Winner of Best Creche 8 years in a row
As the excitement of Christmas and Santa letters begin to ripple across homes around the country, both children and parents prepare for the build-up and giddiness that goes with it. Along with Easter and Summer time, the Christmas holidays are one of the longer spells that children are at home from school and crèche, like any break we, as parents, are looking for things to do to keep our children happy and entertained. It is important that we allow our children to entertain themselves, however as we all know, with that can come the squabbling.. ‘he’s looking at me’ ‘that’s not fair’ ‘I got that first’ – sound familiar? So, how can we help keep the peace over our Christmas holidays?
If it’s a daily occurrence, there is no doubt it can be hard to stay calm and patient when our children fight with one another, however, the more we can press the pause button and manage our own feelings of upset and frustration the more likely we can deal with the situation and stay focused on supporting the children. Lovely deep breaths can often save the day! Practicing will help, taking a deep inhale of breath right up through your upper body and in through your nose while exhaling right down into your diaphragm – this does work, I promise.
If you can offer a distraction to avoid the disagreement this can be a great way to diffuse matters straight away. Often when children fight it becomes a habit and it gets our attention. Unless you know that one child has clearly provoked the other, It’s important to avoid taking sides. The child that shouts the loudest can often get the most attention so keep an eye on who is setting off whom!
Instead, we can support both children, if you hear them fighting, as best you can approach with a calm and warm voice and say, “Let’s take it easy now so we can sort this out.” It’s often good to speak to them together for whatever is going on “In this family we are gentle with one another”. If you do use consequences, rather than focusing on one child try to have consequences that affect them both such as “the game is being put aside until everyone calms down”. If they need time away from each other, allow this. This might mean opposite sides of the house. Our children often need that space too.
When our younger children struggle to share, this can be really tough on them, between two and three years of age, they believe the word revolves around them and sharing just doesn’t come into it! So when we have two children fighting over the one toy it’s important that we don’t set our expectations too high on how they cope with that. Empathise with your child while offering distraction or an alternative is often the best possible solution here. When we acknowledge their feelings they do feel appreciated and understood.
When our children are laughing, giggling, having fun and playing together there is no doubt it’s so lovely to see and hear; it’s hard not to notice. The next time you pass by and see them enjoying one another’s company – let them know! “it’s so lovely to see how well you’re getting on and being gentle with one another.” Children adore being praised, when you show your approval of what your child is doing, they’re more likely to continue to do more of the things you want them to do and less of what you don’t want them to do.
The more fun times our children experience with one another the more it builds on their relationships, they become more aware of this as they get older and understand the meaning of friendship. If you really want to break the cycle of clashing with one another, allow the children pick activities that they can do together. One example is swimming; it’s fun, active and gets us out of the house during the quieter days of the holidays!
As children get older their relationships with each other change, the unconditional love they have will always be there, in those early years our children are finding their place in the family and their personalities and strengths are very much part of that.
Each year, children of all ages eagerly anticipate the arrival of Christmas Day. The cultural and the commercial aspects of the holiday are marketed very effectively to children and it can be challenging for parents both to prepare for the build-up to Christmas and to manage their children’s excitement.
Everything’s so commercial now, it’s easy to be jaded but to our children it’s all new and exciting and sincere. They love the lights, the smells, the songs so you can keep it simple and do some lovely activities at home and start to make your own family Christmas traditions! Get imaginative with your child, maybe release your own inner child and have some fun doing all the Christmas chores.
Try some of these helpful ideas to help you with your Christmas preparations:
Make Christmas Cards together for their friends and siblings. Be prepared for the mess of lots of glitter and glue! Or you can choose to paint on card with your child, there’s lots of colourful card available in the shops and you can have great fun together deciding on what to paint.
Christmas Baking is always great fun. You can pick up some Christmas tree, angel and snowman cutters (these can also be used for making Christmas decorations!) and use them to cut out the biscuits. A standard cookie dough recipe will work but you may wish to add some cinnamon or nutmeg to create a delicious, festive aroma.
