What we do at Pre-school
At Chirpy Chicks we have a programme of structured and free play that helps the children develop essential skills. Each month has a general theme such as ‘All About Me’ or ‘Under The Sea’ and these are further broken down into weekly tasks and activities to encompass painting, drawing, role-play, stories, crafts, drawing, singing, dancing, physical play and more.
Fun is the foundation of everything we do and within that we work to ensure the children are expanding their knowledge of the many educational activities that will become part of their daily routine when they reach school. Learning to recognise their names, pencil control, working together as a team, understanding the value of 1 to 5, are some of the core teaching we impart to the children.
We have dedicated physical play sessions using games and equipment such as our indoor bikes to get the children moving. And of course time outside in the fresh air for walks and exercise all year round, learning about the seasons while out and about.
The children also get to experience the many basic things they need to interact with the world around them, learning about colours, words, numbers, keeping safe, eating healthy, and more. We support these aspects of our curriculum by having visits from members of the Northern Ireland Fire & Rescue Service, the PSNI, teachers, and other role models for the children to get to know. An example of other visitors to the pre-school would be the always popular Party Animals NI, with their mobile micro zoo road show of animals covering a range of cute and creepy critters the children love to meet.
All of this vital learning is done in partnership with parents and in a warm, friendly and rewarding environment created by the team. To quote Albert Einstein “Play is the highest form of research.” and at Chirpy Chicks we seek to empower the children in our care to experience and connect with the world around them with curiosity, confidence, and positivity.
How we do it
At Chirpy Chicks we have developed a comprehensive programme of activities and opportunities to help the children flourish, become confident, learn new skills, and much more. All of these seemingly complicated learning goals have one core principle that drives every activity… FUN!
Every skill learned by the children is achieved through play and new experiences that leave lasting memories and foster an enjoyment of understanding themselves and their place in the world. We do this through themed areas that give opportunities for everyone to have fun and try new things, making every day at Chirpys a new and vibrant experience. Learn about them below and do get in touch or come visit us for more information.
The Reading Coop
In the Reading Coop the children learn a love of books and stories. Daily circle time in this area provides a focused time to come together as a group to sing, share tales from home, learn rhymes and dive into adventures in books.
The Imagination Coop
This is the place where imagination makes magic. It can be a swish apartment, a drive through fast food heaven, headquarters for international rescue, doctors office, all creatures great and small veterinary practice, and so much more.
The Creative Coop
So many things to make, cut, stencil, glue, shape, bend, fold, trim, tie together, wrap, add frills, googly eyes, and lots and lots of glitter, so much glitter, glitter everywhere!
The Physical Barn
Keeping active and learning to love exercise is important for physical and mental health. No bar bells or treadmills here, but plenty of basketball, football, catch, hula-hooping, balancing, dancing, jumping, bowling and zipping about on trikes.
The Art Coop
Picasso, Van Gogh, Da Vinci, Michelangelo, Dali, Pollock, Rembrandt, you’ll find all styles and better created right here, then sent home to take pride of place on the fridge.
The Sensory Coop
A place to engage the senses and do some interesting experiments. Plenty of things that are hot and cold, squishy and squashy, prickly and pokey, sticky and fluffy. A place for play dough creations of everything from snowmen to lizards, and somewhere to make magic bubbles and rainbows.
The Construction Coop
Hard hats at the ready as we build towering skyscrapers out of blocks and lego. Architects pour over plans while joiners, brick layers, and engineers gather tools for marvellous mechanical wonders.
The Sand Coop
Sand castles galore in the sand coop where diggers create dunes and deserts. Adventures across the the Sahara beckon for intrepid explorers, shortly before they get buried in the sand.
The Water Coop
Nothing more fun than splishing and splashing, as sail boats take to the high seas, submarines explore ocean depths, and everyone gets to play at being David Attenborough discovering colourful creatures deep underwater. Sometimes of course we do just pop in some bubbles for a foam party too.
The iCoop
Using computers is an everyday activity be they the ones on a desk or in your pocket and playing games on them is great fun. But screen time can be put to good use with apps that focus on speech development, understanding the value of numbers, learning about animals and nature, and so much more.
The Floor Coop
Remember when you were a kid and the hours of fun to be had playing with cars and garages making streets in imaginary cities for chases, playing houses with families you’d created all having tea and going about their business. We have that little corner of magic right here.
The Great Outdoors
Getting out into the sunshine and experiencing the seasons as they pass is an experience too often taken for granted. Learning about nature and the world around us, how the environment works and our place in it is all part of being out in the fresh air. As is running about and and having fun with sports of all kinds from tennis to egg and spoon races.