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:

We had a great time 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.

Our children enjoyed science experiments such as colour fusion, water exploring, ice sensory play, float and sink demonstrations, density, and engineering. We also played games relating to construction and measurements. For our maths learning, our children were sorting and counting. We were also learning colours, shapes, and numbers. These activities were enjoyed in all our rooms.

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.

As part of our Curriculum this month, we are learning all about our Community. We created our own community and our children loved making this. We also made fire engine trucks and ambulances, and characters to represent fire fighters and medical staff 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 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.

For Thanksgiving, we also made cards to mark Thanksgiving and turkeys too.

We have been exploring all about Hibernation and nature, and what animals need to do during the Winter season. We loved our story about Harry & Hollie the Hedgehog.

 

 

 

 

 

Other Activities:

As well as our themed events, we also enjoyed lots of garden time for games and PE, sensory play, sand play, dancing, Lego, free play and exploring different characters during role play.

For our Winter theme, we created lovely winter scenes and artwork. Our preschool children created a Hair Salon during role play and it was very funny to observe them playing together in character. We also enjoyed lots of sensory play and making Winter sensory boxes to explore.

Babies exploring texture and mirror play. Wobbler and toddlers were earning about colours and mixtures of colour. We made homemade instruments and the hungry caterpillar sensory and role play was lots of fun. They also enjoyed dinosaurs, space, and some fine motor development activities.

Our Preschool were reading the Three Little Pigs and decided to role play it too. They also enjoyed learning numbers and letters.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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,

Eliane & the Links Leopardstown Team

Eliane McMahon — Créche 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;

  1. In one pot, fry and caramelise carrots, onions, garlic, red pepper, celery in olive oil.
  2. Add tinned tomatoes & tomato puree stock.
  3. Add a teaspoon of sugar and a teaspoon of vinegar and blitz into a smooth sauce. Set aside.

The Meat

  1. Fry onions, carrot, red pepper and mushrooms until soft.
  2. 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

  1. Add boiling water to macaroni pasta and cook until al-dente. Add to Bolognese. ENJOY!