In November we enjoyed some themed weekly events, which our children loved. As well as these, we engaged in other activities that sparked our children’s interests, and led to lots of fun learning.
Themed Events & Curriculum:
What a great time we had, learning all about STEM subjects and played games to engage and stimulate the STEM part of our brains. The aim of this week was to allow
children to explore and pursue their interests in these subjects. And they all thoroughly enjoyed it. We took advantage of the crisp, fresh weather and enjoyed some engineering based games outdoors.
For World Kindness Day, we focused on the positive power of kindness. We made flower cards for our friends, and we were extra kind to our friends & our Educarers.
We celebrated Universal Children’s Day, and gave ourselves a pat on the back for being such amazing boys and girls. 2020 has been such a strange and tough year for all, with some children not being able to see grandparents, friends and other loved ones in their families. They have all taken it in their strides and we are so happy to be able to be together in creche and have so much fun. So on this day, we enjoyed a celebration day dedicated to our children.
Making cards to mark Thanksgiving was fun, and we made turkey paintings with our finger prints.
As part of our Curriculum this month, we are learning all about our Community. We have enjoyed role plays, arts and crafts and games, and learning about the people in our community who help us. Thank you to the parents who have shared photos with us about your child’s community and your professions so far. It has been wonderful speaking about it in Creche and learning about the jobs that people do within our community.
We have been exploring all about Hibernation and nature, and what animals need to do during the Winter season.
Other Activities:
As well as our themed events, we also enjoyed lots of garden time for games and PE, sensory play, dancing, Lego, free choice play and exploring different characters during role play.
Here is a short summary of the activities in our rooms.
Nursery Rooms:
We spoke about Autumn fruits to our babies and painted pictures in our sensory bags. We read books about fruit, made animals jigsaws and practiced making towers with big blocks.
Wobblers painted their own Autumn tree and made a farm using paper plates. They are very excited getting ready Christmas decorations too.
Our Toddlers loved to paint a monster, sing monster songs and dress up as them too.
During STEM Week, our nursery children had great fun and learning.
Our babies played under tunnels and enjoyed seeing their reflections in the mirrors under the tunnels.
Our wobblers made a small volcano, mixing baking soda and vinegar and dyed water using crepe coloured paper, and our toddlers loved building towers and doing jigsaws.
Preschool & Afterschool Rooms:
Our children loved the Pom Pom Races with their friends. We made the characters of our families with playdough and practiced our fine motor skills by removing bobbins from rocks.
Some children were interested in numbers and how to write them and we role played as mechanic, queens, and kings.
We love exploring the wind with kites and the colours of the rainbow seen in the garden.
For our Community theme, we built our own town of Blackrock and included a building for Links Childcare and skyscrapers.
Our relaxation boxes were lovely to create the night sky and stars. We made a lovely Hibernation Cave as part of our learning and we put lots of cosy things in there to make it nice and relaxing.
We discussed the topic about siblings and things that mammy and daddy do to take care of babies and their children, such as bringing them for walks, feeding them, changing nappies. For STEM week, we discovered lots of super fun games to help us use and engage our brains, and our music class with our new musical instruments allowed us to let loose and really become musicians.
We loved learning about the planets and space and made our own space station.
Also enclosed are some photos from Diwali Day. We read a story about Rama & Sita, made Diwali lamps, Diwali Poster, painted the sand and made marks on the floor. We loved exploring different states of water, volume, and size too.
Team Hope Virtual Shoebox Appeal 2020:
This year, the Team Hope #ChristmasShoeboxAppeal is going to be run differently.
Due to the effects of Covid-19 restrictions, it is not possible to send gift-filled
shoeboxes from Ireland this year, so they are asking creches, schools, families, friends, communities and businesses to #TeamUpForTeamHope by donating gift-filled shoeboxes online. For a donation of €20, a shoe box will be filled for you, and sent out to children in need.
If you wish to support this year, please go to the Team Hope website for more details. Thank you in advance for all your support.
Cooking Corner:
Charlie, our Group Head Chef, has shared one of the children’s favourite dinner recipes with you all, ‘Charlies Pasta Bolognese’. Our children adore this, so if you would like to make it at home for your children to enjoy, here is the recipe.
We hope you like these photos and that they can give you an insight on all the fun we are having with the children.
Thank all our parents who have dropped in cakes and treats to our staff members. We really appreciate them and your kind words of thanks in your cards.
It really means a lot.
Kind Regards,
Joanne, Esther & the Links Blackrock Team
Joanne Doyle—Preschool & Afterschool Manager
Esther Martin —Nursery Manager
Cooking Corner—Charlies Pasta Bolognese
This is one of our children’s favourite things to eat in creche. Recipe shared by Head Chef of Links Childcare, Charlie.
You will need:
- Carrots
- Onions
- Garlic
- Red pepper
- Celery
- Mushrooms
- Tin tomatoes
- Tomato puree
- Chicken stock cube
- Lean mince
- Mixed herbs
- Macaroni pasta (or similar)
- Olive oil-regular
The Sauce;
- In one pot, fry and caramelise carrots, onions, garlic, red pepper, celery in olive oil.
- Add tinned tomatoes & tomato puree stock.
- Add a teaspoon of sugar and a teaspoon of vinegar and blitz into a smooth sauce. Set aside.
The Meat
- Fry onions, carrot, red pepper and mushrooms until soft.
- Add lean mince, tomato puree and stir until meat is cooked. Add the sauce to the meat and a ½ tsp of dried mixed herbs.
Pasta
- Add boiling water to macaroni pasta and cook until al-dente. Add to Bolognese. ENJOY!
