giddy studios

Christmas Activities and Days at Home ideas…

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The month of December is mostly about Santa and Elves but there are lots of other days to be keeping kids entertained and the hysterical excitement somewhat subdued until the big day!

There is plenty to do to get out of the house and a few ideas below if you are staying put too. These events are mostly Dublin based so apologies if you are reading from further afield!

At home, coming up to Christmas I find there is an abundant ideas to do baking or crafting with the kids. Here are some of my fav finds and I do hope to try and get a couple done with Josh in the few weeks ahead. I find baking a treat then picking out a festive film on a miserable day work well!

If you haven’t already sent the letter to the big guy make sure to send it to An Post and get a response from them/santa and see your kids faces fill with joy. See below on how to do it, couldn’t be easier and the result is fab!

Be sure to write early. In your letter clearly write your (child’s) name and address. Post your letter to: Santa Claus, North Pole (using a €1 stamp). Santa’s helpers in An Post will make sure you receive a personal reply from the great man himself, just before Christmas.If you are out and about there is plent to do..

We love going to the library so coming up to Christmas we will be picking some Christmas books and films. I did take a look at what my local libraries have happening and here are some of the events they are holding on the run up to Christmas.

http://libraries.dlrcoco.ie/events-and-news/event-calendar/pyjama-storytime

http://libraries.dlrcoco.ie/events-and-news/event-calendar/christmas-crafts-children-aoife–munn-1

Kilrudderry is always a lovely spot to visit and for this month they have Christmas Markets 9am-5pm for all Weekends in December

The Ark has a lovely festive show on called Tracks in the Snow for the whole month which might be nice to attend as something different to do.

Giddy Studios is a lovely spot to create a Christmas gift for the family and a good way to escape the madness of Dundrum. They make it easy and you always come out with something lovely.

Powerscourt at this time of year has a stable set up with reindeer to visit which is a really cute thing to do. I also spotted this lovely event which looks fun! –http://powerscourt.com/events/robby-christmas-robin-dale-treadwell

Phoenix Park Visitor Centre is a great little spot with a really good playground and the cutest little coffee shop which I would say is very Christmassy at this time of year!

Airfield have a lovely initiative on at the moment to leave food donations for the Dublin Simon Community and I think this is a lovely way to show kids to be charitable at Christmas too.

Speaking of coffee Lolly & Cooks will have lots of festive treats for adults and kids this month so a nice spot to stop for a warm milk and a little cake with the kids if our and about.

A really nice idea is going pick a new decoration for tree once it’s up, allowing them choose whatever one they want could end up soon interesting and you then have a memory made for each year!

Finally one of our favourite things to do is go to the Live Crib in the Mansion House which stepped up a gear last year but is still for charity which is nice. We then usually walk around the corner to see the wonderful display of the gingerbread house that The Shelbourne Hotel put on each year, Josh just loves it and anything Josh loves Max usually gets fairly excited by too so this one will definitely be on our list.

Christmas can be so chaotic but just spending special times and moments with your family is really what it’s all about.

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Christmas Activities

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It’s the month of Christmas and anyone who knows me knows how much I LOVE Christmas and it has gotten all the more special with two kiddies in tow!

This December on the days I have Josh with me I wanted to plan fun festive activities for us to do. The idea stemmed from Mom Fitness Diary-check out her very cool advent calendar here. 

Here are some of the ideas I have, some for home and some getting out and about…

Giddy Studios Decoration Painting: 

We did this on Tuesday and Josh loved it. They are offering a take away Christmas Jumper decoration for 6 euro until 10th December bit you can also do a glazed decoration for 12 euro and either one is a fun activity with a lovely keepsake at the end too. 

Check them out here: Giddy Studios

Library for Christmas Books :

We had started doing this in recent weeks and now up until Christmas we are going to make a couple of trips to pick up a few seasonal reads and get us in the mood at bed time. Another fab idea is a book avent calander, see below but I wasn’t organised enough this year! 


Christmas Films in our Christmas Jammies with Treats:

I’m secretly really looking forward to this in my head but in reality Josh may not want to sit around all day and Max might have a craknky day but if it does work out before the Christmas madness begins we will grab some festive flicks, stay in our seasonal jammies and have a few extra treats, throw on the fire and cosy up for the afternoon. 


Gingerbread Baking:

Josh remembers this from last year so we will be doing this again this year and here is the recipe we use.

Christmas Crafting:

Here are some of the ideas I hope to do with Josh… 



Some of our other family outings I am looking forward to are:

Santa @ Powerscourt 

Reindeer Run

Snowman @ Bord Gais

We do also love a fun Christmas App in this house {Santa calling is a big hit at the moment} and a few that were favoured from last year are:

There is also a new kid on the block which is for slightly older kids but a really fun idea:


https://itunes.apple.com/ie/app/elf-mail/id1178800056?mt=8

Hope you have a fun Christmas Month ahead! 

Giddy Studios Toddler Activities & Cheerios Childline Breakfast Week

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There are few super events coming up for kids that I thought I would share with you. 

First up kicking off this weekend is Cheerios Childline Breakfast (October 5th – 11th) begins with special activities in Blanchardstown Shopping Centre (September 25th/26th/27th) where the Cheerios Wishing Well and children’s entertainment will be located outside ODEON cinema, with every child who makes a wish receiving a special wish certificate. Cheerios Childline Breakfast goody bags will be sold by ISPCC volunteers for €2 to raise funds. On Sunday 27th at 11am ODEON cinema will show a special children’s film with all ticket proceeds being donated to  Childline. With plenty of free kids activities from facepainting to magic shows it promises to be a fun filled few days and all for a great cause! This follows on to supporting a great cause which you can read all about here: Get your office, school, crèche or friends involved for this great cause!
http://breakfast.ispcc.ie/about.htm
Register for your Breakfast Pack Here! 

Then in early October Giddy Studios annual Baby and Toddler Event is taking place. See details below. I went last year and really enjoyed it, it was our first taste of Giddy Studios and became pretty hooked after that. This was the first handprint and there were many more!

  

  


I like the sound of nearly all the events but unfortunately we will only make Monday’s session. See information for booking and I would  say book fast as places are limited!