About Doodle Den

As part of the Area-Based Childhood (ABC) Programme, and part funded by the NEIC the Early Learning Initiative delivers The Doodle Den Programme across seven sites in Dublin Inner City. Doodle Den is an after-school literacy programme targeted at children aged 5 to 6 years of age in Senior Infants. The programme focuses on improving children’s literacy through a wide range of activities such as games, phonics, art, drama, independent and shared reading and physical activity.

One of the key objectives of ELI is to support the literacy development of the children in the Dublin Docklands and East Inner City. Aimed at improving a range of literacy skills, Doodle Den involves three after-school sessions per week, with each session lasting 1.5 hours, operating throughout the normal school year, over a 38-week period.

The programme was developed by CDI Tallaght, is evidence-based and manualised. It includes a strong child, parent and family component. Parents are encouraged to attend 6 parent information sessions over the year, and there are also 3 family sessions.



Doodle Den aims to improve children’s literacy in a fun and interactive manner, through a balanced literacy framework, in the following areas: writing, text comprehension, phonics, sight vocabulary, independent reading and fluency.
In addition, the programme has been proven to bring about an improvement in child school attendance, improved engagement with learning outside of the school, and improved relationships with both their parents and with their peers.

In addition, the programme has been proven to bring about an improvement in child school attendance, improved engagement with learning outside of the school, and improved relationships with both their parents and their peers.

Doodle Den has run since September 2015 in the Docklands and East Inner City area and will run again this school year, across seven sites. 

Contact us:

If you would like further information on this project, please contact:

Email: Jennifer.Pinson@ncirl.ie

Mobile: 0864666496