Au pairs from Westport, Greenwich, Fairfield, Wilton and New Canaan gathered Friday night August 20th at the Levitt Pavilion, Westport’s open air amphitheatre, to hear the music of Professor Louis and the Crowmatix. Known for its country, rock and jazz, the five piece group had everyone jumping. A good time was had by all!
Yearly Archives: 2010
Activities for Children on a hot summer afternoon
Easy and Safe Activity and Craft Ideas without Paint or Glue for ages 2 and up
from Au Pair in America
Play dough
Combine 2 cups of flour and 1 cup of salt. Add 1 cup of water and 1 1/2 tablespoons of oil. Mix and knead well. If too stiff, add more water, if too sticky add more flour. For colored play dough, add food coloring to the water before combining it with the other ingredients. STORE IN AN AIR TIGHT CONTAINER. If left out in the air the dough will harden.
Texture Coloring
Put different textures under drawing paper (scrap paper or the back of junk mail works just fine, you don’t need fancy drawing paper) and then color with a crayon. Try a comb, corrugated cardboard (that’s the bumpy cardboard from heavy boxes), sandpaper or different kinds of fabric. Or cut shapes out of light weight cardboard (old cereal or cracker boxes), put them under the drawing paper and rub the crayon over the top to make designs.
Crayon Etching
Completely cover the paper with heavy crayon markings of different colors. Then color over all the colors with one other color (black works best). Make a picture or a design with a toothpick or other pointed but not sharp object, it will scrape away the top color to show the colors underneath.
Paper bag masks
Use a large brown paper grocery bag for a mask by cutting out holes for the eyes (try it on the child to get them in the right place) and then coloring the face in fun ways with crayons. You can make different characters – a monster, a king or queen, animals etc. Cutting holes for the shoulders can also be helpful.
Make your own rhythm band
Tissue paper taped over a comb makes a great kazoo, make shakers out of beans or rice inside a container, a drum out of an empty box or plastic milk container. If you use cardboard containers the child can decorate the outside. Play along to any music with a good beat. Make paper hats (from folded newspaper) to add to the fun or a paper flag to have a parade if you have more than one child.
Space helmet
Cut an empty plastic gallon milk container into a helmet shape. Pretend you are on a trip into space.
Make a bird feeder
Go for a walk to find a pine cone at least 4 inches long. Cover the pine cone with peanut butter and maybe bits of bread, crackers or cereal stuck to the peanut butter. Hang it from a tree by string or yarn and watch the birds come eat it. Try to hang it away from any place a squirrel can get to it.
Go Fishing
Tie a piece of string to a stick. On the other end of the string, tie a magnet. The child can catch paper clips and other lightweight magnetic items you can find in the house. You can also put the paper clips on pictures cut from magazines.
Soap Bubbles – Outside Please!
Put soap flakes (Ivory flakes) or liquid dish washing soap (like Joy) in a cup or bowl mixed with water. Make sure the child knows how to blow through a straw – not suck, and then let him make bubbles. A little cooking oil mixed in will help the bubbles to float in the air without popping right away.
Water Painting
If you have an old paint brush use it to paint fences, houses or the sidewalk with water. You will be surprised how long this activity stays interesting.
Secret Hideout
Put a blanket over a table or between two chairs to create a tent or cave. Its a great place for a picnic or a “club”.
Puppet show
rake leaves
make a scarecrow
Use a big box as a pretend house, car, spaceship, or boat
make your own puzzles
Host Family Au Pair Picnic
Sunday July 11, 2010 the Westport au pairs and their host families met at Compo Beach for some fun in the sun.
Interesting June Dates
June 14 – Flag Day. Flying the American flag is more popular than ever. It is a symbol of the country’s values and traditions. Do you know what the stars and stripes mean? Its 13 red and white stripes represent the original colonies and the 50 stars stand for the states. You might also want to use this day to teach the children about your own flag. You can find a print out of the American flag and flags of many other countries in the Kids Culture Corner http://aupairinamerica.com/resources/kids/culture_corner/
June 15 – Erik Erickson. Erickson was born in Germany in 1902 and later moved to the US. He is famous for his studies of Native Americans and for giving us a new way to understand child development. Take some time study Erikson where your host children fit in Erickson’s timeline. Are these descriptions true in your culture as well?
June 17 – The Statue of Liberty was a gift from the people of France in 1885 to recognize the French-American cooperation during the American Revolution. She stands 305 feet (93 meters) high in New York Harbor. The seven rays on her crown represent the seven continents and seven seas of the world.
June 20 – Father’s Day
To honor the father in your family work together to make a special picture or homemade gift
June 21- First day of summer! Long hot days make for children who need some quiet time. Relax and unwind at the end of the day with some summertime reading.
