Cindy's Suffolk Au Pairs News Bulletin

ABC’s of Winter Fun

A is for Art – try drawing, painting or gluing
B is for Baking – bake a dessert together for dinner
C is for Clay – Use non-hardening clay or play dough to shape and mold
D is for Dance – put on a lively tape
E is for Exercise – be sure to get some everyday
F is for Friends – invite some over
G is for Greenhouse – find a local greenhouse to visit to enjoy the sights and smells
H is for House – make a playhouse from a large appliance box
I is for Ice skating – take the children to a local rink
J is for Jigsaw puzzle – be sure to pick one that isn’t too difficult
K is for Kitchen science – try a safe experiment

L is for Library – borrow some new books
M is for Movie – make one with a video camera, or watch one
N is for Necklace – make one out of cereal or macaroni
O is for Origami – learn to make simple paper creations
P is for Puppets – socks make easy and fun puppets – put on a show!
Q is for Quiet Time – everyone needs some of this
R is for Reading aloud – choose a good book and a comfortable place to sit
S is for Seeds and Suet – put out food for the birds and watch them eat
T is for Tent – make one from old blankets and chairs
U is for Unplugged – do a day with no TV
V is for Variety – try something new everyday
W is for Walk – take one in any weather (be sure to dress appropriately)
X is for Xylophone – make your own with glasses, water and a metal spoon
Y is for Year – make a calendar or scrapbook to remember the year
Z is for Zoo – play zoo, pretend to be animals in the zoo, what noises do they make?

CitiPond in Bryant Park offers free skating, just rent skates and enjoy.  The rink is set up for the winter months and is the Long Island clusters of Au Pair in America met on a Sunday in January to skate and get together.  The Community Counselors arrange cultural activities for the au pairs each month with quarterly childcare safety meetings.  Lucky to be near enough to visit New York City several times a year, the Community Counselors try to plan an activity at least a few times a year in the city.

Click on the link below for a video of 2010 Au Pairs

Suffolk County Au Pairs

The Au Pair in America Au Pairs in Suffolk County enjoyed 2010 in the USA. They got together every month for meetings and fun activities. Au Pairs went to NYC often, ice skating in Bryant Park, seeing a Broadway Show, walking across the Brooklyn Bridge, and competing in a Scavenger Hunt with lots of other au pairs from Au Pair in America. Au Pairs enjoyed Long Island Beaches, a Long Island Ducks Baseball game, cluster meetings at Senior Community Counselor Cindy Garruba’s home, doing Global Awareness presentations in Suffolk County classrooms and libraries, decorating a holiday tree in Stony Brook Village, and decorating HELP Suffolk Homeless Shelter’s recreation room for the holidays.

Best of all, Au Pairs enjoyed the time they spent with their new friends and their host families. Happy New Year!! May we all learn from each other and have a peaceful and prosperous New Year!

Take a look at us on SWRweekly on Facebook.

http://www.facebook.com/#!/notes/swrweeklycom/au-pair-in-america-au-pairs-enjoy-the-season-in-usa/10150114485751060

On Monday, December 20th au pairs from China, Brazil, Thailand, Guatemala and Brazil visited the HELP Suffolk Homeless Shelter’s daycare center.   They did a Global Awareness lesson called “Holidays Around the World” for the children.  The class of 3 – 5 year olds loved the passports and stickers.  There were stickers for each country with a greeting of Happy New Year or Merry Christmas in the language of the au pair.  The kids learned how to say the greetings.  Marie from Germany told the kids about the Christmas tree and how the tradition began in Germany.  Then the children decorated foam trees with colorful decorations.  We ended with a story about Santa Claus and a lively round of” O Tannebaum” (O Christmas Tree)!

Suffolk Au Pairs celebrated the holiday season with an International Feast.  The au pairs all prepared something from their country for the feast.  A storm was raging outside with high winds and pounding rain, but in Cindy’s home the atmosphere was cheery and warm.  The feast was yummy and everyone enjoyed the bountiful desserts!

After dessert, the au pairs exhanged grab bag gifts they each brought.  Cindy handed out gifts and then it was time for pictures.  Everyone took turns modeling the Santa hats and posing by the Christmas trees.  We shared our plans for the season, some of the au pairs are traveling with their host families over the holidays, some are going off on vacations of their own, and some are taking day trip into to the city to see the holiday decorations, visiting Santa with their host families.  Everyone is enjoying the season!  Happy Holidays one and all!

The Suffolk County Cluster of Au Pair in America decorated HELP Suffolk Homeless Shelter for the holidays!  They transformed the recreation room into a WINTER WONDERLAND filled with snowflakes suspended from the ceiling, 2 snowpeople and some cheerful packages on the walls!  The decorate the holiday tree, too!  The residents and staff were thrilled with the results!!

HELP Suffolk is a 76-unit transitional housing facility for homeless families housing a maximum of 100 adults and 200 children at any given time.  Units are available for people with disabilities.

HELP Suffolk is the largest housing facility for the homeless on Long Island.  The complex sits on seven acres of property and consists of four residential buildings, a community building, two playgrounds and a baseball field.

Since its inception in 1990, HELP Suffolk has served over 4,000 families and places approximately 60 percent of families into permanent housing.

The Suffolk County Au Pair in America Cluster decorated a tree for the Stony Brook Festival of Trees.  The theme of the tree is “We bring the World Together.”  Each ornament on the tree was decorated by an au pair.  Some created designs from their country, others made ornaments representing their time here in America, all are colorful and beautiful.  Our tree is right in front of Talbot’s in the Inner Court of the Village.  The inner court has many trees decorated by Girl and Boy Sout troops. 

Come see the tree until January 2, 2011!!