World Book Day in SMGS!

Never mind the snow and the delays, we're always ready to celebrate reading and have fun with books in SMGS Inchicore! Check out how each class transformed their classroom door for the occasion...

Love is in the Air

What a ball we had at our latest Baby Book Club session! Thanks to two of Mary Murphy's books we were all about hugs and snuggles. We discovered how various animals kissed their mams and dads in A Kiss Like This and how to look after a baby in Did You Kiss the Baby? We practised blowing kisses and elephant snuggles and really enjoyed the cast of animal characters.

We then went fishing for love hearts in a big pile of confetti paper. Some babies found this challenging as they didn't like the feel of our fishing rods (pipe-cleaners) and were worried about what might be hiding in the paper, but they overcame their fear in the end and we had a mad run-around-throwing-paper-everywhere party. We also used the hearts to make bracelets (by stringing them onto the pipe-cleaners), and found innovative ways to wear the paper on our heads as hats or hair... or jellyfish.

One club member eventually decided that the hearts were treasure and we were pirates, so off we went over the 7 seas, shouting about hearties and singing yo-ho-ho and unfortunately crashing our ship. Thankfully, Paw Patrol was promptly called to the rescue...
See where baby books can take you?!


As promised, here are the links to the songs and videos to spread the love!

Barney! (sorry 😉) 

All You Need is Love by the Beatles

Isn’t She Lovely by Stevie Wonder

Beautiful Boy by John Lennon

Beware, Babies, Here Be Monsters!

Baby Book Club is back after the Christmas break and this week it was all about food, glorious food! Or at least, about what a ravenous beast and some very, very, VERY hungry animals might consider eating, given half the chance...
We read Niamh Sharkey's Ravenous Beast, with a lit of roaring and nibbling and giggling along the way and as we progressed through the story, the bravest of us came up to feed the beast: a yellow house, a little mouse, a marmalade cat, etc. A good job the beast had an extendible tummy!

We then fed our very own monsters, using pictures from various catalogues. Interestingly, when faced with strange and wonderful options (think office furniture, baby cots, nappies, chairs, detergents...), all the babies went with images of actual food. They loved using the toddler-friendly scissors, and I suspect the parents did too: cutting paper is always so relaxing!

As promised, here are the links to the songs and videos:

The animated version of the Ravenous Beast

I Like Pie, I Like Cake by the Four Clefs

Food, Glorious Food - Oliver! By the Young People's Theater

Laura Linney - Please can I keep it? 

Check out this video about the Edible Book Festival

Happy 2018!

We Have Winners!

Remember those bookish competitions? Time is up and here are all the answers!

1st and 2nd class questions (click on the link to see what they were):
1) Baloo, Winnie the Pooh and Paddington are all bears
2) Mog is the odd one out as he is the only cat in this list; all the other characters are dogs
3) Horrid Henry (you ALL knew that one!)
4) the Gruffalo
5) Captain Underpants (you all knew this one, too!)

3rd and 4th class questions (click on the link to see what they were):
1) Captain Underpants
2) Mr Gum
3) Tom Gates
4) Danger is Everywhere
5) How to Train Your Dragon
6) Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

(for these, if you gave me a particular title of a book in the series, I counted that as a correct answer)

5th and 6th class questions (click on the link to see what they were):
1) Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
2) The Diary of a Wimpy Kid
3) Peter Pan
4) Holes
5) Knights of the Borrowed Dark
6) Alex Rider
7) Little Women
8) The Gruffalo

The winners have been notified and given their bookish prize.
A huge well done to all!

Baby Book Club: the Christmas Special!

We had a brilliant session to finish off 2017 with the babies last week. In the whirlwind of the school fair, Baby Book Club was the eye of the storm, an oasis of quiet, great concentration... and driving Santas.
We read not one, not two, not three but FOUR books on various festive themes, from Maisy's Christmas Tree to the Noisy Book of Christmas, the hilarious Santa's Beard and Whizzy Santa (where Santa drives around on a magic scooter and, in our version, crashes with a toy school bus from the resource room we were in).
The babies loved listening to the Christmassy sounds, 'driving' the scooter book (it comes with cardboard wheels!) and wearing Santa's facial hair!
Inspired by Maisy and her friends we then decorated our own Christmas trees with sticky maize (aka Magic Nuudles or Amazing Maize, etc.). Aren't they pretty?

And of course, Santasaurus dropped by!

As promised, the links to festive songs and videos!

It's The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year - The Muppets Christmas Song 

You're a mean one, Mr Grinch (Original 1966 Version) 

Watch the Snowman, based on the book by Raymond Briggs

For an amazing display of lights, check out Trista Lights 2016 Christmas Light Show - Featured on ABC's The Great Christmas Light Fight.

And for something closer to home, watch this short video of the Wild Lights festival in Dublin Zoo, or get there yourself if you can!

Or you can simply tune in to Christmas FM online or on 105.2 FM.

Fishy goings-on

Last week at Baby Book Club we were all about those fish as we read and read and read Hooray for Fish! by Lucy Cousins. It was a great success and the babas spent ages looking at and chatting about all the strange creatures on the page, pointing out shapes, colours, numbers and lots more.

We then made our very own fish tanks (with baking parchment!) and turned them into lanterns.
As promised, here are the links to more underwater fun!

1, 2, 3, 4, 5 Once I Caught a Fish Alive from Neurotic Films Official

That’s What Makes the World Go Round (the fish scene from the Sword in the Stone)

And for real marine life, The Monterey Bay Aquarium has a great YouTube channel with lots of videos. Try the Bell Jellies (https://youtu.be/nbY7dSf3GYE), the Galloping Bay Pacific Seahorses (https://youtu.be/0hLt2QrADvc) or their Bite-Size Ocean Clips playlist!

Thanks all and see you next time for our Christmas special!