Artwork by children in Páistí@ No.3. Photos: Katie O’Keeffe

Famous book brought to life

By Katie O'Keeffe

A childcare facility in Churchfield has begun an early reading initiative which they hope will “ignite creativity, spark curiosity and stimulate the imagination in their children.”

Páistí@ No.3 is a project under the Cork Anti-Poverty Resource Network which aims to provide a safe, secure and stimulating environment, which embraces all children and their parents.

The crèche values the children’s race, language, gender, ability, culture, class and religion.

They also advocate for the importance of the process of play in children’s all round development.

The aim of the initiative is that each month a book is chosen and printed out for each child to bring home and read with their parents.

Board of Director member Catherine O’Brien explained: “We find when the books we cover with the children are also read at home, children’s cognitive skills improve greatly.”

Staff at the crèche have noticed the children developing skills like empathy, problem solving and morality, while also improving their literacy abilities, when the books are read to the children multiple times.

This month the group of children, all aged below three, are covering the beloved children’s book, ‘The Very Hungry Caterpillar’ by Eric Carle, who passed away at the age of 91 on 23 May from a long illness.

The book teaches children that change is inevitable in life. They follow the story to see how the caterpillar adapts to the change, while learning that things that make them different to each other are what sets them apart.

The book has been read to children in almost every home in Cork and has become a staple for over five decades.

The group turned the story in to a large art piece which each child took part in making - bringing the story and its characters to life.

Room Leader Catríona Phelan explained to the Cork Independent how this month’s book developed into a great learning experience as well as an art project.

“At this age everything is sensory, so we do a lot of painting and gluing. This project seemed to take on a life of its own while covering so much of the curriculum,” she said.

The project has tied in with Aistear which is the early childhood curriculum framework for all children under six years old in Ireland.

Ms Phelan added: “They are learning about the environment and life cycles through this story as well as the different types of insects and the primary colours, so it covers a lot of areas.”

Páistí@ No.3 are now enrolling for September and are part of the Early Childhood Care and Education Scheme which provides early childhood care and education for children of pre-school age.