Make some salt dough Christmas Decorations together, please find the recipe here. These look really lovely on the Christmas tree and are very easy to do with your children. You can add colouring or glitter to the salt dough to create a festive look and cut out a range of Christmas shapes. The decorations should be baked for at least 2-3 hours and don’t forget to make a small hole at the top of each decoration so that you can thread some ribbon through to tie it on the tree! If your younger children want to get involved, they can make an imprint of their hand in a circular cut out which can then be painted the following day – it makes a lovely memory! (the recipe for salt dough is set out below)
Decorate the Christmas Tree together; use the decorations that your child has made and also give each child their own selection of decorations and tell them that they can put them wherever they want on the tree!
Make Christmas place mats together; give your child and A4 piece of coloured card and a variety of seasonal resources such as Christmas sponges for printing, scraps of Christmas wrapping paper, markers, glue and glitter. Decorate the card and allow it to dry. Laminate the cards to turn them in to Christmas place mats. These can make great gifts too, especially for grandparents!
And lastly, remember on Christmas Eve, try to not to give your child too much sugary treats and arrange some fun and relaxing activities for the children while you prepare for the busy day ahead. And don’t forget to squeeze in some relaxation time for yourself!
Happy Christmas from everyone at Giraffe Childcare x
Making your own salt dough at home couldn’t be easier and it’s a fun activity for children of all ages.
Recipe for salt dough
1 cup of salt
2 cups of plain flour (don’t use self-raising as it raises when cooked)
1 cup of lukewarm water
Add food colouring or glitter for a festive look.
You will also need:
Baking tray, Rolling pin, Drinking straw, Christmas shaped cookie cutters Paintbrush, Glitter, Ribbon.
Method
Step 1: Preheat oven to120 Celsius
Step 2: Measure flour and salt, then add them to a medium mixing bowl and stir. Add water
Step 3: Mix thoroughly. Sprinkle parchment paper with flour and knead dough until it’s soft and pliable. Add more flour if it’s very sticky
Step 4: Using a lightly floured rolling pin, roll out the dough to 1/4 inch thickness
Step 5: Cut out ornaments using cookie cutters
Step 6: Place shape on an ungreased cookie sheet
Step 7: Using a straw, create a hole for the ribbon that will hang the ornament
Step 8: Place ornaments in the oven and bake for two to three hours, or until completely dry. Turn once while baking, then remove and allow them to cool completely
Step 9: When the ornaments have cooled, decorate them with paints and/or glitter if desired
Optional step: If you want your ornaments to last for years and years, seal them with three to four thin coats of non-toxic acrylic varnish after the decorative paint has fully dried. Make sure to coat the entire surface to prevent moisture from getting in.
(Helpful hint – if you don’t have acrylic glue, add a couple of squirts of PVA glue to regular child-safe paint)
The lucky children in Preschool Kenya, Celbridge had a very special and interesting visitor last week during Science Week! David, one of our parents, is a scientist who collaborates with the Science Foundation Ireland and he took time out to visit us in Preschool Kenya.
As our theme of the month is Space, we asked him if he could do a little experiment with the older children. We were delighted when he decided to make rockets with them!
He brought Space stickers for the children and they all decorated their rockets with the stickers and made them different colours. They then had a chance to fly them! David brought some “rocket fuel” and a “rocket launcher” and the children had to wear safety goggles and a helmet to launch their own rocket.
David brought along wonderful pictures and videos of different rockets and space and taught the children all about the International Space station and different trips to space. David was really impressed with the amount of knowledge our preschoolers already had about space and gave them a model of the International Space Station as a present to add to their Space Display Board.
We cannot thank David enough for giving us his time and knowledge and making last Friday such a special day for the children in Preschool Kenya. They are still talking about it a week later!
Heuristic play and creating treasure baskets are a great way for babies and toddlers to learn about the world, writes our Director of Childcare, Dearbhala, in today’s Irish Independent.
What is Heuristic Play?
New mums often encounter the term Heuristic Play for the first time at a mother and toddlers group or when their child starts crèche. Heuristic Play actually sounds much grander than it really is but do not underestimate its value: it is a term coined by child psychologist (Elinor Goldschmeid) who developed treasure baskets for babies and the heuristic play approach for toddlers which describes the activity of babies and young children as they explore objects from the real world.
