Latest from Crawford

Latest from Crawford Exploring Room In this photo the children are having their dinner outside as it was such a lovely day and it was great for them to get some fresh air after all the recent bad weather. Everyone enjoyed eating their dinner outside so much that we decided to stay outside for yogurt too. The experience of eating a meal outside was a very happy that the children shared together. In the future when it’s sunny we will have snacks outside too. Kate’s Mum though it was a lovely idea to eat outside. Discovery Room During circle time some of the children were talking about the…

Snow time in Crawford

Snow time in Crawford Adventure Room When the children arrived into the creche one morning recently they saw some thingspecial had covered the outdoor area! We didn’t need to ask them twice if they wanted to go our and touch the snow. Very quickly coats and hats were put on and the wetsuits and wellies were put on in record time. They ran out into the snow and touched it exclaiming “ it’s cold,  feel it” they were telling each other. Michael and Fionn were making marks in the snow with their wellies leaving their prints everywhere. They then used different materials to make more prints on the snow.…

Happy Halloween From Crawford

Happy Halloween From Crawford Discovery Room Cathy was talking about a recipe for protein balls which she saw on the back of a packet of Ready Brek she had for breakfast that morning. It was suggested then that the class should try to make the protein balls. We got all the ingredients together and the children helped with weighing, peeling, cutting and mixing the carrot, apple, dates, pumpkin seeds and porridge oats. We had to use a blender to get the texture right for the protein balls. While they were balking we chatted about the ingredients. Rose said the dates tasted like raisins, while Conor said he didn’t like…

Latest From Crawford

Latest From Crawford Adventure Room With Christmas well and truly over we felt the need to get back into ‘routine’ so we started working on our independence looking at taking on and off our coats and shoes and tidying up the toys. We all helped each other and made sure to tidy up the room before we went outside each day. It took a little time to get into the habit of doing things for ourselves and to be aware that we need to tidy up after playing with the toys or games that we use. Tom’s Dad was very proud to see him putting his own coat…

Christmas Week in Crawford

Christmas Week in Crawford Discovery Room It’s Christmas week and what a busy one! The children have been talking about Santa and some even had a home visit from him. Tucker recently went to Robert’s house for the weekend and he brought a Christmas present in for Tucker which they opened together. On Wednesday night the children performed their show ‘Christmas Around the World’ for their families and it was a great success. After the show we a had a party for everyone and some parents kindly brought in some treats. On Thursday Santa and his elves came to visit and the children sang some Christmas songs for him.…

Christmas News from Crawford

Christmas News from Crawford Discovery Room On Monday Tiernan brought in a countdown to Christmas calendar. This started up a conversation between some of the children about Christmas with saying they didn’t have their Christmas tree up yet. Some children helped decorate the Christmas tree in the reception area. James shook ‘Jingle Bells’ on the tree while Peig put some balls on and David was asking when we were going to use the calendar. We also spoke about how Christmas is celebrated all around the world and made decorations for the classroom. Some children showed their parents the tree which they help to decorate. On Thursday Tiarnan stared the…

Latest from Crawford

Latest from Crawford Adventure Room Christmas talk is starting already! When some of the children came in this week they were talking about the Christmas lights being turned on in Cork and seeing Santa. Some of the kids wanted to paint so we asked them what colours and red or green where the chosen ones. Conor wanted to paint a Christmas tree on cardboard. Emma wanted green card like a Christmas tree and Leon chose red for Santa. Conor’s Mum commented how nice the painted cardboard was and told us how Conor was all talk about the Christmas Tree with the star and what he told Santa he…

Role play in Crawford Childcare

Role play in Crawford Childcare Many of the children attending Crawford Childcare enjoy role playing games and dress-up. Role playing around shopping has become so popular in the Adventure room we have a whole area dedicated to it. Aoife and Eilish love playing in the kitchen. They carefully share out food portions and serve other children the food on plates. Aaron particularly likes Aoife to wait on him and usually beams at her as she delivers his portion. Tess enjoys cooking and  she gathered up both food and plates placing them all carefully together in the cooker. Sam was a bit more inventive with his food, placing it in the…

Wibbley wobbley jelly in the baby room

Wibbley wobbley jelly in the baby room The babies got messy recently as they explored strawberry, raspberry and orange jelly. All the senses are used in jelly play. Trays of jelly were placed on the floor and the children looked at and played with it in any way they wanted. Jelly is sticky and changes state easily when played with. It is fun to watch this, listen to the splats as the jelly hits the floor and trays, they smell and taste differently from another type of jelly and to squeeze, pour and spread. The adults’ role was to observe while sitting closely by describing the babies actions to build vocabulary and…

A Rainy Day at Crawford Summer Camps

A Rainy Day at Crawford Summer Camps We had a particularly wet Monday recently here at Crawford Childcare. The rain was very heavy and didn’t stop for a moment. We don’t usually shy away when there’s a bit of rain here but under such extreme weather conditions we think it is better for the children to enjoy summer camp indoors. There is no way rain is stopping play however. We gathered some boxes and asked the children what they would like to make. Perhaps inspired by all the wet weather they decided on an aquarium. All the children joined in to help paint the box. Lily said “we need to paint the…