11th – 15th March

Happy Seachtain na Gaeilge everyone, agus Beannachtaí na Féile Pádraig! As we celebrate the Irish language this week in a lead up to St Patrick’s Day on Friday, the children will be learning how to sing Ring a Rosie in Irish, as well as learning about the story of St Patrick and doing arts & crafts for St Patrick’s Day on Sunday. We will also be having a parade for St Patrick & enjoying doing Irish dancing!!

Roille Ráinne (Ring a Rosie in Irish)

Roille roille ráinne,
Timpeall linn i bhfáinne,                          (around in a circle together)
Rílea ró! Rílea ró!
Suas san aer le me choisín ó!                 (up in the air with my little feet!)

26th February – 1st March

It’s going to be a week of well-being here at The Children’s House, as we pause to slow down, take in our surroundings, & check in with our bodies. The children will be doing some mindful breathing and yoga, body scans & 5 senses grounding in the garden, & playing games like mirror twins, dressing up & musical chairs!

It’s a wonderful thing to try to help instil a sense of themselves in the children at this age, to be aware of what their bodies are feeling like & if they need to stretch/ calm down/ relax etc – & then to do that by deep slow breathing, or yoga poses, or mindfulness. If they start practising habits of well-being at this stage then hopefully these habits will stay with them as they get older, as self-help strategies & supports in life.

You Can Be Whatever You Want To Be (poem)

You can be whatever you want to be,
There are so many choices, let’s have a look & see –
A firefighter, a ballet dancer, a race car driver who likes to zoom,
Think about what’s interesting, the choice is up to you!
You can like any book, movie or toy,
Nothing in this world is just for a girl or boy!

 

19th – 23rd February

We’re all about fruit & vegetables this week at The Children’s House!! The children will be introduced to the theme at the beginning of the week, & we will be discussing different fruit & vegetables that we eat and grow, then we will be tasting different & new types during the week. The children will be doing process art & painting with citrus fruit, as well as doing a science experiment with lemons, & finally planting apple seeds at the end of the week, to show how we can start growing our own foods from what we already have.

Strawberries, Oranges, Watermelon Too (tune: Twinkle Twinkle)

Strawberries, oranges, watermelon too,
Some for me & some for you,
They are tasty, they are sweet,
They are such a lovely treat.
Strawberries, oranges, watermelon too,
Some for me & some for you!

12th – 14th February

Well it’s a short but sweet week here at The Children’s House! We will be celebrating Pancake Tuesday, making art for Valentine’s Day & having our annual Valentine’s ball on Wednesday!!!  We will be focusing on emotions and talking about what love means to us all – who we love, who loves us, and most importantly, the necessity in life to love our own selves! ❤️❤️

We will then be closed on Thursday 15th & Friday 16th, back to school next Monday 19th February – have a great mid term break everyone!!

Lots of People in my Family (tune: Baa Baa Black Sheep)

Lots of people in my family,
Special people, dear to me,
Some who are near me, some far away,
These are special people that I love every day.
Lots of people in my family,
Special people, dear to me!

6th – 9th February

Gong Xi Fa Cai!! It’s the Chinese Lunar New Year on Saturday 10th February, so this week we will be learning a bit about China – looking at where it is in Asia, learning about some customs & superstitions, and looking at some photos and objects from China. It’s the Year of the Dragon, and the children will be making Chinese New Year craft and learning about the lucky Red Packets/Envelopes, and at the end of the week we will be dancing with streamers in the garden to a special Dragon dance!!

Dragon Dance (tune: London Bridge)

See the dragons dance & prance,
Dance & prance, dance & prance,
See the dragons dance & prance,
On Chinese New Year’s Day!

See the dragons shake their tails,
Shake their tails, shake their tails,
See the dragons shake their tails,
On Chinese New Year’s Day!

See the dragons turn around,
Turn around, turn around,
See the dragons turn around,
On Chinese New Year’s Day!

See the dragons go to sleep,
Go to sleep, go to sleep,
See the dragons go to sleep,
On Chinese New Year’s Day!

29th January – 2nd February

We’re going to have a week full of science experiments, as well as celebrating St Brigid’s Day, the start of February (here’s to January being eventually over!!!) & the traditional beginning of spring this week at The Children’s House! We will be learning about why objects sink & float by dropping them in a bowl of water, & then extending this experiment by later in the week dropping different objects in a container with 3 liquids of different densities (water, oil, golden syrup) & seeing which are heavy/light & at which level they stay at – this experiment shows how liquids can have different densities, i.e. seem to be thicker.

