Tag Archives: suffolk county babysitters
Super Bowl Sunday Fun for Au Pairs & Host Families
Super Bowl is this Sunday, February 2nd!
Check out: http://www.nfl.com/superbowl/48
Your Host Family will probably be watching, even if only for half time and for the exciting new commercials!
- There is a simple explanation of American Football for au pairs on the APIA website: http://www.aupairinamerica.com/resources/life_in_the_us/football.asp
- Even if football is not something you enjoy, the commercials are amazing! Advertisers pay about $30 million dollars for a 30 second commercial to be shown during the Super Bowl, so expect great commercials! People will be talking about the commercials as much as the game!
- Great entertainment during halftime!
Football Fun with Kids
Before putting anything on the walls, ask your host family if it OK!!
Wall Football – Football version of Pin the Tail on the Donkey
Supplies: · Poster board · Brown card stock or construction paper · White marker · Poster tacks · BlindfoldInstructions
- For the game pieces, first create a goal post from two-inch-wide strips of poster board. (The uprights and the crossbar are each 20 inches long, and the post is 6 inches tall.) We attached ours to the wall using poster tack.
- For the footballs, cut 5-inch-long shapes out of brown card stock. We found some in the scrapbook aisle of our craft store that looks like football leather. Use a white opaque paint marker to decorate and add players’ names to the footballs. Put a blob of poster tack on the back of each one.
- Players line up about six feet away from the goal. One at a time, each player is blindfolded, spun around three times by another person, and set loose to try to stick their football between the uprights. (No reaching out your empty hand to feel the wall.) Play several rounds with 3 points awarded for each field goal. Highest score wins.
Chinese New Year begins January 31!
Happy Year of the Horse 2014!
Chinese New Year starts today! It is the year of the horse. Budda said people born in the Year of the Horse are cheerful, skillful with money, perceptive, witty, talented and good with their hands.
Wear red for good luck to start the Chinese New Year!
There are events all over Suffolk County Celebrating Chinese New Year and even more in NYC!
http://long-island.newsday.com/events/celebrate-the-chinese-new-year-on-li-1.6865848
http://gonyc.about.com/cs/holidays/a/chinesenewyear.htm
Au Pairs Enjoy Islanders Ice Hockey Game
Last Saturday the Long Island Au Pair in America Clusters enjoyed the Islanders ice hockey game at Nassau Coliseum. Every month the au pairs are offered either a cultural activity or childcare-safety meeting with their Community Counselor. The Islanders lost, but the au pairs enjoyed the experience of watching an American professional sports team play. The fans are fun to be around, and the au pairs got into the excitement of the crowd!
Beat the Post Holiday & Winter Blues Tips for Au Pairs
After the decorations are put away, the celebrations are over, the New Year has begun: and the post holiday winter blues are starting to hit you and your host family. What can you do to get through the long cold winter months happily?
- Get outside every day with the kids, bundle up and play outside. Go to the park, take a walk, ride bikes; we have been having an unusually warm winter, so enjoy it! If it snows, build a snowman, go sledding, have fun outside!
- Stay on routine with the kids; get up on time, have breakfast, get to the bus stop on time. Make sure homework is done and everyone gets to their activities on time. Bedtime routines are important, make sure everyone gets enough sleep and that includes YOU!
- Register for your classes, and get ready to start learning something new!
- Call a friend and meet for coffee and conversation if you feel housebound.
- Set up a play date with another au pair and her host children (similar ages) and enjoy a day together!
- Join a gym with another au pair!
- Use the library in your town. Sign the kids up for free programs (talk to host parents about the programs!) Join the English conversation group, improve your English and meet people!
- Prepare a Global Awareness presentation for one of your host kids’ classes, ask me for help!
- Volunteer at a local hospital, school, animal shelter, food bank if you have extra time on your hands and need to do something! Doing for others is always an answer for the blues!!
- Come to our next cluster meetings. There is a Mandatory meeting on February 9th!!
Things to Do While the Kids Are Off From School
From the Three Village Patch Online Paper
Fun ideas for how to entertain the kids during the holiday break.
Brought to you by our series “100 Things to Do in Three Village,” here are some activities you can do and local places you can go while the kids are off from school – along with a few ideas for fun outside of Three Village, too.
