It’s our last week of the school term at The Children’s House – hard to believe we’re here already!! We had such a great week last week doing sports activities, having some grandparents visits, the Gardaí in their squad car visit, & having Angela do all her amazing balloon creations – it was a great way to celebrate our last full week with the children, along with sending home their All About Me books on Friday, always an emotional time for the staff….

So we’re looking forward to a lovely few days with the children before the 4 classes of 2022/23 finish up, whether they’re coming back to us in September or moving on elsewhere. We just want to thank you all as their families for being such a big part of their early education journey with us – your involvement & support has made the year all the more special for us, the staff, as well as your children. We will miss you all, & want to thank you for giving us the privelege of having the care of your most precious little people for the past year ❤️❤️❤️

5 Little Butterflies

5 little butterflies by the door,
1 flew away, then there were 4.

4 little butterflies by the tree,
1 flew away, then there were 3.

3 little butterflies up in the blue,
1 flew away, then there were 2.

2 little butterflies out in the sun,
1 flew away, then there was 1.

1 little butterfly now all alone,
She was so lonely, she flew home.

It’s Sports Week this week at The Children’s House!! We are spreading out the sports activites over the whole week instead of just the one day, as the children love doing all the different activities so much! Therefore, on different days, the children will be taking part in egg & spoon races, trying to hit hoops & balls on targets, jumping hurdles, doing penguin races with ball between their legs, bean bag balancing races, cone zig zag races, obstacle courses, & of course warming up & cooling down stretches & activities among others!!

Also, on Thursday, we will be having the amazingly talented Angela from Super Smiley Parties coming to do balloon twisting & make wonderful creations for all of the children – another fun week ahead!!

Sports Week Time

Fasten your laces, toes behind the line,
The sun is shining, it’s sports week time!
It’s time to have races, it’s time to have fun,
On your marks, get set, jump! hop! run!

This week we will be covering a couple of different topics – water safety & ‘The Man in my Life’ being the main ones!! It will be a really fun week as we start off with Pyjama Day, where all the children – AND staff! – come to school in their pyjamas & just relax & nap for the day…only joking, it’s too much fun to be dozing off during! Then we will be doing yoga on Tuesday, & sponge painting, as well as making handprint pictures for the Man in my Life – this is so children can choose a man in their lives to give a picture to at the weekend when Father’s Day falls; not everyone might be lucky enough to have their dad around, but maybe an uncle or grandad or even a neighbour might be a positive person in their lives! We will also be learning about water safety this week, so it promises to be busy as well as fun!!

Row Your Boat

Row, row, row your boat,
Gently down the stream,
Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily,
Life is but a dream!

Row, row, row your boat,
Gently down the stream,
Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily,
If you see a crocodile don’t forget to scream!

We will be talking all about transitions this week at The Children’s House – whether it is a transition next year to a new class, a new preschool or a new primary school! Discussing upcoming change with children in an appropriate way is so important, to help them prepare themselves for it  – some children don’t like the idea of any change, so normalising it can help them feel prepared & positive about it. To this end, we will be talking about changing classes or schools, & asking past students/siblings to come in to talk to the children about going to primary school, show them schoolbags, uniforms etc & talk about the important things like what to bring for their lunch!! We will also be bringing the children who will be starting in Sallins primary school next September for a visit on Friday, to see the classrooms & the layout of the school.

Also, on Thursday we will be doing the Big Toddle to raise money for Barnardos Children’s Charity to support vulnerable children in Ireland, so if your child wants to dress up as a Superhero please let them feel free!!

Mary Had a Little Lamb

Mary had a little lamb,
Whose fleece was white as snow.
And everywhere that Mary went,
The lamb was sure to go.

It followed her to school one day,
Which was against the rules,
It made the children laugh & play,
To see a lamb at school!

