Happy Valentine’s Day everyone!! This week we’ll be continuing on with our love theme, especially on Monday when we have our annual Valentine’s Ball!! We will be talking about our different families, looking our family trees, & discussing what we love most about our families! We will also be continuing on with our group project, at this stage we’re looking at the continents of the world & which one we live in. At the end of the week we’ll be musically focused, & listening to everyone’s favourite songs – we’re looking forward to a good mix of tastes here!!

This Is Me

This is me,
From my head to my toes,
I have 2 little eyes & 1 little nose!
I can wiggle my ears,
And stamp my feet,
From my head to my toes, I’m pretty neat!

We have 2 themes this week at The Children’s House – recycling, & Valentine’s Day! They may not seem related at first glance, but we will be talking about all the things that we love this week, an important one of which is our earth, & how we care for things we love & show that we love them – hence the recycling!! The children will be learning about the 3 R’s (reduce, reuse, recycle) & then making crafts for Valentine’s Day using recycled materials. We will be doing an outdoor science experiment later in the week, & ending the week with a lovely bit of self care in the form of yoga – after all, one of the most important things to look after & love is our own selves!!

Valentine’s Song (tune of: London Bridge is Falling Down)

If you want to show your love,
Show your love, for your friends,
If you want to show your love,
Share a smile!

Gong Xi Fa Cai!! It’s the Chinese Lunar New Year on Tuesday 1st 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 Tiger, and the children will be making Cherry Blossom tree art pictures 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 Chinese New Year Song – link as below!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gl_eiQ9BzwU
Chinese New Year Poem

Dragons, lions, red & gold,
In with the New Year, out with the old.

Banners flying, bands playing,
Lions prancing, dragons swaying.

Fireworks crackling, lanterns swinging,
People laughing, dancing, singing.

It’s all about Art Appreciation this week at The Children’s House!! The children will be learning about 2 abstract artists: Jackson Pollock who pioneered the “drip technique” of splashing paint onto horiontal canvases in a manner which was called “action painting”, & Wassily Kandinsky who used colours & geometric shapes in many of his paintings. They will be experimenting with different methods of painting & shape-making, looking at the colour wheel & colour mixing, painting to music, thinking about whether different types of music reminds them of different colours, & much more!! Any art at this stage is all about the process & the enjoyment that brings, not the end product!

The Colours Song (tune of: If You’re Happy & You Know It)

If your clothes have any red, any red,
If your clothes have any red, any red,
If your clothes have any red,
Put your finger on your head….
If your clothes have any red, any red!

Blue – finger on your shoe
Yellow – smile like a happy fellow
Brown – turn your smile into a frown
Black – pat yourself upon the back
White – give yourself a hug with all your might!

Our theme this week at The Children’s House is road safety – & a very topical one considering the road works going on at the moment in Sallins!! We will be talking about the importance of road safety & the things we do to be careful around traffic, e.g. stop, look & listen before crossing the road, holding an adult’s hand, wearing hi-vis jackets…we will be discussing what the different coloured traffic lights mean, playing games using coloured sticks, safe/unsafe cards, and 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!

Traffic Light (tune of: Twinkle twinkle)

Twinkle, twinkle, traffic light,
Round the corner shining bright.
Red means stop, green means go,
Yellow means go very slow….
Twinkle, twinkle, traffic light,
Round the corner shining bright.

We will be learning all about our health, & the importance of keeping healthy habits this week at The Children’s House! There will be great discussions about why we, for example, brush our teeth or wash our hands, and the importance of eating healthy foods & exercising to look after our bodies. The children will also be doing some meditation with us, as looking after our mental health is just as important as our physical health, & developing healthy habits in that area from an early age is so important. And of course we will be doing lots of fun physical movement, stretching & exercises – I just hope we can keep up with the children!!

Keep Healthy

You need to drink water,
You need to eat well too,
You need to play & do exercise –
It’s good for you!

Come on everyone,
Keep healthy, keep healthy,
Come on everyone, keep healthy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xu8qNXb51M

Happy New Year everyone!! We hope you all had a lovely break, & wish you a happy & healthy 2022!

This week at The Children’s House we will be talking all about the New Year & new month of January, & catching up with the children’s news from Christmas! We will be doing New Year firework art, practising mindfulness, & on Friday we will have a celebration of the New Year, so if your children would like to come in wearing fancy dress please feel free to encourage them!! It’s great to be back

Months of The Year Song 

January, February, March & April,
May, June, July & August,
September, October, November & December –
Now we know the months of the year!

It’s our last week of school for 2021 in The Children’s House, and it’s going to be such a fun-filled, Christmassy one!! We will be doing Christmas songs with the children & lots of messy art, we will be making Reindeer food & having a Christmas party on Friday, and on Wednesday we will be having a VERY SPECIAL visitor…..HO HO HO!!!!!

We are closing for Christmas holidays on Friday 17th December, and re-opening on Tuesday 4th January; we would like to wish you all a wonderful Christmas, and every happiness for 2022 – we’re looking forward to seeing you all in the New Year and having a fantastic 6 months with your beautiful children!!

***Please note that we’re asking the children to bring in €1 each if possible, as we’re making a donation to Barnardos Ireland this Christmas***

We Wish you a Merry Christmas

We wish you a merry Christmas,
We wish you a merry Christmas,
We wish you a merry Christmas,
And a happy new year!
Good tidings we bring,
To you and your kin –
We wish you a merry Christmas,
And a happy new year!

Welcome to Kindness Week in The Children’s House!! We will be talking about the importance of kindness – such an important trait to encourage in people at all times! – & the importance of being kind & sharing with others, especially those who are less fortunate than ourselves. The children will be asked what being kind looks like & what it means to them, & among other activities they will be making decorations to give to someone that they care about, & playing the kindness game – giving a compliment to the person sitting beside them!

We will be asking each child to bring in €1 to school, as every year we talk about how much we have to be thankful for and then give a gift to charity, and this year we will again be making a donation to Barnardos Children’s Charity to support vulnerable children in Ireland this Christmas – thank you so much!

The Manners Song (tune: Twinkle twinkle)

We say thank you, we say please,
We don’t interrupt or tease.
We don’t argue, we don’t fuss,
We listen when our friends talk to us.
We share our toys & take our turn,
Manners are so good to learn!

It’s hard to believe that December is here already later this week!!! We will be saying goodbye to November & learning about our new month December & the continuing effects of Winter! We will start to talk about Christmas this week, & will be hearing from the children on how they celebrate the occasion at home with their families – to this end, we are asking you to write down briefly how you celebrate Christmas, & maybe your child can draw a picture to go with it, & then we will be talking about all our different celebrations on Friday at circle time!

As well as this, we will be doing some fun activities, on Tuesday the ‘Christmas car wash’ – the children will be playing a game pretending to help Santa get ready for Christmas by washing all his vehicles which will be covered in shaving foam (pretend snow!) using spray bottles, & then on Wednesday they will be doing a ‘snow drive’ – the vehicles will drive through white paint onto black paper – lots of messy fun ahead! We will also be continuing to practise Christmas songs with the children outside in the garden.

Jingle Bells

Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way,
Oh what fun it is to ride on a one horse open sleigh – hey!
Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way,
Oh what fun it is to ride in a one horse open sleigh!