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Ensure You Have Enough Time To Raise Butterflies!

Ensure you have enough time to raise Butterflies next term! If you are looking to do a Life Cycle Project with the children in your class after Easter here are some great tips to get you started! Firstly, you will need to order your Butterfly Garden that includes all you require to carry out the process!

Inside the Butterfly Garden box you will receive a Butterfly habitat, feeding pipette and a voucher to redeem your cup of live caterpillars. With your voucher you can go online to www.insectlore.co.uk and order your live caterpillars. Caterpillars take approx 7-10 days to ship from the dispatch date stated on the Insect Lore website.

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Thrive Spring Available Now on The Primary School Shop!

Thrive Spring is the fourth book in the Thrive series of books from Irish Author Gillian Powell M.Ed. This book aims to guide Primary School teachers and children to engage with nature and the outdoors in Spring.

With over 50 pages of activity ideas including activities that engage with the senses, teach maths, science, language and mindfulness. The book is suitable for children in the younger classes from Junior Infants up to second class.

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Thrive Winter Outdoor Nature Activities for Children and Families now Available!

Thrive Winter Outdoor Nature Activities for Children and Families‘ is the latest book from Irish Author, Gillian Powell M.Ed. We are delighted to announce that it is now available to purchase on the Primary School Shop! This book aims to support primary school teachers and early years educators to connect with outdoor nature during Winter. The book is aimed at children between the ages of 2-8 years old, suiting the younger classes in Primary school.

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Thrive Autumn Outdoor Nature Activities (by Gillian Powell M.Ed.)

Thrive Autumn Outdoor Nature Activities for Children and Families is the latest book from Irish Author Gillian Powell M.Ed. This is the second of four wonderful books and is based on the theme of Autumn. We are delighted to add it to our product category ‘Exploring Nature with Children’ along with the Summer edition!

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Thrive Summer Outdoor Nature Activities (by Gillian Powell M.Ed.)

Thrive Summer Outdoor Nature Activities for Children and Families by Irish Author Gillian Powell M.Ed. We are delighted to add to our product category ‘Exploring Nature with Children’ with this wonderful new outdoor themed book!With over 30 years experience in the Early Years sector Gillian wrote this book based on her own first hand experience with children. The book was written with the aim to guide, inspire and help both Early Years Educators, Primary School teachers and families to connect with the outdoors and nature in Summer time.

Thrive Summer Outdoor Nature Activities Book Contents

The first of a series of four books for Summer, Autumn, Winter and Spring; this wonderful book has lots of activity ideas covering various topics such as Healthy Eating, Sensory Walks, Science, Maths, Well Being and Climbing. The book includes pictures as a visual to many of the activities and is aimed at children between 2 and 8 years old. This book would be a great addition to any Early Years Setting or Primary School to have on hand for staff members who might need some inspiration or guidance when connecting with the outdoors and nature in the Summer Time.

Gillian says;

‘I believe that Summer is a time of abundance and imagination. This Summer edition of Thrive will explore nature and outdoor activities that will develop children’s cognitive and creative thinking. These activities have been tried and tested over thirty-two years working in an early years setting. The underlying principles of this book reinforce the importance of nature for children and families. Thrive continues to emphasise mindfulness and holistic emotional well being, for children and families.’

Summer Time gives children the opportunity to be outdoors where they can be free to explore the world around them. Furthermore, playing outdoors can benefit children in many ways from exposure to sunlight, movement of body, improvement of balance and coordination and finally, sensory engagement. The below video gives a taste of the ideas that are included in the book. Check out this book and more in our Exploring Nature with Children category on the Primary School Shop.

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Six Great New Outdoor Products Now Available!

Introducing children to nature is a great way to learn more about the plants, insects and wildlife on our doorstep. At the Primary School Shop we are delighted to add to our outdoor learning range with 6 great new products. If you loved our live Butterfly Garden then you will love these products also. The products such as the Butterfly Feeder and the Wildflower Seeds encourage wildlife to your outdoor area. While the Giant Butterfly Garden allows children to experience first hand how caterpillars change into butterflies. Below is a list of the new products available!

New Outdoor Products Include:

  • Giant Butterfly Garden– The Giant Butterfly Garden is a bigger version of the much loved regular Butterfly Garden. You receive a larger enclosure measuring 45cm, caterpillar voucher to redeem 6-10 caterpillars and Painted Lady butterfly life cycle stages figurines. Remember the caterpillars are shipped between March and September. So order now if you wish to carry out the process before the end of the school year!
  • Life Cycle Microscope – The Life Cycle Microscope allows children to zoom in on their favourite creatures with up to 8 times magnification. It features large, comfortable eyepiece lenses making it easy for young children to use. It has a large over sized knob for zooming. In addition, it has an LED light to showcase the details in the slides or on any other object being examined. It also includes four slides showing the amazing butterfly life cycle but slides are not required. You can place feathers, bugs, leaves and more directly on the illuminated base.
  • 3D Butterfly Stickers – These 3D Butterfly Stickers are highly life like and flutter in any small breeze. They are a great addition to any caterpillar to butterfly theme in a classroom setting. They are also ideal for decorating artwork or gifting to children as a job well done on the project completed! Each sheet includes 10 butterflies and 5 small flowers. Colour chosen at random (blue, green or red).
  • Butterfly FeederThe Butterfly Feeder hangs in your outdoor area, filled with nectar (sugared water), to attract butterflies to feed. Once the butterflies come to feed the children can use their magnifying glasses to carefully check out their patterns, features and different colours. This is a great addition to any Primary School looking to  encourage wildlife into the outdoor space for children to explore closely.
  • Ladybird Magnifier – The Ladybird Magnifier was thoughtfully designed with young children in mind. It is lightweight and sturdy, using the ladybird’s wings cleverly, opening out to reveal a lens offering 5 x magnification! This is a great product for children to carry with them as they go outside on their nature adventures!
  • Flower Seeds – This super mix of wildflower seeds includes a variety of different flowers including foxgloves, clover and forget-me-nots. These seeds have been specifically selected to benefit and attract butterflies to your outdoor area. This process helps children to understand the cycle of plants as well as learning how the flowers benefit nature as they help to feed the bees and butterflies.

All products are available NOW on the Primary School Shop!