May 1 May Day - Similar to Labor Day, it is a spring festival celebrating the renewal of nature.  It was popular in England during medieval times, with children dancing around the Maypole.

May 5 Cinco de Mayo -Cinco de mayo commemorates the May 5, 1862 Battle of Puebla (Batalla de Puebla) in which Mexican troops defeated Napoleon’s French forces. Cinco de mayo is celebrated more in the United States than in Mexico.

May 8 – Teacher Appreciation Day Today is a day to honor teachers – if your child is in school he or she might want to make a card for the teacher.  Preschool age children 3-5 love playing school.  Let the child be the teacher and read you a story or give you homework.  You might want to invite some dolls or stuffed animals into the classroom as well.

May 8- Mother’s Day-   Today is a day to celebrate and pamper Mom.  Help the children make cards or gifts or plan a special meal or other surprise for Mom.

May 11 Annual Castles in the Sand – Raise money to support the homeless and other neighbors in need.  The build a-thon will be held at Compo Beach from noon to 4 p.m.  Call 203-226-3426 ext. 11 or www.ihawestport.com to reserve your sand sculpting lot or obtain further information.

May 28 Memorial Day Parade – Parade begins at 9 a.m at Saugatuck Elementary School and travels up Riverside Avenue over the Post Road and on to Town Hall.  Stand on the Post Road near Main Street and join the fun.   Memorial Day started in 1868 after the Civil War ended.  Dead soldiers from both the north and the south were honored as a way to try to heal the nation.  Now all past soldiers are honored.  It is also a day that is considered to be the start of the summer season.  Many people celebrate with a cook-out or even a trip to the beach.

On Thursday March 29^th, Annika , a German au pair with Au Pair In America, shared some of her German culture with  4^th graders at the Saugatuck Elementary School. She told them about Carnival , which is also called the “Fifth Season” in Germany. It officially begins November 11^th at 11:11 a.m Each town has its Council of Eleven, who plan the events for their town and select the town’s Prince and Princess. The celebrations kick off with “Women’s Carnival” on Thursday before Ash Wednesday. That day, a woman can kiss any man she likes after cutting off his tie. Annika told the interested students that German children do not celebrate Halloween but on Rose Monday, marching bands, dancers and floats parade down the street, throwing confetti, sweets and toys at all of the children. On Shrove Tuesday, costume balls are held all over Germany. Ash Wednesday marks the end of the frenzied fun.

Annika talked about other holidays, too. Christmas in Germany is celebrated the evening of December 24, not the morning of the 25^th. On December 6^th, she celebrated St. Nicolas Day with her host children Charlie and Annabelle . On that day, shoes are left outside overnight and if the children have been good, they are filled with oranges, nuts and presents. If the children have been bad, they are left a twig. On New Year’s it is German costume to serve pork and sauerkraut for good luck.

She showed the children Germany on the world map and explained why it is so important for Germans to learn English. They are surrounded by 9 other countries, each one speaking its own language, so English is the common language used. She told the students that Germany had the same weather as we do here, since we are both in the Temperate Zone. They use the metric system, however, and students laughed when she told them how difficult it was for her to bake her first cake and transpose cups to grams and liters. The students asked questions about German sports and food and she told them that Germans eat their big meal at lunch time, not as we do at dinner. When she went to school, school was over at noon and children went home for lunch. Now, with so many parents working, schools are accommodating them by building cafeterias, serving lunch and offering after school programs. Students talked about famous German figures such as Albert Einstein, Anne Frank, Mozart, Beethoven and Heidi Klum. Since it was their classmate Oskar’s birthday, Annika taught all of the children Happy Birthday in German and everyone sang it to him. By the end of the hour, students clamored that “Germany seems awesome.”

Global Awareness presentations are interactive, fun learning experiences that introduce our children to their global neighbors and foster multi-cultural understanding and appreciation . It is a volunteer educational program sponsored by the American Institute For Foreign Study .

