Category Archives: Fun Things We Do

Happy Chinese New Year

February 19, 2015 – 2:14 pm

We wish you a year full of Good Fortune, Good Luck & Good Health

Today starts the first day of the chinese new year, 2015 is the year of the goat/sheep! Chinese astrology says that each year is associated with an animal sign, occuring in a 12 year cycle. This is similar to the zodiac signs you may be familiar with that occur about every month or so, except these represent specific years.

How is the holiday celebrated? In brief, the Chinese New Year celebration or “Spring Festival” lasts for about a week long. Fireworks are set off, dragon dances, ancestor worship, and traditional performances. Red is the main color of the festival and all types of decorations in this color will be seen. A popular practice is the giving of red envelopes (usually containing money) to youth and retired seniors.

Family and Friends are very important during this time and generally China is extremely busy, as people are racing home to see their loved ones! There are so many cultures in the world that it’s always interested to find out what people are doing elsewhere.

Lucky Numbers- 2 & 7

Lucky Colors – Brown, Red, Purple

LuckyFlowers- Carnations & Primroses

Lucky Months- August & November

ABC’s of Winter Fun!

February 3, 2015 – 10:04 am

abcfun_logo A is for Art – try drawing, painting or gluing

B is for Baking – bake a dessert together for dinner

C is for Clay – Use non-hardening clay or play dough to shape and mold

D is for Dance – put on a lively tape

E is for Exercise – be sure to get some everyday

F is for Friends – invite some over

G is for Greenhouse – find a local greenhouse to visit to enjoy the sights and smells

H is for House – make a playhouse from a large appliance box

I is for Ice skating – take the children to a local rink

J is for Jigsaw puzzle – be sure to pick one that isn’t too difficult

K is for Kitchen science – try a safe experiment

L is for Library – borrow some new books

M is for Movie – make one with a video camera, or watch one

N is for Necklace – make one out of cereal or macaroni

O is for Origami – learn to make simple paper creations

P is for Puppets – socks make easy and fun puppets – put on a show!

Q is for Quiet Time – everyone needs some of this

R is for Reading aloud – choose a good book and a comfortable place to sit

S is for Seeds and Suet – put out food for the birds and watch them eat

T is for Tent – make one from old blankets and chairs

U is for Unplugged – do a day with no TV

V is for Variety – try something new everyday

W is for Walk – take one in any weather (be sure to dress appropriately)

X is for Xylophone – make your own with glasses, water and a metal spoon

Y is for Year – make a calendar or scrapbook to remember the year

Z is for Zoo – visit the animals https://blogs.aupairinamerica.com/cha/files/2012/07/snowman.jpg

2 Au Pairs teach First Graders about Germany

January 24, 2015 – 10:50 pm

Maria Tarnopolskaia and Clarissa Pfisterer

Clarissa Pfisterer and Maria Tarnopolskaia, Au Pair in America au pairs, visited Peconic Community School to teach the first grade class about Germany. They prepared a power point and a craft for the children.

Clarissa’s host child, Charlotte was very excited that her au pair was teaching the class about Germany. She had already learned a lot about Germany from Clarissa. Charlotte is able to speak some German sentences and answered a lot of the questions the au pairs asked the students. The children learned about things invented in Germany, German foods, some German words and how to count to 5 in Germany. 1 eins 2 zwei 3 drei 4 vier 5 funf

They loved hearing that some of their favorite princess stories were from the Grimm’s Fairy Tales. After the power point and all the children’s questions, they painted pretzels made of clay. They au pairs had explained that pretzels are from Germany! One child painted her pretzel in the colors of the Germany flag.

The presentation by Clarissa and Maria is part to the Global Awareness program sponsored by Au Pair in America. Au Pairs are encouraged to share their culture with American school children. Each au pair who participates in Global Awareness prepares her own presentation. She is supported with materials from the Global Awareness coordinator and then works with the teacher to prepare an age appropriate lesson. Each lesson is as unique as the au pair is herself. To learn more about Global Awareness click here.

Both Maria and Clarissa earned certificates from the Global Awareness program for their presentation.