June Child Fun Focus
Use a Timer to get Children to Complete An Activity
Ask your host parents how much time they think it should take your host kids to complete a certain tasks 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
June is Zoo and Aquarium Month
Visit Westport’s Earthplace, the Norwalk Maritime Aquarium or Beardsley Zoo 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!
June 4 – Aesop was born on this date. His stories, all with a lesson at the end are still well known today. Read one to your host children.
June 6 – National Applesauce Cake Day
Here’s a recipe for a healthy and delicious snack to make with the children
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup shortening
2 cup flour
2 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 1/2 cups applesauce
1 cup raisins or dried cranberries
Mix first sugar and shortening, then add flour, baking soda and cinnamon. Mix in applesauce and raisins/cranberries. Place in a greased and floured 9 x 13 inch baking pan and bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour.
Try new foods! Are you caring for children who are fussy eaters or are reluctant to try new things? Make a tasting passport. Take several pieces of computer paper and fold in half and staple. On the front write “Tasting Passport” and the child’s name and the date you started. Look for food pictures in magazines that the child can glue into his passport when he tries a new food.
~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.
Game Night
Au pairs from Westport, Weston, Wilton, Norwalk, New Canaan, Darien and Stamford met each other at the Weston Grange Friday May 14, 2010 for an old fashioned Game Night. Au pairs had an opportunity to play 20 Questions, Scrabble, Clue, Checkers, Parchesi, and put together U.S. puzzles while making some new friends and catching up with some old ones. A good time was had by all.
Au Pair In America Au Pairs Busy Teaching Youngsters About Their Native Lands
Karen and Denise
Au Pair In America Au Pairs Busy Teaching Youngsters About Their Native Lands
On Tuesday April 13, 2010 Denise Rojas and Karen Sanchez, two au pairs from Costa Rica, taught Peggy Pasierb’s Pre-K class at St. Paul’s Nursery School a little about their Costa Rican culture. They showed the children where Costa Rica is on a map and then they taught the children a counting song in Spanish. After reviewing Spanish words for colors, the children painted a picture of the Yiguirro, the national bird of Costa Rica. They then played the Spanish form of the song Heads, Shoulder, Knees and toes. After the bilingual class, students went home with Costa Rican candies, a Global Awareness coloring page and book mark.
Westport Au Pairs Share a Little of Their Native Land with Local Preschoolers
Joyce and Lara
On Wednesday April 7, 2010, Lara Soares and Joyce Oliveira, Brazilian au pairs with Au Pair In America, introduced Brazil and its culture to the four year olds at the St Paul Christian School on Easton Road in Westport . Using colorful maps and pictures and power point technology, Lara and Joyce showed the children Rio and Sao Paulo, the Brazilian Rain forest and all of the animals, insects and plants that inhabit it. They talked about soccer, their national sport and pastime, and what it is like to live in Brazil. The children learned how to say hello and good bye in Portuguese and they even heard the similarity between Spanish and Portuguese numbers one to ten. The children made their own Brazilian flags and took home famous Brazilian cartoon characters to color at home. 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 .
Touch A Truck
Jaye, Karen, Irena and Chennitsa
Our au pairs Chennitsa, Jaye, Irena, Lara, Lisa, and Karen braved the cold to face paint and apply tatoos on children at the Saturday March 27th Touch A Truck benefit for the Westport-Weston Nursery School. It was a fun family day. Children explored busses, fire trucks, dump trucks and more. They blew horns and whistles, rode a mini train, jumped and bounced in a play house, and even got to play video games in a truck! Thank you to all of you who attended and participated in this yearly event.
Easter
| Easter in the USA |
| It’s almost time to get out the paint and brushes to start decorating those Easter eggs. Yes, Easter is just around the corner!Easter is a very important celebration for many people in the USA with different traditions all over the country. Shops and homes will be decorated with Easter Bunnies and little yellow chicks and most families decorate Easter eggs with their children.
An Easter favourite is a game for children called Egg Rolling. It is a race where children push a decorated boiled egg through the grass with a wooden club. Whoever reaches the finish line first, without breaking the egg, wins. This game is so popular that the US president invites families to the White House for a game of Egg Rolling each Easter Monday – this tradition started in 1878. Another common Easter tradition is an Easter egg hunt. The ‘Easter bunny’ hides real and artificial eggs filled with surprises, for children to find. Whoever finds the most eggs is the winner, and everybody gets to keep the treasures and Easter surprises they found. For the Easter egg hunt, children make or buy special baskets to place all the eggs in. This Easter, get out the paint and brushes and join in the fun! |