April is the month many people celebrate Easter. For many children that means the Easter Bunny is on his way. Out in the gardens, rabbits are springtime active – watch for them from your windows and enjoy some “Funny, bunny” reading, crafts and games throughout the month:

Head for the Library and find some “Bunny Books”
The Bionic Bunny by Marc Brown
Bunny Money by Rosemary Wells
The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter
Little Rabbit Foo Foo by Michael Rosen
Good Job, Oliver! by Laurel Molk
The Runaway Bunny by Margaret Wise Brown
Dear Peter Rabbit by Alma Flor Ada

Bunny Crafts
“Rip a Rabbit”! Cut a sheet of paper in half – plain white or pastels work fine. Have the children tear an oval shape from one half and two ears from the other half. Glue the ears to the top of the oval; use crayons to color ears, eyes and nose. Poke 3 whisker holes on either side of the nose with a toothpick and thread dry spaghetti or straws from a broomstick through the holes for whiskers. Add a cotton ball for a tail – display your bunnies around the house.

Bunny Game
I Spy a Bunny – if you have a stuffed bunny at your house “Hide” it in a different place every morning, not too difficult to find, and challenge your children to find it. After a day or two they will really look forward to this morning puzzle!

“Here’s a Bunny” finger play
Here’s a bunny, with ears so funny (hand forms head with two fingers slightly bent for ears)
And here is a hole in the ground (form a hole with the other hand)
When a noise he hears,
He perks up his ears (wiggle ears)
And jumps in the hole that he found. (bunny dives into the hole)

For Older Children:

Many children love to be the center of attention so being on stage is natural for them. Choose 4 or five things that don’t go together and put them in a bag. Work with the children to make up a story to act out using the things in the bag. It can be very funny! Be sure to join in the fun with them, and give them a chance to choose objects for the bag for you. (Suitable for children 7 and up)

April is  National Garden Month
Read the children The Carrot Seed by Ruth Krauss or try simple gardening with them. If it is not warm enough to plant outside put some soil in a paper cup and start a few seeds indoors. Choose seeds that sprout quickly such as morning glories or marigolds. For more information about gardening with kids see our activity page (http://www.aupairinamerica.com/aupairs/activityideas.htm) or find ideas for growing flowers, vegetables and herbs at http://www.copper-tree.ca/garden/ .

Look Up at the Sky Day
Try to find shapes in the clouds or wait until dark and look at the stars. Can you see any planets in the sky? Visit this site for coloring pages of constellations http://www.earthsky.org/kids/activities_connect.php

April is also National Humor Month
Children love jokes and riddles. Find some new laughs at http://www.ahajokes.com/kids_jokes.html or look in the library for joke books.

April 1  April Fool’s Day The day is generally observed by tricking someone. Think of a silly and harmless trick to play. Work with the children to write a silly story to read to the parents. Try serving breakfast food for dinner or some other harmless way to trick the children.

April 2  International Children’s Book Day The perfect day to read the children a story from your own country or a book about cross-cultural experiences. link  to KCC http://www.aupairinamerica.com/resources/kids/culture_corner/

April 7-13 Passover Passover, also known as Pesach or Pesah, is a Holy Day, observed by several religions, beginning on the evening of the 14th day of Nisan and lasting seven days (in Israel and among some liberal Diaspora Jews, and eight days among other Diaspora Jews) that commemorates the exodus and freedom of the Israelites from Egypt; it is also observed by some Christians to commemorate the deliverance from sin by the sacrifice of Jesus.

April  7 World Health Day This is a good day for children to learn about how their body works, and to discuss good health habits. Remind them about the importance of covering their mouth when they cough or sneeze and to always wash their hands before they eat. For school age children to learn more about their body with a wonderful on-line tour of the body, visit http://www.bbc.co.uk/health/kids/.

