Their world is our world

Spring is here!

Christmas is a fun time of year for children and their families.

We are currently hiring experienced childcare staff for roles in our centres located in Dublin, Kildare and Meath.

We love Halloween in Giraffe! The children and staff alike love decorating the centres and dressing up and really getting into the spirit of the spooky season! Each centre held a Halloween party and the children were delighted to dress up and see their carers dress up! For some of the younger children,  it was […]

Wobbler care Seminar – Giraffe Training Academy   Giraffe Childcare’s Training Academy hosted a training day in May 2018 for 60 of our childcare practitioners with a focus on interactions with children in the Wobbler age group –  1 to 2 year olds. It was very educational day,  and we all enjoyed sharing ideas on curriculum […]

For the past 4 years, team members from our Giraffe centres have taken part in the Dublin VHI Mini Marathon on the June Bank holiday weekend. 81 of our Giraffe team members took part in the race this year. This year’s event was held on Sunday instead of on the Monday – and we were all very grateful […]

Last Saturday, Giraffe Childcare’s Training Academy hosted a training day for 40 baby group carers. Our senior crèche managers acted as our in-House workshop facilitators on the day, and the group broke up into smaller workshops for the afternoon. The topics ranged from preparing the learning environment for young infants, to curriculum planning and effective communication. A […]

Our wellbeing week was full of activities running across all of our centres, including the LunchtimeMile, healthy eating and wellbeing initiatives.

All of our centres were full of creativity and inspiration last week leading up to the festivities of Easter. The centres took part in our annual Easter project where they were all provided with an Easter pack of art supplies to allow the children explore and express their own creativity. As part of our Reach […]

Mindfulness for children is about awareness of their thoughts, well-being and feelings.

Lá fhéile Pádraig Sona Daoibh go Léir! ☘️ Celebrating our national day makes us all feel proud to be Irish, and it allows the children to gain a better understanding of Irish culture and traditions (Aistear themes, Identity & Belonging).St. Patrick’s Day is an exciting time for all children! In the run up to the day, […]

While the seasons are slowly changing from winter to spring, and the days continue to get a little bit brighter, the children in Giraffe have enjoyed a wide range of spring time activities. Below are just some of the wonderful events that have taken place over the last few weeks in our centres: Pyjama Day […]

February has been an exciting month in Giraffe! With so many wonderful ‘early spring’ activities taking place over the past few weeks, we want to share some of the magical photos with you here. Fun in the Snow! Some of our centres enjoyed playing outside in the snow on a couple of occasions this month. The […]

A team Workshop focusing on the Preschool learning environment.

Here are the highlights from our Summer Festivals in 2017!

The workshops covered topics such as play-based learning, transitions for children moving rooms, and a wide range of skills demonstrations modules to promote best practice in care for the Wobbler age group

The children are waiting patiently at the lunch table, while Chef Natalia presents them with one of their favourite dishes…. Pork & Apple Casserole! Natalia has been our chef at Giraffe Blanchardstown for 4 years, and creates exciting seasonal menu options for the children. Pork and Apple Casserole from our Spring Menu The ingredients in this […]

Staff from each of our centres get together once a year to do a 10km mini marathon. Over 80 staff members signed up to take part in the 35th annual VHI Dublin Women’s Mini Marathon, one of the biggest all-women charity events in the world. Team Work! The rain on Monday June 5th certainly tested our spirits!  But […]

Peter’s story-time tradition started after our Leopardstown centre held their annual Grandparents Day in September & invited the children’s grannies and granddads to join them for games and activities.

The children were all very egg-cited when a special Easter visitor hopped into our creches last week!

Giraffe Childcare were proud to participate in #WorkWell17 to help improve employee health through promoting better nutrition and physical activity.

Some helpful travel tips

Celebrating our national day makes us all feel proud to be Irish, and it allows the children to gain a better understanding of Irish culture and traditions ( Aistear themes, Identity & Belonging).

Every year in the month of March, Giraffe children and staff spend an entire day in their comfy pyjamas!

The Carers and children at Childcare Liffey Valley held a special charity day in aid of A Princess called Emily.

Staying fit as a Family

At Giraffe, we believe that through a commitment to our role as carers and educators me make a positive difference to the lives of families, a children, our community and each other.

Every year in October, ISPCC Childline host a fundraising event called Cheerios Breakfast.  It is a fun charity breakfast which is hosted across the country to help support the ISPCC Childline services which answers calls from children in need across Ireland 24 hours a day. This year the event ran from 17 – 21st of […]

Halloween is the time when scary skeletons, spooky ghosts and wicked witches roam the world. All of the Giraffe centres enjoyed the build up to Halloween last week, and the children and staff certainly got into the spirit of the festivities! The children were delighted to dress up for the whole day for their Halloween parties. For […]

Giraffe Training Academy  – Wobbler Staff Workshop Giraffe Childcare’s Training Academy hosted a training day for 75 practitioners on Saturday with Lillian and Carol from Early Childhood Ireland, delivering a session on Facilitating Play Based Learning.  There were also a range of skills demonstrations modules delivered by some of Giraffe’s senior crèche managers to promote best practice in […]

The Affordable Childcare Scheme is currently available for ‘FIS’,  Medical Card holders and One-Parent families. It is also available to Adult Learners enrolled in VTOS or ETB courses.

Celebrating Grandparents Day at Giraffe!

We recently held a special informational evening with our Parent Coach, Aoife Lee of Parent Support. The topic of the parent discussion was “Managing Change Together -Settling into Crèche, Moving Rooms and Preparation for School”. Our parents had provided feedback over the last few months on what they found were some of the more challenging aspects of parenting. […]

Summer is festival time in Giraffe! The children look forward to the Summer Festivals every year, and every Giraffe Centre hosts different events through the summer months. This year, we saw Teddy Bear Picnics, Jungle Days, Magic Shows & Magicians, Beach days, Family BBQs and much much more! We have as many fun outdoor activities […]

Staff from each of our centres get together once a year to do a 10km mini marathon. This year a record number of our staff – 102 (!) signed up to take part in one of the biggest women’s sporting events of the year in Ireland – the VHI Dublin Women’s Mini Marathon. Our staff […]

“It takes a big heart to help shape growing minds”. (Anon) Every morning, the pitter-patter of tiny feet and the sound of joyful little voices resonate around the rooms at Giraffe Childcare. Every morning, the carers, chefs and staff teams welcome the children and families at their centre with energy and enthusiasm for the upcoming […]

If you really want to break the cycle of rivalry and children clashing with one another, allow them to pick activities that they can do together.

There’s great news for parents of pre-school children with the announcement of the extension of the free pre-school year in the budget yesterday. From September 2016, every child will be eligible at the age of three until they start primary school which has greatly increased access; and pre-school aged children will be able to enrol […]

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 […]

Father’s Day is a great chance to celebrate the Daddies and it is a lovely family day. We brought a real sense of that into the centres with many activities leading up to the day.The boys and girls in our crèches had a busy week leading up to Father’s Day preparing gifts and cards for their […]