Dear Parents,

We hope you are all doing very well during this time.

We miss all our children and we are counting down the days until we can see them again in creche and have lots of learning through play and fun times again.

In our June newsletter, we have included some more activities that you can try out at home and we hope you are all still enjoying our videos that we are putting up on our social media pages. They are also added onto the Links Childcare You Tube Channel, if you wish to subscribe and view them from there.

If your child would like to share any of their news, artwork, arts & crafts, photos of bakes with us, we would love to see them. Feel free to email them to us or share them on our social media pages.

We hope you all continue to stay safe, and please give your children a great big hug from us all.

Best wishes,

The Links Childcare Team

A Little Note to our Children

Hello to all our lovely children,

How is everyone? We hope you have been enjoying this time with your parents and families at home. The weather has been very nice, so hopefully you have been having lots of fun playing in your gardens or outdoor areas.

It is June now, which means its the season of summer. Normally, we might go on a holiday with our families during the summer time, but this summer we will all be staying at home having lots of fun instead. Don’t forget to apply sun cream and wear your sun hats if you are out playing.

We cannot wait to see you all very soon in creche and have lots of fun together again.

In the meantime, here is a look back at some of the lovely activities and games we have done and played together since the start of the year, to when we finished up in creche.

See you soon and miss you all. Stay safe and continue to wash your hands very well.

Xxx

Team Links Childcare & our “Mini Marathon”

The team at Links Childcare had planned to sign up for this years VHI Womens Mini Marathon. But as it was cancelled due to Covid 19, we decided that we would still do our own version of a Mini Marathon, and run or walk 10km on Friday May 29th. As well as doing this, we wanted to raise funds for ISPCC Childline at the same time.

So for the month of May, all participants trained each week, individually, and within the 5km radius of their own homes. And on Friday May 29th, they did their very own 10km walk or run, again, individually, close to their homes and all adhering to social distancing guidelines.

It was a great way for the team to do something together, although apart, and to have something to focus on to keep active. We were also delighted to raise over €2700 for ISPCC Childline. Our fundraising page is still active, so if anyone wishes to donate and support, please click here. 100% of monies raised goes directly to the charity.

 

Arts & Crafts Ideas:

Shared by members from Team Links & past activities from our crèches.

Sensory Board for Babies

Babies love exploring! And these homemade sensory boards are a lovely way for them to explore & feel different textures.   Use any type of safe & appropriate materials, such as soft wool, felt & squishy items. And the more colourful, the better!

By Rocio & Patricia in Links Leopardstown.

Rock Painting

You can have hours of fun with rock painting & you can be as creative as you like. In some towns, people paint rocks, & then hide them for other people to find. With the virus still with us in our community, its not too safe to be finding other peoples rocks just yet, but you could certainly keep them for when it is safe to do so. And it is such a lovely activity to do.

Eliane, Links Leopardstown Manager and her daughters Eabha & Eirinn enjoyed making these.

Mask Making

Make these fun eye masks and go on an adventure in your garden to find bugs and birds

By Cary, our Educarer in Links Drumcondra.

Pompom Game for Babies

Put some colourful pompom balls into a whisk and let your baby take them out. The bigger the pom poms the better for baby. This is a superhand eye coordination exercise.

By Leyre, Manager of Links Clonee, & enjoyed by her baby Olivia.

Shapes Game

Cut out 4 large shapes, such as a square, triangle, circle & rectangle. Make smaller ones of the same, colour in. Match them to the correct larger shapes. This is a lovely activity for toddlers & junior pre-school children to learn shapes & colours.

By Andrea in Links Blackrock.

Weather Charts

This is perfect for when you have two children at home who are primary school & preschool age respectively.

The preschool child will enjoy learning about the weather & the days of the week, while the primary school child will get to learn all about the countries of Ireland too.

Scavenger Hunts

Afternoon Tea Party

Bake your favorite bakes and buns and get dressed up for Afternoon Tea and enjoy it in the comfort of your own home. Eliane, Links Leopardstown Manager and her daughters Eabha & Eirinn loved this.

Cooking Corner—Chilli, Three Ways

This recipe is from Aaron, our Chef from Links Blackrock, where he makes a pot of chilli beef, that can be used as three different dinners, making it the ideal for mid week dinners.  Serve it with a wrap, potatoes or rice. It is mild enough too, that the children will love it. It is a big hit with our children across all our creches!

You will need:

  • 1 sweet potato, peeled & cubed
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 3 cloves of minced garlic
  • 1 red chilli, deseeded (optional)
  • 1 tbsp of cumin, paprika & smoked paprika
  • 2 beef stock cubes
  • 1 cup of lentils
  • 1 x 400g can of butter beans
  • 2 tins of chopped tomatoes
  • 1 pack of mince meat

Fry your vegetables in some olive oil on a medium heat until soften.

Add your spices, chopped tomatoes and stock. Bring to a boil and shimmer on a low heat.

In a separate pan, fry up your mince beef and chorizo.

Add this, and your lentils in your sauce and shimmer for 20 minutes. Add your butter beans and seasoning and shimmer for another 10 minutes.

In the meantime, make your rice, boil some potatoes and grate some cheese for the wraps.

For chilli with rice, simply add rice and serve.

For chilli with potatoes, top your cooked potatoes with some chilli mix, add some grated cheese and bake for 10 minutes until the cheese is melted.

For chilli with wraps, spoon some in a wrap, added grated cheese and wrap up and grill / bake for 10 minutes.

Enjoy!

Keeping a Healthy Mind