The Cottage Kid’s Playschool
Tyrellstown, LUSK
Learning Story – Christmas Celebrations
Following on from our staff looking at Standard 1 of Siolta and children’s rights, we did some
reflective practice and decided to really look at how we celebrate Christmas in our service
and how children’s emergent ideas are really accommodated into our plans.
We decided to start with the children and to see where they were at in their understanding of
Christmas. The 4 thing's they identified with Christmas were, Santa, Presents, Decorations
and Parties. The following chart is a brief description of some of the children’s suggestions
and questions and it was on these interests that we based our exploration of Christmas
celebrations.
6. Ava’s question
about ‘how will we
know it is Christmas
time?’ led to the
children drawing up
a Christmas
countdown calendar.
5. Sinead wondered
if we had ‘any
pictures of the Easter
Bunny at Christmas
time’ (after our
brainstorming
session for our
Christmas Play).
1. We talked about
Christmas coming up
and what happens at
the children’s homes
and at playschool.
The Cottage
Kid’s
Christmas
Celebrations
5. Clodagh was
reading a story with
an adult about
writing a Christmas
letter to Santa and
this sparked her
interest in letters to
Santa.
2. Orla’s suggestion
was to do a
Christmas Play ‘like
last year’. We started
then thinking about
acting and what sort
of play we could do.
3. Kirsty liked the
look of the candy
canes and wondered
‘what we could do
with them?’
4. Aaron loved the
idea of ice skating at
Christmas time and
‘wrote a story’ about
the time he went with
his parents ice
skating.
Our Christmas Play
To us, our Christmas Play is so much more than how children perform for a few minutes at
the end of the year. Each child contributes in their own unique way; it is our role to look at
how we can include each child's interests and strengths and to celebrate this with all our
children and families. This truly is a more enjoyable and meaningful experience/environment
for both children and adults. Usually we incorporate typical Christmas stories into a child
friendly play, but this year we decided to ask the children if they wanted to write their own
play. We explained that that Mandy & Fiona would write down their ideas
To help the children along we asked a number of ‘what if’ questions to initiate conversation
and to challenge their thinking.
1. Santa
got sick?
7. We have
no sleigh to
pretend
play in?
2. The
presents
get mixed
up?
What if
questions
?
6. We had no
Christmas tree .If
we lived in a
country where
we could not get
a tree
5. Too many
people
come to our
play?
3. Whoever
is delivering
the presents
gets lost?
4. People
don’t know
about our
play?
We were so surprised about how the children had an answer for everything! Nothing was a
problem – there was a solution for every question! The following is an example of their
replies.
Orla "If Santa was sick, the elves would have to help
or do Santa's work." Matthew & James both agreed.
Orla said “Some of the people from the other movies
that Santa is in would help, like My Little Pony. Cian
(her brother) might think Ben 10."
Josh "Somebody that plays Santa in a movie could
be him in our play."
The children all mentioned different characters that might
help.
Clodagh "Winny the Pooh."
Ava "Diago"
Josh "Anika from Star Wars.
‘The Tooth Fairy, she delivers coins that she swaps for
teeth’ -Sinead & Kirstie both agreed “The Tooth Fairy"
Danielle "A Princess." Sean "Soldiers." Iris "A Fairy
Princess."
Laila " If Santa was sick he would have to go to hospital"
Kirstie "Or he would have to get the doctor & the doctor would give him
medicine to make him better.'
Orla “Mrs. Clause would have to look after Santy."
Laila " It might be a long time before he would be
better & who would deliver the presents.
Sinead asked " Who will wrap the presents?" Laila
" The Elves can help, they know how to do it."
Fiona asked how would they deliver the presents. James said “The
presents can go on a train to bring to people." Orla "An aeroplane."
Ava "A helicopter." Sinead "A tractor.
Kirsie " Maybe they could borrow Santa's Sleigh."
Mandy asked would the Elves deliver the presents. Lara "Some of
the guys are going to get the presents wrong. They would have to
visit the other person's house to change the presents and then they
would be angry." Ava " They could ask 'Is this yours? Is this yours?'" Lara " How will the person
know which present is for the right child?"
Matthew " Maybe Santa could give the Elves his list."
