Muddy puddles
31 Aug, 2015
We love splashing around in muddy puddles in Crawford Childcare, Glanmire Co. Cork. The toddlers have been enjoying splashing about in the puddles from all the recent rainfall. The Montessori children were more cautious carefully wading through the puddles in their wellies. Not so for the toddlers! Aoife decided to try and empty the puddle with a cup and went back and forth from the puddle to empty her cup on to the grass. Luke cycled straight through causing lots of spray to the delight of his watching friends. Conor decided the best place to play in a puddle was to sit in its very…
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…
All the children at Crawford Childcare have been very busy the last few weeks planning and building our very own bug hotels. Our Bug Hotel’s will provide warm and friendly accommodation for a wide variety of tiny beasties in their natural environment all year round. Each room was set a task to plan and create their very own bug hotel and first prize went to the hotel that checked in the most guests on judging day. Throughout the week the children gathered various materials such as boxes, bottles, flower pots, straw, pipes, wood, earth, shells, twigs and leaves to build and design our very own…
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…
There is a lot of excitement here at Crawford Childcare as our summer camps are in full swing. Summer camps cater for children aged 3 to 6 years through to the end of August. The camps follow the children’s interests in the outdoors in our fabulous natural play spaces. The children divide into small groups to “hike” to their meeting points. Our beach area is a favourite spot for burying treasure and treasure hunts. Our camp area is where we mix many a concoction in our ensuite mud kitchen. We often sit around on tree stumps telling stories, making jokes, singing songs and sharing our…
Sunday 21st June 2015 was our longest day of the year and reminds us all that summer is well under way. There is a lot of talk of holidays around the crèche. Some children are already coming back with their tales of their breaks to France, Greece, Portugal, Spain, Italy and other counties in Ireland! Thanks so much for the postcards. We love getting them and it is always fun to see whether the child or postcard wins the race back to crèche to tell us the holiday news. Other children are full of plans. Apparently we even have someone flying out to Kenmare!! We…
It is the summer season and finally Mr Sun has made an appearance! The babies love to hear the Mr Sun song at the moment as he is finally out! As many of the babies get ready to head away and enjoy the sun this summer we decided it would be fun to do some art and craft this week in the baby room to represent the sun in a fun way. Art and craft activities are a great way of helping children use their imagination to create their own entertainment. Making something on their own gives babies confidence in their abilities by allowing them…
The babies had surprise a visit from our lovely friend Iggy the dog recently. He also brought along Noelle (local vet), Laura (local vet nurse) and Daisy (guinea pig) from Cashman & O'Driscoll vets. The babies were playing outside when Iggy the dog came in. This allowed the children to come in and meet him as they wanted. We were surprised that the children that don’t have dogs or other animals at home were the first in! It was a great experience for the babies as it was some of their first times actually seeing a dog up so close! The children appeared to be…
The preschool years are important years to help the children form positive attitudes towards foods and good eating habits. Our Early Year Educators in Crawford Childcare help the children to develop good lifelong eating habits through being positive role models. Research has shown that children’s intake of fruit, vegetables and milk increases by observing adults eat these foods. Children are active participants in their dining experience at Crawford Childcare, Glanmire. Giving children a choice of food ensures that their likes and dislikes are respected. Encouraging children to serve themselves at meal times helps to make them feel competent and in control leading to the development…
The most requested book at story time in our toddler room is the Ginger bread Man and it is a firm favourite. Often Seamus, Aine, Robyn, Roisin and Aoife will join in the story telling and sing “Run run as fast as you can. You can’t catch me I’m the Ginger bread Man!” The Toddlers love to point at the animals and name them and get very excited when they spot the fox especially. James is always out to spot the fox when he does he says “Look the sneaky fox is going to eat the Gingerbread Man!” in warning. During play the children often…