Another experiment we will do about density is dropping raisins into a glass of 7up – the raisin will sink at first as it has greater density than the liquid, but as the bubbles gather on the ridges they lift the raisin to the top of the glass, then the bubbles burst & it sinks again, & then it happens all over again – this makes the raisin seem to dance!

I Can Sing a Rainbow

Red & yellow & pink & green,
Purple & orange & blue,
I can sing a rainbow, sing a rainbow,
Sing a rainbow too.

22nd – 26th January

This week we’ll be learning all about Road Safety at The Children’s House, a hugely important topic, & quite timely as we seem to have a couple of storms in the country creating dangerous road situations this week!! So we will be doing many safety activities during the week, such as practising crossing the road safely (stop look & listen), doing a traffic light game, reading road safety social stories & discussing how we can keep ourselves safe, as well as various associated arts & crafts activities.

Teaching children about road safety from a young age is very important – especially living in places with lots of commuting traffic such as Sallins or Naas – so developing habits such as wearing high vis jackets, holding hands crossing the road, and remembering to stop look & listen when crossing are something we can help to reinforce from preschool age. At the end of the week we will be putting our safety strategies into practice while we go on a walk to the GAA pitch!

Road Safety Song (tune: If You’re Happy & You Know It)

When you want to cross the road
You stop and look,
When you want to cross the road
You stop and look.

If you’re clever and you know it,
And you really want to show it,
When you want to cross the road
You stop and look.

15th – 19th January

It’s all about our teeth this week at The Children’s House! The children will be learning all about dental health & the importance of looking after our teeth & developing good hygiene habits from an early age. We will be talking about the different types of teeth we have – incisors, canines, premolars & molars – & the different jobs that they do (biting food, tearing food, chewing & grinding food), as well as the number of teeth that we have – children have 20 baby teeth, adults get a total of 32, usually by the age of 21.

We will be doing activities to illustrate what makes teeth happy e.g. healthy food vs unhealthy, good brushing habits, dental hygiene art, & a science experiment to show if sugary or acidic drinks can damage our tooth enamel using using hard-boiled eggs immersed in coke & vinegar – the shell of the eggs are full of calcium as is tooth enamel so we use them as a comparison.

This is the Way we Take Care of our Teeth

This is the way we brush our teeth,
Brush our teeth, brush our teeth,
This is the way we brush our teeth,
At least twice a day.

This is the way we floss our teeth,
Floss our teeth, floss our teeth,
This is the way we floss our teeth,
Every single day.

This is the way we rinse our mouths,
Rinse our mouths, rinse our mouths,
This is the way we rinse our mouths,
To wash the germs away.

8th – 12th January

A very Happy New Year to you all, & welcome back!! Hopefully all the families had a lovely break & stayed healthy, & the children are ready to get back to their routine, I think the adults are! We’ve got a lovely relaxing week planned, with activities such as the sensory tray, new year’s resolution craft, yoga, & new year art – so it’s going to be a great start to 2024 in The Children’s House!

Just to let you know that from the collection for Barnardos that we held before Christmas, we raised & sent €235.50 to them, which will have really made a difference to some children who needed it – thanks so much for your generosity, as always.

Ring the Bells (tune: Row Your Boat)

Ring, ring, ring the bells,
Ring them loud and clear.
Let’s tell everyone around,
That the New Year is here!

18th – 22nd December

The Children’s House will close for Christmas holidays on Friday 22nd December, reopening Monday 8th January Wishing you all a very peaceful, happy Christmas, & good health for the New Year!

The children will be doing the last of their Christmas songs this week on Monday, & for the rest of the week we’ll be busy getting completely into the Christmas spirit – making wreaths & reindeer food, having a disco on Thursday, a puppet show on Friday & a visit from a very special person on Wednesday – yes, Santa Claus is coming to town!!!

We have asked the children to bring in €1 if possible to donate to Barnardos Children’s Charity to support vulnerable children in Ireland this Christmas, & to mark this we will be having a pyjama day on Friday  – so if your children would like to, they can wear their festive pjs to school on Friday!!

Let’s Be Thankful

Let’s be thankful for this day,
For our friends and for our play.
Let’s be thankful, let’s be glad,
For the food and things we have.
Let’s give thanks for you and me,
And our home and family!