April 8 Easter Day Easter is an annual festival commemorating the resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is celebrated on a Sunday. Connected with the observance of Easter is the 40-day penitential season of Lent, beginning on Ash Wednesday and concluding at midnight on Holy Saturday, the day before Easter Sunday. Find fun Easter activities to do with children at http://www.billybear4kids.com/holidays/easter/fun.htm

Windy Days – March is known for its windy days. It would be a great day to fly a kite

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Sidewalk Chalk- Take advantage of a mild day and head outside to draw on the sidewalk with chalk. Kids love to have their whole body outlined and then fill in the drawing with clothes and a face. If it is a rainy day,  try white or colored chalk inside on construction paper or brown wrapping paper. The drawings can be made permanent, so they won’t rub off, by spraying with aerosol hair spray (best to spray outside, and certainly away from the children).

March 1 – Dr. Seuss’s Birthday
Born in Massachusetts in 1904, Dr. Seuss wrote The Cat in the Hat and more than fifty other books. These books are fun to read aloud and children love them!  Visit the Westport Library and read some of his books to your host children.

March 11 Daylight Saving Time Be sure to set the clocks forward one hour!  Don’t be late for work!

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March 17 – St. Patrick’s Day – St. Patrick is said to have given a sermon from a hilltop that drove all the snakes from Ireland.  St. Patrick’s Day has been celebrated in the US since 1737.  Traditional icons of the day are the shamrock, leprechaun, the color green and the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. In Chicago, they city celebrates with a parade and the Chicago River is dyed green! New York City will have a big parade

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March 20 – Today is the first day of spring!  Take a walk outside and look for signs of spring – swelling buds on the trees, flowers poking up from the ground, more birds back in the trees.  Take a hike with your host children through Earthplace, Westport’s Nature Center.

March 30 Van Gogh’s Birthday
Vincent Van Gogh was a famous Dutch painter. Using washable paints show your host children how mixing primary colors (red, yellow and blue) can make new colors.

March 31 Westport Weston Nursery School Touch a Truck fundraiser.  Come and help face paint or bring your host children and have some fun.  9:30 a.m-1:30 p.m. at the Coleytown Elementary School

Babies like to watch and listen, so narrate your day, talk to the baby all day long.  Make sure the baby can see  his surroundings; they also like to look at pictures, so read to them.

For preschool age children you can have a picnic or a tea party with stuffed animal friends. Suggested books to read: Best Friends for Frances by Russell Hoban and Frog and Toad are Friends by Arnold Lobel

Children Ages 4 and Up:  Create your own book of favorite jokes and riddles.
Gather the following: two pieces of thin cardboard at least 5.5 x 8.5 inches (14 x 22 cm), to match the size of the paper ,ribbon, string or a stapler, crayons or markers, or if you want, scissors, glue, white paper or colored construction paper.

Step 1: Cut the cardboard into the size you want for your cover. Cut two pieces: one for the front and one for the back. Make two holes along one of the long edges, in the same spot on both pieces. Your ribbon or string will go through here to hold your pages together. (You can also staple the pages together if you want to keep it simple.)
Step 2: Decorate the covers: draw or use magazine pictures and place them in a design on the cover.  Let dry.

Step 3: Write just one or two jokes on a piece of paper. If it’s a riddle, put the answer on the back of the page. Draw colorful pictures to go with the joke.
Step 4: Punch holes in the paper you’ve written the jokes on to match the holes in the cover.
Step 5: After the covers have dried, put the joke papers between the covers. Take your ribbon and thread it through the holes of the covers and the matching holes in the paper. Tie the ribbon into a knot or a bow.

Sea serpents are not a part of our everyday life and so they are fascinating to children. Have fun drawing your own ideas of fantastic sea serpents, remind the children that they can be friendly or scary but are never real. Two delightful books about sea serpents: Harry by the Sea by Gene Zion and The Mysterious Tadpole by Steven Kellogg.

