plate and display it somewhere safe, where it can’t be easily knocked over, and well away from any flammable items.

Happy Halloween!

13 preschoolers | 2 teachers | 2 rugby coaches|1 bodhrán player and a whole lot of fun

The children and staff at Giraffe Leopardstown host a rugby day in honour and support of the Irish Rugby team.
Our Giraffe Leopardstown pre-schoolers had so much fun showing their support by preparing rugby related artwork and learning ‘Irelands Call’ assisted by their teachers, Ciara O’Reilly and Ivonne Gonzalez.

Our deputy manager, Roisin Byrne, accompanied the children on the bodhrán and her rugby coach father and brother (Dave & Seán Byrne) travelled up from Gorey to coach our little rugby fans. You never know, you could be looking at rugby stars of the future!

The very best of luck to the Irish team on Sunday, from all the children and staff at Giraffe Childcare.

It’s All in the Moment

Giraffe Training Academy had a wonderful training day on baby and infant care  

Giraffe Childcare’s Training Academy hosted a training day for over 60 practitioners on Saturday with Lilian Joyce from Early Childhood Ireland, delivering a session on ‘’How Babies Learn, A Curriculum for Infants’’ and a follow-up session by Aoife Lee, parent coach for Giraffe,  who covered ‘’Supporting Babies Sleep’’.  There were also a range of demonstration and skills modules delivered by some of Giraffe’s experienced crèche managers to promote best practice in baby care.

Lilian started the day with an engaging session on capturing magical moments and  emphasising that every moment we share with babies is a learning opportunity. 

Five of our Giraffe managers then delivered some basic (and not so basic!) skills demonstrations in small focus groups.  The detail covered feeding and weaning, relaxation techniques, nappy care and personal hygiene and first aid and healthcare. The sessions were both interactive and interesting and the team all had an opportunity to be hands on!

Following on from a busy morning we had  a presentation from Aoife Lee who covered supporting babies with their sleep routines, promoting restful sleep environments and the science behind sleep.   This was a very interesting session and we hope to roll this out to our parents as well in the Autumn. 

It was great day and we all enjoyed refreshing and developing our skills.  We have had some wonderful feedback from our practitioners and Giraffe Training Academy will host further workshops for all of our care groups.

A big thank you to Lilian, Aoife, our crèche managers, the central support team and all the practitioners who made the day such a success!

Learning about bubble play with Lilian from Early Childhood Ireland

We all had a chance to play with bubbles!

Kamila demonstrating bath time for young babies

Debbie refreshed our baby changing skills

Learning about safe sleep

Our baby rooms have had a revamp and all the babies love exploring their new environments!

Jurgita demonstrating various first aid skills with all our baby and infant staff

Leona delivered a session on relaxation techniques and the benefits of outdoor play

In recognition of their dedication, all of our staff went home with a small token of our appreciation and a treat to say thank you !

Click here to read more about Giraffe Training Academy

Summertime Fun

Summer is festival time in Giraffe! We have as many fun outdoor activities as possible during the summer months to make the most of the fresh air and sunshine! ☀️☀️☀️

Each centre has its own calendar of events from Family BBQs to Sports Days to Beach parties. We encourage the children to take an active part in keeping our gardens beautiful by planting flowers, herbs and even their own fruit and vegetables. They love watching the process from seed to food they can pick and eat! We love outdoor play and painting too. Everyone enjoys being out in the fresh air and we grab the novelty of a sunny day with both hands!

Here are the highlights from summer 2015!

Parent BBQ Fun!

Grow It Yourself

We love to encourage gardening in our centres. In Giraffe Blanchardstown, the children took part in greenhouse planting and harvested a great yield of plants – strawberries, blackcurrants, courgettes, cucumbers, potatoes, tomatoes and lots of herbs! The children loved being part of the growing process, and we loved the expressions on their faces as they discovered and tried the produce they grew themselves! 🙂

In Leopardstown Toddler Safari got in on the gardening action too!

Sports Day

Sports Day is a wonderful opportunity to teach the children from a young age about getting active and staying healthy! Whether it’s the sack race, a ball game or an obstacle course, the children are encouraged to take part, to learn to work as a team and most of all to enjoy themselves!

Teddy Bears Picnic

Other Activities

Here is a selection of photos of many of the other summer activites we did this summer.

Graduations

Summertime is when we bid a fond farewell to our pre-schoolers as they enter Junior Infants! We know they will all do great!

I Love My Job!

Giraffe Childcare Cook in Liffey Valley,Valerie Kavanagh tells us why….

“I should have done this years ago!”

I know I am here 7 years cooking for the children but I mean I should have been cooking for children years before as I just love it! And they appreciate it more than my own do!
Valerie Kavanagh is the cook for all our children in Giraffe Childcare Liffey Valley and it is obvious from talking to her that she just adores her job. She asks “how can it be called work when you enjoy it this much?”

