Rainbows, Booby Traps and Leprechauns!

Our Learning Story
“Rainbows, Booby Traps and Leprechauns!”
Tots Preschool Roseberry Hill, Newbridge
Key Workers – Sinead Carroll and Melissa McEvoy
The Story/Noticing
We had all been singing songs leading up to Saint Patrick’s Day, some were Irish songs and
one was all about the history of Saint Patrick. We were also listening to a rhyme about a
tricky leprechaun.
Later that day, Siun, Dillon, Aoibhinn, Eloise and Donnacha were in the role play area talking
to each other. Dillon “Do you know a leprechaun”? Ewan replied “He’s a green man, he’s
tricky and he steals gold from the bottom of the rainbow” Dillon said “I know, hey we need
to set a booby trap to catch a leprechaun, just like in Scooby Doo!”
Recognising
Melissa and Sinead were very interested in this conversation and asked the children would
they like to share their idea with the class during circle time, they told everyone straight
away they couldn’t wait until circle time! We recognised a great opportunity to get
creativity, imagination and a sense of wonder and awe flowing in the class.
Responding
Melissa and Sinead responded to the children’s interest by asking the children if they would
like to share their idea with the rest of the class. After Dillon told everyone they were going
to make a ‘booby trap’ to catch a leprechaun everyone got very excited. Emma replied “we
need to find a rainbow ‘cos the leprechaun will be at the gold” Eloise “We could use a spider trap so
he would get stuck to the web” Donnacha “Were gonna’ trap him in the trap, he’ll be in the trap, we
get the gold and there we will be rich!” Dillon “I’m going to disguise myself as gold and lead him into
my trap!” Josh “We could paint bits of cardboard gold and leave it out for him and catch him”. We
asked the children if they thought Leprechauns look like us and if they have names just like us. Josh
replied “” Ha-ha no! They have names like Irish names. We then followed that answer with a
question “Do you know any Irish names?” Sara said “St. Patrick”, Conor W replied “I have a baby
brother called Sean”, Kitty “My cousin’s name is Seamus”, Reiltin “My name is Irish and it means
star” Donnacha shouted “My uncle always calls me Seamus”. The children went on to explain what
they thought a leprechaun might look like, Orla “I think he has red curly hair and a beard”.
Responding to Emma’s comment about needing to find a rainbow, Sinead and Melissa showed the
class a video all about how rainbows are created. The children really enjoyed this and were full of
ideas after. Emma said “We need water and light to make a rainbow”. A few days later Donnacha
noticed it was lovely and sunny outside and shouted “hey we need to go make rainbows now!”. We
gathered our spray bottles and filled them with water. Sara “Hey look I can see a rainbow”, Cillian “I
hope the ‘Lepreking’ can see our rainbows”, Emily “I can see blue and orange and yellow”, Conor W
“But I don’t see any gold”
Everybody helped to gather all of
the materials that we needed to
make a trap, the arts, crafts and
creativity began when all of the
children started to create a trap.
They all worked as a team and
helped to make different parts of the trap. We all got to work
straight away, each child chose a table they would like to help at
and the Leprechaun Trap creating began. Leah “It’s green for St.
Patricks Day”,
Sara “We’re making gold coins
to trick the Leprechaun”.
Donnacha “Sinead look at our
gold factory, Cillian is passing
the gold, I’m gluing it and Sara
is putting on the gold”, Eloise
“I’m making a spider web so
the Leprechaun will stick to it”,
Emma “Can we cut out pictures of the rainbows and stick them on the trap?”. When the trap was
finished the children placed it on top of a shelf, Sara made a trail
of gold leading up to the trap and the children also left a large
pot of pretend gold to trick the Leprechaun.
We had noticed how involved all of the children were in this whole process of creation and
imagination and were really interested in helping develop their sense of wonder and awe further.
The children arrived in the next morning to preschool and Ewan had noticed there were small mucky
footprints left in the bathroom. Ewan said “It must have
been the Leprechaun; I can’t believe he has made such a
mess”.
Later
that day
at snack
time
Sara,
Donnacha, Rhys, Emma and Dillon’s lunches had
been all swapped around. Dillon “Hey this is not
my lunch, Sara said laughing “My daddy must
have given Donnacha my lunch, he’s silly!” Aoibhinn said from across the room “I think it was the
Leprechaun”.
The children noticed small footprints leading up the
side of the shelf and at the top there was a tiny little
note and on it he told us his name – Sean Seamus. All
of the boys and girls thought Sean Seamus was a big
trickster always playing tricks on them! The next day
we arrived in to find toilet paper and paint all over
the room! Josh said he thought there could be two
leprechauns because there were two colours of paint
and different coloured foot prints. Rhys found a rope
leading out the window “he used this to climb up and
make footprints”.
Josh “I think the rope was over the bags and he
must of climbed in when we were sleeping and
got out again”.
Great excitement in the room led to more exploring, which led them to a
crock of shamrock with yet another note from Sean Seamus. Mia R shouts
out “I love Sean Seamus, he plays lots of tricks but he’s nice, he left us a
present”. The next morning we had a room full of very excited children
shouting “we got gold coins, we got gold coins, and we think they’re from
Sean Seamus!” We couldn’t believe the energy in the room, the
excitement and wonder captured in every child. They had all found gold
coins in different places in their houses. Siun and Conor W’s mammy sent
us in these lovely pictures when they found gold coins in their home!
Snack time
brought more mystery
when the children
discovered pictures in
their lunch bags; it
seemed to be a
picture of Sean
Seamus in their house
at the end of the
rainbow holding a pot
of gold. The children
then realised he must
have dropped
some when he was
visiting! Emily got
so excited when she found this picture in her bag, “Sinead, Melissa
look it’s my bedroom! Sean Seamus was in it!”
The next day the children arrived into preschool saying none of
them could find Sean Seamus at home, Reiltin said “Guys, its St.
Patricks day tomorrow I think he must be gone back to
Leprechaun world”.
Recording
Throughout this whole journey we have recorded the children’s thoughts, ideas and
negotiations by taking notes and developing this story through photographs. We have
worked very closely with
parents and they have
been able to send us
pictures which in turn
have brought a sense of
home to preschool for
each child. The day the
children found the
pictures in their bags, we
video recorded all of
their excitement and
expressions which we will show them at their Graduation. We also made a learning journal
together which has been proudly displayed on our wall for everyone to see.
Revisiting
The children love revisiting this story and are so proud showing their parents their learning
journal telling the story of Sean Seamus. They all wonder if he will be back next St. Patricks
Day.
Reflecting
After completing the learning journal together we all sat down to have a look at it. They all
got very excited again laughing about the tricks Sean Seamus had played. We asked them
about the trap that they made and if they would change anything if they did it again. Orla
said “We could make it bigger next time ‘cos the leprechaun might get bigger”. Radha
thought for a moment “I would make it invisible”. Conor R added “That’s a good idea,
Radha”.
Looking back over this whole learning journey we have experienced with the kids has really
opened our eyes to the endless imagination and creativity they have. We have learned that
providing materials to help them develop these skills is so important. The children made us
think like children and really brought a sense of magic, wonder and awe into the room
which we as teachers are so grateful for. We have certainly realised that following the
children’s interests can lead to a whole new exciting adventure for both the children and for
us as practitioners.
Our plans for further development include the introduction of a new theme of construction
to include how buildings are built and what makes them strong. Our aim is to encourage the
children to reflect on how they made their trap and apply this new learning to old learning.