August 28 is Dream Day.  Not everyone remembers their dreams but if the children are old enough to tell you about their dream it might be fun to create a dream log with words and or pictures. Children who have scary dreams may be helped by reading There’s a Nightmare in my Closet by Mercer Mayer, or The Berenstain Bears and the Bad Dream by Stan and Jan Berenstain.

August 30th – Westport Public Schools 1st day for students!

Dream Catchers – Native Americans used dream catchers to keep bad dreams away and let good dreams come in.  Simple to make for 5 year olds and older, this is a fun craft activity that can then be hung in the child’s room. Take an ordinary paper plate and cut the center out of it leaving just the rim of the plate. Color the rim the child’s favorite color. Next, punch holes with a hole punch every inch or two all the way around the plate. Then, string the yarn back and forth from one side of the rim to the other forming a web like design inside of the paper ring. Decide which is the top and which is the bottom of their dream catcher. At the bottom of the dream catcher attach small feathers.

Getting children to help you:  Ask your host parents how much time they think it should take your host kids to complete a certain task that you and your host kids struggle with.  Then set the timer and have a race against the clock to get things done before the timer beeps.  There is no reward, just a high five and a challenge to do it faster the next day.   This makes it fun and exciting!  Once the behavior has changed and the struggle is over, you will not need the timer as the expectation has been set and met.  Use a timer for things like

• getting dressed
• room cleaning–set the timer for five or ten minutes and challenge your host kids to clean as much of the toys” room as possible before the timer beeps
• playtime before doing homework or chores

May 1 – May Day is a spring festival celebrating the renewal of nature.   It was especially popular in England during medieval times, with children dancing around the Maypole.  May Day is a holiday similar to Labor Day in the U.S.

May 2 – Minuteman 5 K Road Race – This event begins and finishes at Compo Beach.  For further information, please contact 203-222-7447

May 2-8 Children’s Book Week –Every day is a good day to read to the children. Click on this website for more literacy ideas to make reading even more fun! http://www.bookweekonline.com/about  Or, visit the Westport Library, a great place to take the children!

May 3 – Teacher Appreciation Day – Today is a day to honor teachers – if your child is in school he or she might want to make a card for the teacher.  Preschool age children 3-5 love playing school.  Let the child be the teacher and read you a story or give you homework.  You might want to invite some dolls or stuffed animals into the classroom as well.

 May 5 – Cinco de mayo commemorates the May 5, 1862 Battle of Puebla in which Mexican troops defeated Napoleon’s French forces.

May 8- Mother’s Day -Today is a day to celebrate and pamper Mom.  Help the children make cards or gifts or plan a special meal or other surprise for Mom. 

May 8 – International Red Cross Day  – The Red Cross offers a wide range of health and disaster relief services all over the world. School age children can learn more about their work at http://www.redcross.org/. Au Pairs can register for CPR and first aid classes by calling me or the Red Cross. Today is a good day to check your first aid supplies in the house. Young children might want to play doctor with their dolls or stuffed animals

May 15 – 9th Annual Castles in the Sand – Celebrate an afternoon of family, friends and fun as the community raises funds to support the homeless and other neighbors in need.  The build-a-thon will be held at Compo Beach from noon to 4 p.m.  Call Interfaith Housing at 203-226-3426 ext. 11 if you would like to reserve a sand-sculpting lot or obtain further information.

APIA Culture Fair at the Discovery Museum 4450 Park Avenue in Bridgeport from noon to 3 p.m. Meet other au pairs and see other cultures. 

May 30- Memorial Day  _ Memorial Day started in 1868 after the Civil War ended.  Dead soldiers from both the north and the south were honored as a way to try to heal the nation.  Now all past soldiers are honored.  It is also a day that is considered to be the start of the summer season.  Many people celebrate with a cook-out or even a trip to the beach.  Westport’s Memorial Day parade will be Monday May 31st.  It will begin at 9 a.m. at Saugatuck Elementary School, travel up Riverside Avenue, over the Post Road and on to Town Hall.