Valentine’s Day (February 14) is a time of love, friendship, giving and caring. Americans use Valentine’s Day as an opportunity to tell friends and family how much they care. Children often exchange cards at school.
Are you looking for Valentine’s Day activity and craft ideas? Look no further…. Au Pair in America has a Pinterest pinboard devoted to Valentine’s Day, with great suggestions: APIA Valentine’s Day Pinboard
Play dough is the perfect modeling material for children. Their small hands can pat, poke, pinch, roll and knead it into many shapes. Keep it in an airtight container to use another day, or let it air dry into favorite shapes.
Measure 2 cups of flour, one cup of salt and 4 teaspoons of cream of tartar into a bowl. Add 1/4 cup of oil to one cup of water in a separate bowl then add the mixture to the dry ingredients. For colored play dough, squeeze 10-20 drops of food coloring into the water before you add it to the mixture. Cook the dough at low heat in a wide pan, stirring constantly until it becomes rubbery. Remove the dough from the heat and knead it for a few minutes. When it cools the kids can play too!
Photo: Kevin Jarrett (Flickr)
Over 75 Au Pair in America au pairs from New Canaan and surrounding towns gathered recently for a skating party at Twin rinks in Stamford. The girls connected over snacks and hot chocolate, and showed their skills on the ice. Community Counselors arrange activities at least once per month to enable the girls to socialize and experience American culture.
Visit a local zoo or aquarium, or set up a pretend zoo with play animals and blocks. Invite the host parents to visit your pretend zoo. Read One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish or If I Ran the Zoo, both by Dr. Seuss. Encourage the children to make up their own animals and draw them. Think of all the animal sounds you can and play a game guessing what animal you are. You may find that the same animal says one thing in America and something quite different in your own country!
Maritime Aquarium— Norwalk
Beardsley Zoo— Bridgeport
Photo: Joseph Bylund