Josh, Matthew, Sean & Aaron discussed if Batman/Spiderman/Superman would help deliver
presents.
Luke, "No no no. They're too scary." Clodagh "Bad guys would scare the Kids!"
Fiona asked "Who would not scare the kids?" Everyone agreed, The Tooth Fairy & the Easter
Bunny would not scare the Children. Ava added, " And they don't
wake them up!" Danielle "And the Easter Bunny brings Easter Eggs
& doesn't wake us up."
Matthew " Well Batman & Spiderman would be too busy fighting bad
guys to deliver presents, they have a job to do."
Fiona "Would they know where to go? Lara "The Reindeers would
know where to go, they go every year." Josh explained how his Mam
has a Sat Nav in her car to help her find her way." Clodagh asked
"Even if it snows?" Josh "I think so, Santa would have a Santa
Navigator."
This was an amazing opportunity for all of the children to listen and discuss their ideas and their
opinions and to share information and their experiences on what they value. Their ideas and
opinions are valued and respected by their peers and the adults in the group
Mandy and Fiona wrote down all the children's ideas and what they had said and this was their
play. The words, jokes, ideas and characters were the children's own. They became the
characters in their story and in the story discussed the problem of Santa being sick and figured
out the ways they could all help to solve the problem. The children who had come up with ideas
for characters, were that character in the play, or chose to be a character the same as their
friends.
The Sweet Factory and Shop
We made green,, white and red sweet mixes from condensed milk, icing sugar,
strawberry flavouring, vanilla and food dye.
Children took turns making their own sweets as presents’ to bring home.
They used their hands, knives, rollers & eggcups to make shapes.
Some children mixed 2 or the 3 different colours together. They rolled them
into balls, made circles or ‘worms’. Some children sequenced colours and
shapes and cut them into equal lengths.
The children smelled the 3 different types of sweets & we asked them what
they thought they smelled of. Some children matched the smell to a colour.
Orla “The green smells like Lime. the red smells like roses and the white smells like Daisy petals.
I made a ginormous white worm.”
James “It smells like cheese.” Lottie “It all smells like cheese
Clodagh “It smells like green grass & strawberries. I‘m going to share my sweets when I go
home”
Laila “I’m going to sell mine.”
Lara “Put them in the fridge because they might get bigger.”
Ava “It smells like apples & vanilla Ice cream and tomato sauce. It’s like Willy Wonka & the
Chocolate Factory, my favourite movie. My favourite bit is when Charlie gets the Golden Ticket. I
love it when he says, ‘No-one never comes in and no-one never gets out!’
I’m going to wrap mine & write my name on mine.”
Josh was reluctant to make the sweets. Mandy asked if he wanted to use a piece of the Lego he
was playing with to make sweet shapes.
Josh “Can I make Lego sweets?” Josh made lots of Lego Sweets,” My Mum has never seen Lego
sweets before.”
There was sweet mix left over. Kirstie asked if she could make more sweets. Fiona explained that
everyone had made sweets to bring home. Kirstie explained that she wanted to make more
sweets to sell in the shop to the children in Playschool.
Kirtie “I’m making Candy Canes. She rolled all the colours together. “It’s a stick of Rock” Kirstie
carefully cut the stick of rock into pieces placing one piece she had cut alongside the longer
piece, cutting equal sized pieces. “We can sell them in the sweet shop. These are going to cost
“€50 for 1.
Kirstie placed all the sweets onto a tray & brought them to the
shop. Kirstie called “Who wants to buy sweets?” News spread
fast around the playroom. An orderly queue formed at the shop
and Kirstie sold all her sweets.’ Only one each time for each
person!’ She remembered to put some by for herself!
Writing letters to Santa & making a Post Box.
We were reading a Christmas story book. The little girl in the story was posting a letter in the post-box to
Santa. Clodagh said she hadn't posted a letter to Santa. The children said they wanted to make a post box.
So they made a plan on a planning sheet and then made the post box.
Clodagh wrote her name. Clodagh "Make a letter box for Santa. Get the Hard board paper box. Paint it red."
Sinead wrote "Paint it red." Kirstie “Paint the inside so it's all red."
Lara said "Paint it red so people don't think it's a bin."