Au Pair Visits Pre-School Class

January 16, 2015 – 4:53 pm

ALICE BROWN EARLY LEARNING CENTER -Ms. Caligiuri’s pre-k class had a visit from Andrea Vargas Guerrero. Andrea is an Au Pair with Au Pair in America in Huntington, Long Island. Ms. Caligiuri wrote this about Andrea’s visit: This morning, Charlotte’s Au Pair, Andrea, visited the class to speak with the Pre-K 3 children about her home country Colombia! Andrea explained to the children about the several differences between the United States and Colombia. Colombia is a Much Smaller Country Than America Andrea showed the children on a map how small Colombia is when compared to the United States. The Colombian Flag VS. The American Flag Andrea also spoke about the Colombian flag and how different it is from the American flag. Breckin: The flag of America is red, white, and blue. Mason: And there are stars and the stars are for each of the states. Andrea showed the children what the Colombia flag looks like. Andrea: The Colombian flag has three colors…yellow, blue and red. She then gave each child their own sticker of the Colombian flag. At the end of Andrea’s visit, she taught the children how to count up to ten in Spanish. She showed a book of numbers, and while the children said each number in English, Andrea said it in Spanish. After going through the whole book, Andrea played a game with the children, where she said a number in Spanish and the children were asked to jump that number. Thank You Visiting Our Class Andrea!!!!!

Stony Brook Village Promenade of Trees

December 8, 2014 – 4:25 pm

On Sunday, Dec. 7th Suffolk County Au Pair in America host families and au pairs decorated a tree for the Promenade of Trees in SB Village. Cindy Garruba, Senior Community Counselor for Au Pair in America, provided ornaments for the kids to decorate. She also handed out holiday coloring books to the children gathered to give their wish list to Santa. Santa arrived at 2 pm in a horse drawn carriage!

The trees are on display through New Year’s Day!

Au Pairs Enjoy NY Color Run!

June 6, 2014 – 10:34 am

A team of Au Pair in America Long Island Au Pairs ran the Color Run in Queens last weekend.

The Color Run was founded in March of 2011 as an event to promote healthiness and happiness by bringing the community together to participate in the “Happiest 5k on the Planet”. Check it out here.

The Au Pair in America team was organized by Aisha Summers, a Canadian au pair living with a host family in Coram. She recruited au pair friends Christine Van Tonder, Shireen Hendricks , Corinna Sommerman, and Elsmarie Otto to run with her. They came up with a team uniform, white t-shirts, colorful tutus and accessories! They met early that morning and took the Long Island Railroad to the event. The festivities were fun and they all want to do it again sometime.

Aisha said, “The color run is to celebrate yourself as a person, where you are in life and what you’ve accomplished as an individual 🙂 I think my favorite part was really just forgetting the stresses and enjoying a great event with great people creating a great memory!”

Christine a South African au pair living in Smithtown shared, “The reason I did is was so that I can spend some time with friends away from work and had previously heard about the color run and it seemed like a fun experience. The actual event was very awesome, planned out well, colorful of course, there was music playing, everyone (the runners and race organizers) was very friendly and happy which created a great atmosphere. My favorite part of the race had to be just spending it with some of my friends and also crossing the finish line with all all the other people that had finished as well and properly celebrating it right there with music and of course the throwing of colored powder, which looked incredible. I would like to do it again and am hoping to do the one coming up in July, in Brooklyn, hopefully get some more people into it. All and all i think the color run was a great idea to do as a group, and the message behind it is so much more meaningful, just knowing that it promotes healthy living around the world, and supports charities is a wonderful accomplishment, not to mention all the smiles it generates. I definitely encourage other people to try t out, at least once.”

Corinna a German au pair living in Huntington added, “ The color run was so much fun. I did it because I wanted to meet some other girls and it just sounded fun and I saw so many pictures but I never did it myself.. I checked out their website for pictures and I saw that they also do it in Germany, so I definitely will do it again with my German friends 🙂 My favorite part was of course getting dirty and party afterwards with the girls 🙂 It was such a nice day, even though we all had to get up early, but it was totally worth it!”

Congratulations to the Team! Spreading good will and happiness with a cultural flair!

Au Pair in America Holiday Tree

December 8, 2013 – 12:24 pm

On Sunday, December 8th the Suffolk Cluster of Au Pair in America gathered to decorate a holiday tree for Stony Brook Village’s Promenade of Trees. Host families, au pairs and Community Counselor, Cindy Garruba decorated a beautiful tree with handmade ornaments. Over several years au pairs have made these ornaments at one of the cluster meetings at Cindy’s house. This year the au pairs painted peace signs celebrating their home countries. It is a truly International Holiday Tree!

There was a petting zoo, puppet show, carol singers and lots of fun while the crowd waited for Santa Claus to arrive.

Santa arrived in a horse drawn carriage! Then the kids lined up and waited to tell Santa their holiday wishes.

