Sunday October 16th was a beautiful day for our annual multi- cluster walk across the historic Brooklyn Bridge. Au pairs from Greenwich to Hartford met each other, caught up with some old acquaintances, and took some great photos of the New York City skyline and the Statue of Liberty. Afterwards some went shopping, others went out to eat. It was a terrific day to be outside enjoying New York City!
Author Archives: Carol Steinman
Host Family and Au Pair Get Together
Au Pair In America host families and au pairs from the Westport cluster gathered together Sunday October 2nd at Compo Beach to meet each other, make some new friends and catch up with some old acquaintances. Host families had an opportunity to meet new Westport neighbors and our au pairs from the Netherlands, Germany, South Africa, Costa Rica, Israel, Switzerland, the U.K and Sweden. Au pairs met each other and the children they care for and arranged future play dates for all. It was a great afternoon at the beach
.
Fun Fall Things to Do
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.
Go Apple and or Pumpkin Picking at the following local farms:
Blue Jay Orchards 125 Plumtrees Rd. Bethel CT 203-748-0119
Jones Family Farms Route 110 & Walnut Tree Hill Rd (266 Israel Hill Rd) Shelton, CT 203-929-8425
Silverman’s Farm 451 Sport Hill Rd Easton CT 203-261-3306
Take a Fall Hike:
Visit Weir Farm in Ridgefield CT. Weir was the father of the American Impressionist Movement. The farm is run by the National Park Service
Hike the Cascades at Mohegan Lake in Fairfield – it is right off the Merritt Parkway exit 46
Hike Huntington State Park in Redding
September Cluster Meeting
Au pairs had fun meeting and greeting each other at our September cluster meeting. So many new faces and friends. 
August Child Care Focus – Reading Activities
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!
August Calendar
August Calendar
July Events in Westport
July 1: Independence Day Fireworks Celebration at Compo Beach, sponsored by the Westport Police Athletic League. Be there or be square! (Rain date July 5)
Saturday July 9th Annual Family Tennis Festival at Longshore Club Park. Lots of activities including instructional clinics, tournaments and giveaways. Tennis vendors with state of the art equipment, food, drink and lots of family fun. For further information contact Dave Kardas at the Longshore Tennis office at 203-341-9239 or visit www.playtenniswestport.com
Saturday July 9 (Rain date Sunday July 10) Point to Point Swim: Annual one mile open water race that is held at Compo Beach. The event is open to ages 10 and up. T shirts for all entrants and awards for the male and female top three finishers in 14 different age groups. For further information contact Bridget at 203-226-8981 or visit www.westporty.org
Saturday and Sunday July 16 and 17: Outdoor Art Show. Over 125 artists display original fine art along the sidewalks of Parker Harding Plaza.
Saturday July 16-Tuesday July 19 at 9 a.m Westport Library Book Sale
Children’s Activity:
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.
Child Care Focus
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