Clodagh drew a circle, "Make a hole in the top for the letters." Lara drew a rectangle, "Make the hole bigger
so the letters don't get squished."
Lara wrote "Put stickers on. Put the Post Box out on the road. The post lady will collect the letters."
Orla asked "When we put stickers on can we put it outside for the post lady to take the letters?"
The children got 2 cardboard boxes and taped them together. They got scissors and Fiona helped them to
cut a hole in the top of the box. They got red paint, brushes and trays and painted the post-box red.
They said everyone would write a letter to Santa and some of them wanted to leave the post-box outside.
Orla was worried that someone might take it when they weren't in Playschool. Sinead said ‘It would get wet
if it rained.’ They agreed to keep the post box inside and ask the post-Lady to come in and take the letters.
Over the next few days the children all wrote letters to Santa and posted them in their post box. They were
all delighted when our Post-Lady came into playschool and said she would take the Post-box and make sure
all the letters got to Santa. We all watched her put it into the back of the Post van.
Making sense of their World & Experiences.
The
Plan
Countdown Calendar.
The children were asking if the play was the same time as Christmas.
Matthew and Ava asked if they could make a calendar for the Christmas
Play. We got a large calendar for the month of December. The children put
stickers on dates for Birthday’s, the Christmas Play, the night Santa comes,
Christmas Day, and holidays. Each day the children put an X on the day we
were in Playschool and counted how many days till our Christmas Play.
Sign for Outside
The children got a big roll of paper. They wanted a big sign for outside so that Mam’s and Dad’s would not get
mixed up about what day Christmas Play would be on! Some wanted a ‘big sign so that everyone would see it
when they drive by’!
The children painted the letters of the sign. Some children identified & painted the letters that were in their names.
Josh “That’s ‘J’ in my name.” Clodagh “Lara, you have my letter!
Tickets / Ticket Office
We asked the children did they know what would happen when we had the Christmas Play.
They talked about dressing up in costumes, Mam’s and Dad’s being the audience watching them.
Laila “You need a Ticket to come to the show.” Kirstie “And a token.”
Matthew “If you go to a Fashion show you need a ticket.” Kirstie “ A token is brown and yellow like Matthew’s spoon.”
Josh “You buy tickets at the shop and airport.”
Mandy asked “Will everyone in Lusk come to our show, will there be room in Playschool?”
Laila: “We could sit on laps.” Danielle: “What if Mam’s come and no Daddy’s.”
Lara “Yeah my Mam and Dad and baby will come because they can’t leave Louis at home on his own.”
Kirstie “My brother can stand and watch.”
Sinead “You can make a list, when they take a ticket put a circle around (the symbol) like the turn for our Lunch.
Orla “We could make a Ticket Calendar.” Matthew “We could make a sign that says only take 1 TICKET.”
Mandy “Where would you buy a ticket?”
LARA - “Put up the sign for the Ticket Office in the Home corner, so the Mam’s & Dad’s will see it when they come in.”
Sinead “Everyone write their names on their tickets.”
Fiona “What else will we write on the tickets?”
Matthew “The parents won’t know who we are! Draw a picture of all the kids in costumes and write their names beside
them, then their Mam’s and Dad’s will know who they are. “
Lara “A picture of our Christmas Play, A play in Mandy’s Playschool, all your kids will be dressed up in costumes. Ring
them on the phone to make sure they come on time.”
Laila “Make a sign for outside, so they know when it’s our Christmas Play.”
Matthew “Put your name on, your phone number, Santa Got Sick, the children’s time and the audience time.”
Aaron & Kirsty “Put Blue Tac on the tckets, and stick it on big card.
Mandy “Can some Mam’s have 5 tickets and some have 1? How many tickets will everyone be allowed to get?”
Matthew: “2 Tickets each. I’m going to draw a picture of my Mam & Dad on my tickets.”
Mandy “Who will be the Shopkeeper?” Everyone shouts “Me!!
Lara “I know, we could take turns for our own Mam’s.”
The children all got pieces of paper (TICKETS). They wrote their names, symbols, pictures, decorations and words on their
tickets. They stuck them to a large piece of card and put it in the shop. Mandy printed off a sheet with a list of each of the
children’s symbols which was left in the shop.
