Westport Au Pairs learned to make origami animals for gifts, puppets, book marks and mobiles, in addition to learning word search games they can play with their host children at last night’s cluster meeting.
Category Archives: Fun Things We Do
Touch a Truck 2014
Au Pairs from Brazil, Jamaica, Canada, Germany. South Africa, Columbia, France and Panama braved the rain and cold March weather to face paint and apply tattoos to the children who participated in this year’s Westport-Weston Coop Nursery School fund raiser Touch a Truck. Truck horns blared, train whistles blew and rain fell but nothing could dampen the spirits of those who attended. Thank you Caroline, Sheryl, Yesica, Diana, Clemence, Olivia, Amy and Julia! Your artistic talents, perseverance, patience, resourcefulness and good will were appreciated by all! 
Au Pairs at the Westport Arts Center
Our February cluster event was held at the Westport Arts Center, where Au Pairs from Westport, New Canaan and Weston had a tour of Lynsey Addario’s Pulitizer Prize winning photographic exhibit On the Wire: Veiled Rebellion, photos of women in Afghanistan. Lynsey Addario, a Westport native, is an American photojournalist based in London, where she photographs for The New York Times, National Geographic, and Time Magazine. In 2000, she traveled to Afghanistan under Taliban rule to document life and oppression under the Taliban. She has since covered conflicts in Afghanistan, Iraq, Lebanon, Darfur, Congo, and Libya, and shoots features across the Middle East, South Asia, and Africa. Lynsey was named by Newsweek magazine as one of the “150 Fearless Women”” and in 2010 Lynsey was named one of 20 women on Oprah Winfrey’s Power List, for her “Power of Bearing Witness”. The Westport Arts Center is another one of Westport’s jewels!
Ice Skating at Longshore
Although Westport is very well known as a summer community, there is lots to do on a winter’s day. Try ice skating at Longshore’s PAL Rink. They rent figure and hockey skates. Great exercise and fun. Friday Jan. 17th, au pairs from Westport and Fairfield hit the ice!!
January 2014 Calendar
School Information: Monday January 13th Fairfield University Registration for the Spring term will be held in the Kelley Center from 9:30 a.m-1 p.m.
Norwalk Community College: Spring term will begin Friday Jan. 24th. Register now for your classes
Join Weston and Wilton au pairs for some hot chocolate and perhaps some ice skating, too, at the Longshore PAL Ice Arena Friday January 17th at 11 a.m. If you are watching your host children then, bring them with you! Let’s meet in the skate rental pavilion.
Our weather has been really unusual – very cold temperatures, fog, snow and ice, all in one week! Be safe and do not drive when it is icy, snowing or bad weather conditions. If you must drive, give yourself lots of time and go very slowly!
Holiday Cluster Brunch
Even though I forgot to take photos and distribute all of my holiday gifts while everyone was at my house, we had a good time and some great food, thanks to all of the au pairs who shared their native dishes. Delicious guacamole, mushroom pie, tuna fish, 2 different kinds of potato salad, a chocolate cake, wonderful German cookies (what are they called again?), and, of course, bagels, French Toast and Bacon, egg and cheese. What a feast! Thank you all for sharing a little of your holiday traditions with us.
December 2013 Calendar
December 21 – First day of winter Animals handle cold winter weather in a variety of ways. Some travel to a warmer climate. Others grow thicker fur coats so they can stay warm and active during the winter. Many animals hibernate during the coldest weather – they spend the warmer months eating and storing as much body fat as they can and then live off this extra weight as they sleep.
Visit Earthplace, Westport’s own Nature Center, which has hiking trails suitable for young children, a great playground (open to the public after nursery school hours) and a wonderful place to learn about our local animals.
Or visit our Westport LIbrary, which has wonderful programs, books, films, art and toys for all to enjoy.
December 25 – Christmas Every family and culture has their own Christmas traditions. Embrace those of your host family and share some of your own.
December 26 – Kwanzaa –This festive, non-religious African-American celebration was started in 1966. It lasts for seven days. On each day a candle is lit and the day focuses on one of seven principles.
December 31 – New Year’s Eve. Westport celebrates the New Year with First Night, an evening of family fun activities throughout downtown Westport from 4-10 p.m.. Jugglers, musicians, face painters, dancers, comedians and all sorts of other artists will be performing. One button purchased admits you to all of the performances. Visit http://www.firstnightww.com/ for the schedule of events, information and where to purchase your button.
Chances are you will have to work tonight, so after the kids go to bed, sit down and watch Dick Clark’s Rockin’ Eve and think about how to make 2014 better. Before they go to bed, you and the children can choose simple “New Year Resolutions.” Or create a keepsake of the year that is ending by making a time capsule or a scrapbook of memories. Include what are cool, slang words, popular activities, clothes, games, names of popular songs or games, and a picture of the hottest toy. If you are making a time capsule, put a date on it and decide when they will open it – in a year, 5 or even 10. Don’t forget to include a photo of you and the children! Tomorrow, the first day of the New Year, is a federal holiday.
Thanksgiving Activities
Visit the following web sites for fun Thanksgiving activities to do with your host children. Click here to find crafts, coloring sheets, spelling worksheets, math puzzles, nametags and more.
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/crafts/thanksgiving/
http://www.parenting.com/gallery/thanksgiving-crafts-ideas
http://www.buzzfeed.com/mikespohr/23-clever-crafts-to-keep-the-kids-busy-on-thanksgiving
Au Pair Award Nominations
I am excited to announce the opening of the 2014 IAPA Au Pair of the Year award! The International Au Pair Association (IAPA) hosts this award every year as a way to celebrate au pairs around the world and enhance the public’s awareness of this enriching cultural exchange opportunity. We know there are amazing young women in our cluster who are deserving of the title “Au Pair of the Year”. Host families should visit http://aupairinamerica.com/aupairoftheyear/2013.asp. for more information.
Submitting a nomination is easy- host families simply must email their nomination essay to aupairoftheyear@aifs.com no later than Friday, January 10th. Photos and videos are welcome in addition to the essay. Go Westport!
November Calendar
November 3 – Daylight Savings Time Ends-In most parts of the country you’ll get an extra hour of sleep – set your clock back one hour.
November 5 – Election Day – Schools are closed in Westport. Looking for something to do with your host children? Take them on a hike at Lake Mohegan in Fairfield or Earthplace, the Westport Nature Center. If it is raining, try the Westport Library or YMCA. Ever been to My Three Sons in Norwalk? It is a video arcade, with bounce house and laser tag. Do you have older children? Take them to the Museum of Natural History in NYC or the Yale Art Museum in New Haven. Chanukah comes early this year. It is the same day as Thanksgiving so today might be a good day to get the kids to decorate the house for Chanukah or make Chanukah cards for their relatives and friends.
November 11 – Veteran’s Day
A day to honor American veterans of all wars, Veterans Day is a federal holiday
November 28 Thanksgiving – Thanksgiving dates back to the first European settlers in North America. After hardship, illness and hard work the Pilgrims celebrated a successful harvest that they shared with their Native American friends. This national holiday is a day to feast and give thanks.
November 29– Black Friday is the Friday after Thanksgiving and is the beginning of the traditional Christmas shopping season. Black Friday is not an official holiday, but many people have the day off, which increases the number of potential shoppers. Merchants and the media use the term Black Friday to refer to the beginning of the period in which retailers are in the black i.e., turning a profit for the year. Sales are everywhere–set your alarm and hit the stores before the sun comes up to get an authentic experience this unique day!