This morning was great fun in Junior Infants. Our elf, Ginger left us some icing and treats for decorating gingerbread men. First, we gathered up the baking utensils and used lots of ingredients to make our gingerbread men. The children were super at mixing, rolling and pouring in the ingredients. We talked about how the ingredients changed when they were mixed together. We discussed the difference between cinnamon and ginger by looking at and smelling the spices. After that, it was time to decorate the gingerbread men. They looked delicious!

Junior Infants brainstormed how we would set up our olaytime for Christmas. The children came up with fantastic ideas. In Pretend Play, we set up a toy making station, a wrapping station, Santa's sleigh and a table for break time in the workshop. The children decided that the library would work well as the children's bedroom. In Small World, the children have elves, people, sleighs, Arctic animals, reindeer and homes. In Junk Art, the children decided that they would make their own wrapping paper. We made a list of materials that could be used to design and make wrapping paper. Well done everyone!

Question: We are going for a picnic. We have packed some ice cubes. How will we keep them frozen for our picnic?
1. The children brainstormed materials that could be used to keep the ice cubes frozen.
​2. In the staffroom, we used a pipette to fill the ice cube moulds with water. We placed them in the freezer.
3. The next morning, we used six ice cubes to carry out the experiment. We placed the ice cubes in a flask, wrapped in tinfoil, in a plastic bottle, outside, in a cooler bag and inside an icepack.
4. After an hour, we lined up the ice cubes and compared the sizes.
5. We placed the materials into order based on the size of each ice cube after an hour.

The Result:
The ice pack was the best item for keeping the ice cube frozen. Next was the tin foil, the cooler bag, the flask, the plastic bottle and in last place was leaving the ice cube outside.

Junior Infants are learning all about 3D Shapes. Today, the children sorted presents into cubes, spheres, cuboids and cylinders. Next, the children searched the classroom for cylinders. We found lots of cylinders in our class!