The thinking behind it is not new and is something that we are all familiar with. Give a young child a present and more than likely, he or she wants to spend time scrunching the wrapping paper or eating it instead of playing with the toy itself. Our parents and grandparents already knew about this without even realising it. We played with saucepans and wooden spoons in the kitchen which we banged together, we stirred and poured rice with a jug and a funnel and a highlight was to have a basin of water!
Heuristic is defined as enabling a person to discover or learn something for themselves. It is rooted in young children’s natural curiosity. As babies grow, they move beyond being content to simply feel and ponder objects to wanting to find out what can be done with them. By using a treasure basket with children at this age you are providing them with rich mental stimulation, which not only activates the growth of the brain but also provides highly satisfying learning experiences. Household or kitchen utensils offer these opportunities and can occupy a child for surprising stretches of time as they concentrate on stacking pots, exploring the objects or sometimes just enjoying the new and interesting banging noise of a wooden spoon on a saucepan!
We live in a world where plastic toys dominate the shelves of toy shops, but plastic is dull and disappointing for babies, and whilst each rattle may look different each one smells, tastes and feels the same – it is unstimulating to their senses. Using heuristic play with babies stimulates all the senses, creating a rich learning experience as during this stage, a baby’s primal instinct is to explore objects by handling and sucking on them in order to find out about their physical characteristics.
Parents love watching their children discover and explore which is inherently what treasure baskets and heuristic play encourages. It is not a novel idea as children have been fascinated with exploring household items for generations. Nothing delights more than a child’s sense of wonder when they make a discovery and in turn it appeals to our sense of wonderment and delights as we observe children developing wonderment of their own! When a child makes a discovery or an interesting sound is produced, they often repeat the action again and again, to test the result which strengthens cognitive development as well as muscle control and hand/eye co-ordination.
What should go into the basket?
There should be a wide range of objects both natural and man-made that will stimulate all of the senses and that can be used as open-ended tools for exploration and imagination.
Include a good range of textures, shapes and materials and all should be non-toxic with no tiny pieces. Consider some of the following……an old CD, a sparkly glitter ball, keys, hand bells, a bracelet, a serving spoon, saucepan and a lid, various sizes and shaped wooden spoons and implements, homemade shakers (plastic bottles containing coloured rice), castanets or wooden object to tap together, felt, silky ribbon, shiny fabric, a lemon, bag of lavender (safely tied!) and other objects of wonder which are found in the home.
Don’t forget it is an approach, not a prescription so the content of the baskets is up to you but will probably discover that your child will favour a particular item such as silky piece of fabric or a bell which they will always seek out first.
Rotate the content of the basket regularly so that your child’s interest is sustained and remember, do not leave it out all day as it will no longer be exciting and interesting.(You need to use your own common sense about what may be dangerous and never leave your child unattended or with another child while playing with the basket).
Here’s a great idea to make use of the pumpkin flesh after carving your pumpkin. These are a lovely treat for a Halloween party too.
You will need:
To Make the pumpkin puree
Scoop out enough flesh so the pumpkin will still stay standing as a Jack O’Lantern. Put the roughly chopped pumpkin flesh into a saucepan, cover with water, bring to the boil and simmer for 20 minutes. Drain. Blend with hand blender or mash with potato masher. Put aside to cool.
Pumpkin Flesh in Saucepan
To make the Muffins
Preheat the oven to 180C / 350F / Gas 4. Sieve the flour and baking powder into a bowl. Add sugar, raisins and spices. Into another bowl, beat the two eggs and mix in the oil and pumpkin puree.
Pumpkin Muffins
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!
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.
Please leave your details and one of our team will get back to tell you more about what we do.
Your Name*
Your Email*
Your Phone*
What is your call regarding? Childcare Careers
Privacy Policy * I agree to the terms under which we obtain and store data as outlined in Giraffe Childcare’s Privacy Policy.
Giraffe have 24 crèches across the greater Dublin area, Navan & Kildare, find which is closest to you....