The Aistear theme for the month of January is the garda station! The children really loved this theme and really engaged with the stations very well. Stations included:

• Role Play – children re-enacted scenes from a typical dental surgery environment using their imaginations and got into role as a dentist, a dental nurse, patient, receptionists etc. Resources used were notebook, pens, white coats, masks, toothbrushes, toothpaste, probe, mirror, injection, syringe etc. The children absolutely LOVED it as you can tell from the photo below and wanted to visit the dentist every day! We also learned how we have to be mindful of our sugary drinks and sweets, brush our teeth twice daily and be sure to visit our dentist every 6 months at least.
• Construction/Small World – the children were given the opportunity to play with dentist-related toys such as toothbrushes, toothpaste, probes, mirrors etc. This was yet another very popular station amongst the children in Senior Infants.
• Playdough – the children were given a variety of dentist related playdough mats. For example one mat required the children to make braces for a set of teeth using playdough. Another one was to create a toothbrush and tube of toothpaste out of playdough.
• Writing – The children designed sample patient information sheets wherein the children had to describe the symptoms and treatment of the different patients. They were allowed to use the names of different students in the class to make it more relatable also! The children loved naming their patients using their friends’ names and really exaggerating their symptoms and treatment methods. The words on the Aistear Dental Surgery display really helped the children with their spelling for this also.
• Drawing – The children were allowed to use their imagination to draw whatever dentist related image they wanted to draw. They were given a blank A4 page to complete this station and they just loved it! They just had to be reminded to remain on the topic of the dental surgery and not to get side-tracked!
• Cutting & Sticking –The children were given an A4 page with a print out of a toothbrush, toothpaste tube, floss, mirror, probe, syringe etc. onto black sugar paper. The children loved this new station this month and were delighted to bring the creations home with them!

Once Aistear was over each day, similarly to last month, the children were then allowed to report about what they did and what they created in their stations using the hand held microphone. The children love using the microphone to tell everyone what they have done! Also a big THANK YOU to all the parents who sent in the Dental Surgery resources for the children to use for the month of January! Once again, it goes without saying that this wouldn’t have been such a successful theme only for the toys & books & resources sent in! Have a look at the photo of the children having a great time at the Dentist as well as our wonderful ‘Rethink your Drink’ display