The children made a sign with information for the ‘TICKET SHOP’ and stuck it up in the shop.
Mandy sent home letters with information about the time and date for the Play and the dates and time the Ticket Office
would be open.
The next few mornings and afternoons as parents came each child went to the shop, and the parent collected their tickets.
Each child took their ticket from the board handed over the tickets, and put a cross/mark over or beside their symbol on the
list. All The Tickets were sold!
Once again, this learning activity went above and beyond what we had anticipated. The following
pictures demonstrate the level the children got involved in all activities. All these activities were
based on their suggestions and shows how children’s interests have been observed, developed,
extended, and shared.
1. Luke’s suggestion to make a tree (that we had to hang
bananas out of) as well as candy canes and
snowflakes!
2. Sean and Matthew’s Sat Nav or Santa Navigator
3. Revamping the sleigh!
4. Candy Cane match to the bauble
5. Making sweets – a lovely sensory experience. Look at
Danielle sequencing!
6. Wrapping Christmas presents a mathematical
exercise!
Addressing Fears
! ‘My mam says
Santa won’t get sick!’
The children expressed their concerns through their art and even found the solution! Iris
painted ‘lots of Santas if the other one is sick’; Sean painted the reindeers flying ‘they
know what to do without Santa’. Orla made a ‘special potion so that Santa will get better
and he can even have some to keep in a bottle for the next time he is sick! It looks yucky
but it tastes like sausages and smells like vanilla!
7.
8. Aaron and Sinead sequencing pictures to make up
the Christmas play story. ‘This is how the story
goes…..first Santa gets sick, the elves take the list….
9. Role Playing
Lottie practices being Santa coming down the chimney
while everyone sleeps!
10. No nerves here! 5 minutes to the show!! We are waiting on two more parents to come!!
11. Action!
What the children have learned throughout the preparation for
Christmas
The staff at The Cottage Kid’s Playschool truly value children’s communication in the
classroom as they explore ideas. We try to ensure that a variety of situations and innovations
within the classroom allow different opportunities for different children, and more importantly
that every child is allowed the opportunity to explore a new medium or situation adequately.
As staff talk to children in play situations, we can get a deep insight into a child’s thinking!
We believe that the motivational aspect of play will continue to give it educational value. We
view children as capable and serious learners and thinkers. Children come to our service
and get on with the business of learning knowing that they are given choices of meaningful
activities and are supported with familiarity. The adults, spaces, times and materials are
constant which helps children assume more responsibility for what they do and to follow their
own interests and capabilities.
Aistear tells us that ‘communicating involves giving, receiving and making sense of
information. It is a two-way activity; as well as learning to share their experiences with others
children also learn to interpret what others are sharing with them. Being a good
communicator is crucial to children’s development’.
All of the children throughout these many activities were given opportunities to communicate
through language, music, story writing and sign making (Aims 1 & 2 for Communication
theme). In partnership with the adults they broadened their understanding of the world as
they explored the theme of Christmas, through the many activities (Aim 3 of Communication
theme).
Aistear’s principals of early learning and development are based on play and hands on
experiences, active learning and for the children to have relevant and meaningful
experiences. None of these activities were adult initiated nor adult directed but the children
did receive help from supportive adults if needed. The children made sense of their world as
they played and learned through language. The children learned about situations, people,
attitudes and responses, materials and properties as they played. The qualities of curiosity,
persistence, self-control, conscientiousness and self-confidence were developed.
These children were learning through real and immediate experiences. They have explored
scientific ideas, learned about mathematics, practiced early literacy skills and developed their
language while engaged in the activities. The children’s questions, puzzles, problems,
fascinations and solutions led their learning.
Maths concepts of size, shape, height, angle, perimeter, circumference and surface area
were explored when wrapping the presents and cutting the paper and the tape.
Scientific concepts of speed, change and gravity were learned in discussions about Santa,
sleighs, aero planes, rockets and flying.
Literacy and play go hand in hand. Children need dynamic opportunities to write in context.
The children sensed real purpose and real achievement in ‘writing tickets’, making posters
and in ‘selling’ the tickets. What has to be remembered as the children ‘wrote’ on their tickets
the importance that the message supersedes the capacity to copy the formation of letters.