#99 – Find a Good Book at Emma S. Clark Memorial Library. It’s got a huge children’s section, and beyond the books, the library has tons of movies to rent and programs to take part in.
#98 – Watch an Eagle Flap its Wings in Stony Brook. If you’ve never seen the mechanical eagle in the Stony Brook Village Center, now’s the time to go.
#91 – Walk the Labyrinth at Avalon Park. As long as the mild December weather holds up, check out this outdoor treasure.
#90 – Catch a Movie, Maybe Even for Free. There are plenty of children’s movies playing in the theaters right now, and the library often has free movie showings.
#89 – Visit the Long Island Museum of Art, History and Carriages. You don’t have to travel to New York City to find a cool museum – this one is a Smithsonian affiliate.
#74 – Visit an Historic Lighthouse. Read up on the history of the lighthouse before you go; the Village of Old Field has a good history on its website.
#68 – Learn the History of Hercules. Another fun outdoor activity to do as long as the weather stays mild.
#53 – Learn About the Setauket Spies. “Spies! How a Group of Long Island Patriots Helped George Washington Win the Revolution” at the Three Village Historical Society is all about the Culper Spy Ring of Setauket. Call ahead for hours.
#45 – Cheer on the Seawolves. Don’t even try to resist Wolfie’s charms. Check out the hoops action by visiting GoSeawolves.org for the teams’ schedules.
#32 – A ‘Revolution’ in Video Gaming. The Revolution video game center opened in September in Stony Brook. Great for kids and teens.
Outside of Three Village:
Visit the Long Island Aquarium in Riverhead. With seasonal exhibits and both indoor and outdoor fun, it’s a not-to-be-missed Long Island attraction.
Head to Museum Row in Garden City. Three very different museums all in a row – the Long Island Children’s Museum, the Cradle of Aviation Museum, and the Nassau County Firefighter’s Museum and Education Center.
Chuck E. Cheese’s on Jericho Turnpike in Commack is a staple of children’s entertainment.
Check out the Port Jefferson Patch events calendar for children’s events, including maritime-themed fun, in downtown Port Jefferson.
International Holiday Party
Sunday, December 15th 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. 
Each 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 gift exchange.
Cindy Garruba, Suffolk Community Counselor, handed out her gifts to each au pair. Colorful socks, a little red white & blue earriings, an ornament to remember their holiday in the USA, and some candy, too!
Pictures around the tree, holiday music and lively conversation was enjoyed by everyone. Happy Holidays!!
Au Pair in America Holiday Tree
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.
Au Pair Helps Others for Thanksgiving
The 5th annual Thanksgiving Basket Brigade,
By Jessica Klose, au pair with Au Pair in America.
“This basket of love and hope is for people in need.”
On Sunday, November 24, 2013 a group of helpers spent their Sunday evening in Stony Brook to prepare baskets for people in need. They prepared baskets for Thanksgiving.
A friend of me told me about the 5th annual Thanksgiving Basket Brigade and asked me if I want to help and spent some food, like some vegetables or stuffing. Something you need to have a Thanksgiving dinner. So we did. We went to the store with two more friends and bought food. On the Sunday morning we went to Stony Brook to help to prepare 40 baskets for 40 families. It wasn’t just us and her host family, their were a lot of more helpers. Some of them do it every year and it was nice to be a part of it this year. I was surprised to see how much food they got together. So we got to work. We started to fill the baskets with turkey, vegetables, pies, fruits, stuffing, mashed potatoes and more.
We wrapped them up and after 3 hours, I think, we were done with all 40 baskets.
Right after we prepared the baskets some of the helpers brought the basket to the families or to people who knew the families who could need the baskets.
I even had the chance to bring 3 baskets to a woman who knew families that need the support.
The 5th annual Thanksgiving Basket Brigade is entirely self funded and based on the support of friends, families and everyone who wants to help.
Meet Au Pair in America at Stony Brook Holiday Festival!
On Sunday, December 8th at 1:30 meet Cindy Garruba, Suffolk County Au Pair in America Community Counselor in Stony Brook Village at the Holiday Festival. Visit with au pairs and host families, enjoy the festivities and learn about how Au Pair in America can serve your childcare needs!
