Tag Archives: holiday season

October Cluster Meeting with a Spooky Maze!

DSCN0149The Suffolk County Au Pair in America au pairs spent Sunday meeting together at their counselor’s beach house.  Cindy Garruba, Senior Community Counselor. talked about the upcoming American holiday season including Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas & Hanakkuh, and New Year’s Eve.  We discussed childcare, gift giving, and how the holidays are celebrated in the USA.

DSCN0151After our discussion we had a some pizza and then visited the local Spooky Maze at Harbe’s Farm.  The au pairs enjoyed the Halloween spooky fun for the 45 minutes they worked their way through the maze.  Click here to learn more about the maze!

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President’s Day

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Presidents’ Day is celebrated in February to honor two of our greatest presidents, Abraham Lincoln and George Washington. The holiday is celebrated in the United States on the third Monday in February.   George Washington was born on February 22, 1732 and was the first president of the United States.  Abraham Lincoln was president during the Civil War and was born on February 12, 1809.

Most of your host children will be off this week from school.  Traditionally this is a winter break for Long Island schools.  It is a great time to plan some activities in and out of the house with your host children.  Many of the libraries and museums will have special activities for the kids home from school.  Check online and bring your kids to explore these activities. 

flower-craft-free-kids-pop-sticks-easy-patty-pans1Mid winter is a great time for crafts and for board games.  Pull out the games the children received for their holiday gifts and play them together.  Gather the craft supplies and get creative! Dreaming of spring?  How about coloring or painting some pictures of with the kids of spring flowers?  Decorate the room with the colorful pictures!  It might be cold outside, but inside the flowers are blooming on the walls!  Enjoy!!

International Au Pair in America Holiday Party

 

AP Christmas Party 2011 017AP Christmas Party 2011 007Sunday, December 11 was the International Holiday Party for the Suffolk County Cluster of Au Pair in America.  Each au pair brought a dish from their country for the International Feast.  There were dishes from Germany, Thailand, France, Poland, Slovakia, Bolivia, Croatia, Peru and the USA.  AP Christmas Party 2011 008

AP Christmas Party 2011 011AP Christmas Party 2011 012AP Christmas Party 2011 013Each au pair brought a wrapped gift for the gift exchange.  The gifts were placed under the tree as the au pairs arrived.  After our wonderful feast, we gathered around the tree for the exchange, numbers drawn from a basket determined who, went 1, 2, 3 and so on.  Everyone enjoyed their gifts.

AP Christmas Party 2011 003Cindy Garruba, Suffolk Community Counselor, handed out her gifts to each au pair.  A snow scraper, knit gloves, an ornament to remember their holiday in the USA and some candy kisses.  AP Christmas Party 2011 015

Pictures around the tree, holiday music and lively conversation was enjoyed by everyone.  Happy Holidays!!

Build a Lego Menorah in Pt. Jefferson with Your Kids

Building the World’s Tallest Lego® Menorah – North Shore Jewish Center 

Date: December 04, 2011
Hours: 12:30-4pm
Ages: Young elementary, Tween
Price: Free

 

Address:
385 Old Town Rd. – 631-928-3737
Pt Jefferson Station , NY 11776
www.centralsuffolkjewishalliance.org

Description: A professional architect helps children ages 7 to 12 construct a 14-foot menorah with over 50,000 Lego® blocks. Parents must accompany their child. Pre-registeration required. The event includes a dairy lunch and goodie bag. Bring a non-perishable food item for a local food pantry.

 

 

 

Happy Passover!

    Passover begins at sunset on Monday, April 18, 2011. Its celebration continues through the evening of Tuesday, April 26, 2011.

    What is Passover?

    Passover, or Pesach commemorates the Israelites Exodus from Egypt. Its name refers to the passage in the Book of Exodus (12:11) when God “passed over” the houses of the Israelites during the tenth plague. Passover is one of three pilgrimage festivals, along with Sukkot and Shavuot.

    What are some Passover customs and practices?

    passover sederIt is traditional on Passover to only eat unleavened food. Many rid their entire house of hametz (food that is not kosher for Passover) or sell their leavened food to a non-Jew for the eight days of the holiday. The Passover seder is for the most part held on the first and second night of Passover, though some only participate in a seder on the first night. During the seder participants recount the story of the Exodus while drinking four cups of wine.

    What foods are traditionally eaten on Passover?

    The most common food eaten on Passover is Matzah, a cracker-like replacement for bread. During the Seder other unique foods are eaten, like haroset, a mixture of apples, nuts, wine, and spices. For the duration of the holiday, all leavened foods are prohibited.

    Passover for Families

    Have young kids? Check out these links from Kveller.com for making the holiday fun for the entire family.

    Holidays Around the World

    On Monday, December 20th au pairs from China, Brazil, Thailand, Guatemala and Brazil visited the HELP Suffolk Homeless Shelter’s daycare center.   They did a Global Awareness lesson called “Holidays Around the World” for the children.  The class of 3 – 5 year olds loved the passports and stickers.  There were stickers for each country with a greeting of Happy New Year or Merry Christmas in the language of the au pair.  The kids learned how to say the greetings.  Marie from Germany told the kids about the Christmas tree and how the tradition began in Germany.  Then the children decorated foam trees with colorful decorations.  We ended with a story about Santa Claus and a lively round of” O Tannebaum” (O Christmas Tree)!

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    Au Pairs Holiday Party

    Suffolk Au Pairs celebrated the holiday season with an International Feast.  The au pairs all prepared something from their country for the feast.  A storm was raging outside with high winds and pounding rain, but in Cindy’s home the atmosphere was cheery and warm.  The feast was yummy and everyone enjoyed the bountiful desserts!

    After dessert, the au pairs exhanged grab bag gifts they each brought.  Cindy handed out gifts and then it was time for pictures.  Everyone took turns modeling the Santa hats and posing by the Christmas trees.  We shared our plans for the season, some of the au pairs are traveling with their host families over the holidays, some are going off on vacations of their own, and some are taking day trip into to the city to see the holiday decorations, visiting Santa with their host families.  Everyone is enjoying the season!  Happy Holidays one and all!ap 2010 holiday 012