Monthly Archives: September 2012

Fun Things to do with your Host Children:

October is National Stamp Collecting Month –Collecting stamps is a fun and easy introduction to geography, history, art and nature. Help your children start a stamp collection by sharing stamps from your letters from home. Ask your au pair friends for stamps from their countries. https://blogs.aupairinamerica.com/cha/wp-content/uploads/sites/67/2012/05/576640-01-main-103×1031.jpg

Make a Pizza – Pizza is easy and fun to make and can be a nutritious meal for the children. Buy ready made pizza dough (in the refrigerated or freezer section at the supermarket) or a ready-made crust (in the bread department). Buy shredded mozzarella cheese and a jar of pizza sauce. If you want meat on the pizza you can cook a small amount of ground beef in a pan until it is brown. If you would like vegetables, sauté some sliced peppers, onions or mushrooms in a little bit of oil. You and the children can then make the pizza. First the dough or crust goes on a cookie sheet or pizza pan if you have one. Then spread the sauce, add the other toppings, and last of all, sprinkle the cheese. Bake as directed for the crust. Be careful, especially with the children, as the oven must be very hot to make a nice crusty pizza.

Cookies are popular everyday, but since October is also Cookie month you might want to bake your own with children ages 4 and up, or buy large plain sugar cookies at the store and have fun decorating them with store-bought icing, chocolate chips, sprinkles and other toppings. https://blogs.aupairinamerica.com/cha/wp-content/uploads/sites/67/2012/06/7512892-delicious-and-tasty-chip-cookie1.jpg

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 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.

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.

Football

American Football season kicks off this month

The first game is September 5th ~ Dallas Cowboys vs. New York Giants

Visit http://aupairinamerica.com/resources/life_in_the_us/football.asp for the full rules of American Football.

American Football Simplified

A football field is 100 yards long. There is a Goal Post at each end of the field, in the End Zone, one for each team.  Each team has an Offense and a Defense. If the Offense has the ball and tries to score by getting it across the Goal Line – the line where the playing field and the End Zone meet, the Defense tries to stop them. The Offense gets four tries to move the ball 10 yards toward their own goal post. These are called Downs. If they make the 10 yards or more, they get another four tries to move the ball another 10 yards. If they don’t move the ball 10 yards in four tries, the ball goes to the other team, or the team “loses the ball.”   A Football Game is made up of 60 minutes of play time. The 60 minutes is divided into four Quarters of 15 minutes each. At the end of two Quarters, there is a break called Half Time. On the Scoreboard you can see the minutes and seconds running out. The team with the most points at the end of four Quarters wins.

The Super Bowl is the final game of the Football season when two teams play each other for the championship. The game takes place in late January or early February. For some people the TV commercials are the best part of the Super Bowl.

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