Valerie starts each day by preparing the first snack of the day which is always fruit, delivered fresh each day. There is always a large variation of all types of fruit such as melons, apples, oranges, grapes, pears, mango pineapple,blueberries and raspberries. “They love their fruit” explains Valerie and “it’s so good for them!”
Valerie then starts on the dinner of the day which can range from Sweet and Sour chicken, fish pie, cottage pie or Spaghetti Bolognese. The menu is different every day of each month so variety is something the children here are used to. The favourite dishes she tells me at the moment are macaroni cheese and anything with potato. Everything is made from scratch in the kitchen including Valerie’s own stock and is very low in salt and sugar content.

Valerie mentioned that one of the best feelings for her as the cook is when a child asks for more! She roars laughing after she mentions this and it is hard not to laugh with her, she has the most infectious laugh and it is easy to see why our children here just adore this lovely lady!

Valerie mentioned that when she goes on annual leave and comes back the welcome she gets is tremendous, she makes the comment that “food is very important to the children!”
Valerie cooks for over 60 children each day, they range from fussy eaters to children with allergies and they are all catered for. “Sometimes in the beginning when a child starts they are unsure of what they want to eat but it doesn’t take them long to get settled in and they are soon eating like all the rest of the children.” Parents often come into the kitchen to me to ask me for my recipes for certain dishes mentioning that their child loves a particular dish and that when they make it at home the response is that it is not like Valerie makes it! I often write down recipes for parents and tell them that if they need anything else they know where to find me!

Before I left Valerie I had to pose the question “are you ever in bad form?” to which the reply was “sure if I was it only takes one child to give you that big smile to lift you out of it! My job is so rewarding and I am so thankful to have it!”

Four Top Weaning Tips

It’s going to get messy … but it’s going to be fun! Here are Giraffe’s four top weaning tips to get your little one set on the road to solid food:

1. Choose your moment

Teaching anyone a new life skill is going to be hard if the pupil is tired, cross or – ironically in this case – hungry. So don’t wait until your baby is screaming in hunger and maybe feed her just a little earlier than normal. In this way she won’t be frustrated by the fact that her hand to mouth coordination needs a little work and more food is spilling out than actually going in. Gently encourage her, with plenty of eye contact and smiles. For babies you can attract attention by zooming the spoon into their mouth and making funny train or plane noises to hold their interest. A few months on and your little one might like to copy you with her own cutlery. Eat together and lead by example.

2. Patience is a virtue

 Weaning is an exciting time, often for both parent and child. But sometimes, baby simply doesn’t want to know. While you can’t wait to teach her the difference between a banana and an apple, she may still be content to breastfeed or bottle-feed and shows little or no sign of interest in your mushy courgette puree. If this is the case, don’t worry. Simply try again in a few days or a week. Show her how you and your family enjoy eating different foods and encourage her with different flavours and colours. She will get there, as all children do, but it might just take a little time.

3. Variety is key

In the early stages it is important to introduce new foods one at a time, so as not to overwhelm your baby or risk digestive issues (or allergies). Once weaning is more established, make sure to offer your baby different tastes on a regular basis. You wouldn’t choose to eat carrots at every meal, so realistically why should your baby, regardless of whether they’re pureed, lightly mashed or teamed with baby rice? On the subject of texture, once your baby has mastered the basics and a few teeth are present, change it up by offering lumps, bumps and crunchy stuff to enjoy and explore.

4. Prepare for mess

 Yes, we’re afraid your kitchen or dining room is going to get trashed. Weaning means a lot of cleaning and you can’t really prevent it! What you can do, though, is lessen the effects of the chaos by investing in a couple of key objects. A wipe clean mat placed on the floor directly under your baby’s highchair can save carpets and time spent picking bits of rice cake out of crevices. A washable bib can save at least one change of clothes on your baby’s daily wardrobe rotation! Having a steady supply of baby wipes or washcloths can help too. Oh, and don’t forget to duck…

Sleep routines for your baby

Whether or not to use sleep routines for your baby is always a hot topic at mother-and-baby groups. Some believe wholeheartedly that your baby should lead her own development, much like on-demand breastfeeding, while others swear by enforced routines outlined by the many books available to buy on the subject. (more…)

National Play Day 2014 – 6th July

The aim of National Play Day is to help increase public awareness of the importance of play in supporting children’s physical and social development. The focus for National Play Day in 2014 is on ‘going out to play’ and a variety of projects have been funded that create opportunities for outdoor play at street, neighbourhood and community level. National Play Day provides the opportunity for Local Authorities to encourage children and their families to experience play in their own locality. (DCYA) (more…)

Safe fun in the sun