maternity & infant

Following the success of recent events, Dundrum Town Centre are running more of their popular Parenting Workshops which centre around an informal coffee morning on Level 3 at Frango’s.

October’s events are as follows:

Liza Crotty from Claphandies will present fun and creative ideas for infants, toddlers and pre-school children, including learning through interactive play and floortime (Thurs Oct 2nd). Baby massage returns with Yasmina Lenehan from Harmonia Therapies who will impart her knowledge and demonstrates a combination of Swedish and Indian strokes as well as reflexology movements that can help improve sleep patterns and enhance development your child’s development (Thurs Oct 9th). Finally, Christine Barnes of Jo Jingles will offer a music class to entertain and educate your children using music, movement, singing and nursery rhymes (Thurs Oct 30th).

All events are FREE. For further information visit www.dundrum.ie

(Pictured above: Baby and toddler nutrition expert Annabel Karmel MBE, with two young helpers, welcoming the return of Parenting Workshops at Dundrum Town Centre from September 2008)

What a horrible day! Not only is it lashing rain, it seems to bounce up off the pavements and get blown sideways so there’s no hope at all of staying even the tiniest bit dry! Hopefully you’re faring better than we are here in wet and windy Dublin 2, but if not, here are some cheap and cheerful ways to keep harmony in the house this weekend!

1. Let the kids play dress up! Grab a bunch of old clothes (the more wacky and wonderful, the better!), some sturdy costume jewellery, hats and bags and let them loose! Little girls will feel very grown-up dressing like mum, and little boys can create great charater costumes.
2. Hold your own puppet show! You can make your own with some socks, a few buttons for eyes, wool for shaggy hair or whiskers, cotton wool - so many things lying around the house will come in handy for this and just let your imagination run wild!
3. Cook up a storm! Regular readers will know that Annabel Karmel recipes are brilliant for kids and teaches them lots about patience, measuring, time, and lots more. Check out Annabel’s site for some inspiration!
4. Get crafty! Arts and crafts will keep your child entertained for hours! With some paper, glue, child-friendly scissors, glitter, crayons, stickers and scraps of material (anything to be honest!), you can be very MacGyver-esque and create just about anything!
5. Create a collage! Use up all your old magazines, or even some family photos, and let the kids cut out pictures and words to make a masterpiece. Even little toddlers can get involved and can cut out particular colours and make a rainbow. It’s a great way to make the most of your old magazines (not maternity & infant, of course…!) before they hit the recycling pile.

Hope this helps your weekend plans!

I can’t believe it’s September already - where has the “summer” gone?? I hope you’ve all had a wonderful break - despite the awful weather! - and best of luck to all heading back to school today.

If you’re in need of something to entertain the troops this week,
you’re in luck - Dundrum Town Centre is hosting a series of child
and parent events all week, including seminars from psychologist David Coleman who will advise parents on child behaviour issues (Sept 4th @ 11am); best-selling author and child nutrition expert Annabel Karmel who will share lots of tips and tricks to ensure any fussy eaters get a balanced diet (Sept 5th @ 12pm); a look at vaccination programmes and childhood obesity with midwife and public health nurse Grainne Ryan; and baby massage with Leticia Merin (Sept 3rd @ 11am).

Throughout the week, there’s plenty of other activities to keep little ones entertained - music workshops, playtime, yoga, learning games, facepainters and story time are just a few! All events are free and on a first-come basis. Ticket requests can be made by emailing info@dundrum.ie

Have a good week!