Why?

When my daughter was 2 ½ I started looking for a Play Group .. not a Crèche or a Garderie but something that got her ready for school in a fun, safe and structured way.

I wasn’t looking for reading and writing at this age .. that’s for schools later .. but I did want her to be somewhere she could develop and flourish in those key Early Years Goals with a small group of similar aged children not in a huge group of 18 kids from babies to 5 year olds ... I couldn’t find this and so was born the KidooPlayGroup.

Specific to the 2 ½ years – around 4 when they start school in very small class sizes – a whole new world is waiting for your baby to lead them gently into school life.

HOW?

To give your child a sure start in life you need to give them the chance to become a competent learner and this means giving them the opportunities to Make connections, be imaginative and creative, able to represent and through communication find their voice (or voices if they are bilingual!) listen and respond.

In KidooLand we are sensitive and responsive to the children, to enable them to make sense of what they are experiencing. Your child has a need to learn the things they want to learn and be given sufficient time and encouragement to make choices and so we structure the classes carefully so that they are supported and nurtured rather than pushed.

We ensure that they are given the opportunities needed to communicate share and represent their learning’s in a variety of forms such as imagination, creative responses and mark making on paper.

So here’s the fun stuff !

Each 2 ½ hour session is segmented so that there is time to play, time to learn and time to rest. Active and physical activities are covered in KidooMoves , Mark Making and Creative Activity in Mucky Pups, Experiment, imitate, play in KidooStarAc and Music monkeys . There will also be time for free play, and throughout we work hand in hand with you so that whatever you are trying to implement at home we can continue at playgroup; be it Potty training, giving up a dummy, picking up on pronunciation issues etc.

We think it is really important at this stage that communication between us and you, the parents is there. You want to know what your child has been doing and so we work with your child to create their very own  “KidooBook” that they bring home at the end of each week. We encourage you to help your child make an entry over the weekend so they have something to come and share the following session

Through each term we follow different themes and working with the children build a new and exciting space to be creative in .

Here’s an example of how we can Inspire creativity and make an exciting space for children's learning and development

Let’s imagine our theme is nature .. bringing the outside inside

Knowledge and Understanding of the world: Talk about their environment, what do they like and not like

Personal, social and emotional: Use the resources at hand independently to express themselves

Creative Development: Expression and communication of ideas thoughts and feelings. Using our materials and tools, expressive and imaginative play, movement, designing, making and playing instruments.

An Example

.. for example bringing outdoors in sensitivity to the environment we live in …we create an inspiring space using things from outdoors.

In talk time we discuss how we can transform the Play Room into “nature” using different fabrics and decorations transforming the space around us into a magical area of streams and rivers, trees and bees…the children discuss and decide the theme this is their creation... so start collecting the toilet rolls and scraps of material!

The children might then come home and ask youto help them collect twigs and leaves from home and bring them in which helpscreate thelink between you and us, Play groupand home ...and then in Mucky Pup Art they might mix their nature elements in with the paint to see what happens (cause and effect) and then of course we get creative with a collage ..to take home to Mummy!

What does thunder sound like .. running water .. make a noise like the wind .. sing Doctor Foster ..help nature make music rustle the leaves ..play glass water bottles make shell shakers etc. would all fall into Monkey Music

Move like a cat .. run like the wind .. roll like a leaf and float like a feather … in KidooStar Ac

Our Partners

We work closely with qualified professionals such as Teachers,  Speech therapists, behavioural therapists, Assistant Maternelle and others to constantly review and evolve our program to ensure it meets your child’s needs.

We have open links with other Activity Centres, related Associations, have numerous contacts from national and international companies so that we remain abreast of new product development and equipment that can support our activities.