Tuesdays with Grandpa Peter

Spring is here!

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

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 […]

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 […]

Learning to Learn Every Day All of our centres are currently hosting parent developmental evenings. The parent evenings are an excellent opportunity for parents to discuss these records with their child’s key carers, and to look at their child’s holistic development linked to the Aistear curriculum themes : ·         Exploring and Thinking ·         Well Being ·        […]

Here are the highlights from our Summer Festivals in 2017!

Congratulations to the 2017 Preschool Graduates! Here are some photos that capture the excitement of the most recent celebrations.

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 […]

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

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!

Staying fit as a Family

Giraffe Training Academy  – Toddler Staff Workshop Last Saturday, Giraffe Childcare’s Training Academy hosted a training day for 63 practitioners with Lillian and Carol from Early Childhood Ireland, delivering workshops on Facilitating Play Based Learning. Our senior crèche managers acted as our In-House workshop facilitators on the day, and covered a wide range of topics on Managing Children’s […]

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 […]

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!

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 […]

Fun, educational and sometimes surprising, our 33 (and a Third!) Facts about St. Patrick’s Day infographic is bound to put a smile on your face for this St. Patrick’s Day

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 […]

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 […]

Starting school is an exciting time for you and your child

Mother’s Day takes on a whole new meaning when you have children yourself; any cynicism about made-up, commercial occasions is displaced, once you get that first homemade card or toddler-produced breakfast in bed. Even if said toddler usually eats most of it! So it’s not surprising to see such happy smiles in our gorgeous series […]