Latest from Crawford
22 Mar, 2018
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…
Exploring Room We wandered outside and found a big muddy puddle next to the sandpit. Cillian and Jacob mad a dash to splash in the water with their feet. Then Killian saw what great fun was being had and decided to sit down in the puddle. We gave the boys a few cups from the kitchen which they used to pour the muddy water on the ground. They realised quickly that the water was sandy as well as muddy. After a while Cillian got a brush to get the water out of the puddle. He then realised that the mud could be used as paint…
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…
Although St Patrick's Day has now come and gone, for some of the children in the Discovery room, this week the celebrations have just begun. While some discussion and preparations for St Patrick’s Day began before the day, the holiday and excitement feels much more real after the event for the children after being to the parade. There was great excitement the Friday morning after St Patrick’s when the children arrived in Crawford some still dressed in St Patrick’s Day costumes, others with shamrocks and flags painting on their cheeks. We heard stories of dancing leprechauns and marching bands and some of the children were…
There has been a lot of work going on in all our rooms recently as the team worked together to create cosy areas in each of the rooms. Each cosy area was planned carefully. We wanted our cosy corners to be places for our children to feel safe, separate from other play areas, a place to relax, wind down and to read. Forward facing libraries, shelving and soft furniture and drapes form the basis of our cosy corners. We ensure there are a range of books including catalogues, magazines, paperbacks and hard page books on offer. Our babies love our Nursery Rhyme books and point…
Our babies at Crawford Childcare are very curious and inquisitive especially when they are playing outside. The baby room team are always looking for ways to enhance the children’s experiences and further their learning. We decided that little adventures over to our natural play area would be a great way to do this. These excursions offer the babies wonderful experiences. The different parts of the natural play area allow the babies to take in and explore nature first hand! They experience a whole host of new textures including sand, bark mulch and the different plants in the garden. It also gives them new challenges allows…
Thursday 16th October 2014 I have met so many inspiring adults on my journey to and around Trondheim, Norway both Norwegian and Irish. The group I am travelling with are a wealth of information and knowledge in their own right and include academics, childcare committee representatives, early years practitioners, early years trainers, inspectorate and more. The sharing of our reflections have been a learning experience for us as we explore each other's perspectives. We are also a good looking bunch - just take a look at our group photo! Today started with lectures at Queen Maud University College on the subjects of municipality supervision and…
The toddlers have decided to take off their shoes and socks and keep them off as they play in the sand and run around our play area. The sun is out and the tractor tyres have plenty of fresh play sand in for digging and exploring. Some of the girls start to make sand cakes and buns, using their spades, buckets and pans. Lucy decides to take off her shoes and socks and begins to run around the playground. I remind her to put them back on. The toddlers know very well that we want them to keep their shoes on. Not only for social…
Here at Crawford Childcare Cork, we have been having an Easter Extravaganza over the spring break. Our pre-schoolers made a hopping trail on their Easter hunt. Our children were all transformed into Easter bunnies with a little face paint and special Easter bonnets shaped like rabbit ears. We have even found a few chocolate treats along the way as well as some crunchy carrots! Easter chicks have been hatching from the hands of our toddlers and babies as they used lots of different materials to make their textured chick crafts. The toddlers love to flap their wings like chickens and sing: “Chick chick chick…
There has been a great buzz around Crawford Childcare, Cork last week which was topped off nicely with pyjama day on Friday. Funds collected from pyjama day are all donated to the Irish Hospice Foundation for homecare for children. The motto used by Early Childhood Ireland to promote the campaign was “Helping children to help children and having fun!” There was certainly a feel good atmosphere on Friday. By supporting this campaign we all made a small but significant difference in the lives of families that are less fortunate than our own. Combined on a National scale every contribution makes a huge impact – thank…