It’s Biodiversity week at The Children’s House! We will be talking with the children about what biodiversity is, & how important it is to protect our world & the plants & animals in it, down to the smallest fungi & even bacteria. The children will be making earth pictures using balloons & paint, doing rock printing & enjoying using their imaginations to come up with ideas on how to make art using objects from we find in nature!

The Biodiversity Song

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qg4LRLLRisw

It’s going to be an exciting week at The Children’s House, as we will be going on our school tour on Friday!! Therefore, we will be spending the days leading up to it preparing for the big day – talking about how we stay safe when we’re out & about, practising lining up & walking outside with partners, learning about road safety, & discussing how we might behave on the bus & at the Playbarn! We will also be doing a compliment circle with the children, which is a lovely activity where each child thinks about the person next to them & tells them 1 thing they like about them; this supports children in learning how to give & receive compliments.

Head, Shoulders, Knees & Toes

Head, shoulders, knees and toes,
Knees and toes,
Head, shoulders, knees & toes,
Knees and toes,
And eyes and ears and mouth and nose…
Head, shoulders, knees and toes,
Knees and toes!

This week at The Children’s House we will be doing all sorts of fun things like talking about hobbies & careers, dressing up, baking, & having a Teddy Bears’ Picnic!! We will be talking to the children about what they like to do in their spare time – e.g. art, sports, imaginative play, yoga, construction, drama – & talk about how important it is to explore all these things as this is how they may find their talents & end up one day working in it, as well as it being so important for relaxation & unwinding, & therefore having a positive impact on mental health.

We will be making scented playdough & matching different sets of it, a really lovely sensorial activity, & making cupcakes later in the week. On Friday the children can bring in their favourite teddy or toy, & we will have a teddy bears’ picnic with them!

Teddy Bears’ Picnic

If you go down to the woods today,
You’re sure of a big surprise.
If you go down to the woods today,
You’d better go in disguise!
For all the bears there ever there was,
Will gather there for certain because,
Today’s the day the Teddy Bears have their picnic!

Picnic time for teddy bears,
The littel teddy bears are having a lovely time today,
Watch them, catch them unawares
And see them picnic on their holiday.

We will be focusing on finishing the children’s All About Me books with them, containing pages they have done work on since September, so it’s a lovely thing to help them create, a real journey of their year in preschool! Along with this we will be doing some activities around following instructions & directions, games like Simon Says & direction games with a teddy bear. For children starting primary school in September the skill of following instructions is very important, & it is things like this along with promoting independence skills such as dressing themselves & opening/closing lunchboxes that we will be practising with the children in these last couple of months.

All Of Me!

My hands are for clapping,
My arms can hug tight,
My fingers can snap or turn out the light.
My legs are for jumping,
My eyes help me see,
This is my body & I love all of me!!

Welcome back, we hope you all had a lovely long bank holiday weekend!! This week at The Children’s House the children will be finishing off their group project on the 5 senses, which has been such fun to do, we’ve all learnt a lot about our senses & their importance in our lives! We will also be celebrating the start of May, the first month of summer, by making a May pole & dancing around it, & at the end of the week the children will be baking some delicious carrot cake cookies!

Mise an Traein (Irish poem)

Mise an traein, puff puff puff,            I am the train, puff puff puff
Mise an madra, bhuff bhuff bhuff,    I am the dog, woof woof woof
Mise an bus, bíp bíp bíp,                     I am the bus, beep beep beep
Mise an tsicín, tsíp tsíp tsíp!               I am the chicken, cheep cheep cheep!

This week at The Children’s House we will be learning all about the life cycle of the frog! During the year, and usually in Spring time, we cover the life cycle of a particular animal or insect. It’s going to be loads of fun – the children will be doing art with green sponge painting, making their own life cycle on a paper plate, playing leap frog, & lots more amphibian related fun activities!!

I Had a Little Frog

I had a little frog, his name was Tiny Tim,
I put him in the bathtub to see if he could swim
He drank up all the water, he gobbled up the soap
And when he tried to talk
He had a bubble in his throat!