Santa in SB

DSCN0421

Halloween Safety Tips

October 30, 2013 – 1:35 am

Ghouls and goblins will take over the night. But even scary creatures need to be safe and celebrate Halloween right. Halloween’s greatest hazards aren’t vampires and villains, but falls, costume mishaps and automobile collisions. The Red Cross wantsyour family to have a safe Halloween so we’re providing these tips,

the Lucky 13:

Map out the route that you plan to roam, so adults are assured you will find your way home!
From the bravest of superheroes to the noblest of knights, everyone should remember to bring their flashlights!
If you visit a house where a stranger resides, accept treats at the door and, please, don’t go inside.
When you get ready to put on your disguise, use face paint instead of masks, which will cover your eyes.
Always remember, before you embark, to wear light-colored clothing to be seen in the dark! (And remember to use reflective tape, even on bikes, and brooms and the edges of your cape!)
Whether you walk, slither or sneak, do it on the sidewalks and not in the street.
As you roam through the neighborhood collecting your treats, please look both ways before crossing the street! (And speaking of streets, the corners are the place for trick or treaters to cross no matter their pace.)
Wigs, capes and costumes are flammable attire, so avoid open flames to prevent a fire!
Use a glow stick instead of a candle so your jack-o-lantern isn’t a safety gamble!
You may fly on a broom or a space ship from Mars, but please be on the lookout for drivers in cars! (Between parked cars is no to hide, be sure that you’re seen whether you’re a clown or a bride.)
Monsters and zombies should stay off the lawn, and only visit homes with their porch lights turned on!
You may be dressed as a werewolf, a cat or a frog, but be cautious around strange animals, especially dogs.
For additional information on how you and your family can be prepared for emergencies on Halloween or on any day of the year, please visit www.RedCross.org

All American Past Time

August 5, 2013 – 1:00 am

Some of the Long Island Au Pairs went to the Long Island Ducks Baseball game this past weekend.

What better way is there to spend a summer evening than watching the All American past time? The Au Pairs got to experience the game up close at the family friendly Ducks Stadium. The professional baseball team won the game, scored some home runs, and gave a great show to the au pairs for their first ever baseball game. In between innings, there are silly contests with fans from the stands. Sons tried to break water balloons over their dad’s heads, a father and son played bocce bowling, and even a karoke singer got a few cheers from the au pairs! Everyone got enjoyed the antics of Quaker Jack the team mascot! Quite a few foul balls were sent in our direction, but not close enough for any au pair to catch!

Aisha from Canada and Ella from South Africa with Quacker Jack!

Flag Day Contest for Au Pairs

June 14, 2013 – 9:41 am

Meet Your Global Neighbor

Au Pair in America au pairs helped us celebrate our second annual Flag Day Contest by submitting their creative expressions of their countries flags.

This year’s first place winner was Sabine Formanek of Austria. Sabine is so proud of her country’s rich musical culture and chose to incorporate Mozart into her flag. Read what Sabine had to say about her original drawing.

Brazil: Gisella Nascimento and her host children created the Brazilian flag in legos. Colombia: Veronica Giraldo created her flag by individually making each of these flowers in thread. Brazil: Raquel Brun Carvalho. Raquel built both the Brazilian and American flags in legos-our neighbors! Ukraine: Olena Petelko used needledwork to depict her country’s flag. Olena provided some background information for us. South Africa: Marianne Hohls and her two host boys, ages 4 and 5, created her flag from Legos. New Zealand: Melissa wedgwood designed her flag on a backdrop of the Pavlova dessert which is an icon in New Zealand. Germany: Julia Kahl and her host children created a crayon drawing of her flag against the background of the Denver sky. Israel and Germany: Nitzan Dorenboim and Freddy Eixner combined their country flags with cupcakes. What an ingenious idea! The partnering of Germany and Israel won Best Team Entry! United Kingdom: Hollie Cottrell baked a very delicious-looking cake to represent her flag. Germany: Mirijam Hinger used frozen yogurt and fruit to show us her flag. Netherlands: Carla Van Dijk who is living in Princeton, NJ, placed her flag against the backdrop of Princeton University. U.S.A: Denise Eliopolus’ cluster created their vision of the U.S. flag on cupcakes. U.S. A. This representation of the U.S. flag was done by Katie, age 7,a host child in CT. Katie used her favorite glitter and sprinkled it on the flag. Mia, from Malaysi is Katie’s au pair, and Mia’s entry is the next one. Malaysia: Mia Ng used fruit because it represents her country’s fruit production Many nations: Cindy Garruba, a community counselor on the North Shore of Long Island worked with her au pairs on representing all of their countries on a map of Long Island. The teamwork is awesome! Denise Eliopolus and her cluster: Denise is a community counselor in NJ. This photo shows the au pairs in her cluster who created the USA cupcakes. Around the world: many nations in Gosia Downes cluster (NJ) are represented by paper dolls. The next photo shows the au pairs who participated in the Flag Day Contest.