Looking for fun fall activities to do with your kids?
Check out Au Pair in America’s Halloween Fun & Fall Holidays pinboards on Pinterest.
Looking for even more fun fall activities, to do on your own, with friends, and/or with your host family?
Print out our Fall Bucket List full of fun fall traditions and activities to try.
Photo: Angela Severn (Flickr)
Our next Camp Au Pair theme is Dinosaurs.
Crafts, recipes, activities, and games related to dinosaurs can all be found here on the Camp Au Pair – Dinosaurs pinboard.
Field Trips can be a great way for kids to learn and have new experiences. Get permission from your host parents before any outings and be sure to take all social distancing precautions.
Field Trip Ideas:
Virtual Field Trips:
Toys – Many kids have dinosaur toys already. See what your kids have and think of fun, new ways you can play with these toys with them. Imagine taking a plastic dinosaur and making footprints in play dough to form your own fossils.
Webcam – The Calvert Marine Museum in Maryland offers a webcam where you can watch paleontologists remove rock from around fossils.
Videos – Look for fun videos on YouTube about dinosaurs and fossils. Here are a few to get you started.
Movies – Here are some movies that fit the dinosaur theme.
For older kids:
Books – Check your kids’ bookshelf for books on dinosaurs. You can also find many read aloud book videos on YouTube.
Photo: krojotak.com
Next week’s Camp Au Pair theme is Art Experiences.
Crafts, recipes, activities, and games related to art can all be found here on the Camp Au Pair – Art Experiences pinboard.
Culture Sharing – Share any specific forms of art that are popular in your home country (mosaics, origami, murals, fabric dying, etc.) Are there any famous artists from your country that you could share their works with your host kids?
Field Trips can be a great way for kids to learn and have new experiences. Get permission from your host parents before any outings. Check the websites before you go to be sure you understand the hours, costs, and whether advance tickets/reservations are required.
Online Art Fun – Here is a great website with lots of art activities including ones for older kids.
Webcams – You can do a google search for art websites with webcams. Here are a few to get you started:
Videos – Look for fun videos on YouTube about drawing and all kinds of art.
Books – Stop by your local library and look for books on famous artists and art.
Check YouTube for books on art being read aloud:
Image: teachkidsart.com
Making your own ice cream is a fun summer activity to do with the kids. Here is a simple recipe. You can change it up by adding a little chocolate syrup, a few chocolate chips, or using a flavoring other than vanilla.
In a quart size zipper baggie, combine…
1 cup of whole milk or half and half
2 tablespoons of sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
In a gallon size zipper baggie…
Fill ½ way with ice cubes
Add 1/3 cup of rock salt (if you don’t have rock salt you can use table salt or kosher salt)
Seal the small baggie carefully and place the inside of the large bag. Seal the large bag and shake the bags until you can see the mixture thickening (about 5 minutes.) It will be cold to hold, so you may want to carefully pass it back and forth between yourself and a partner. Remove the small baggie and wipe the top off (to remove salt water,) unzip and enjoy!
Next week’s Camp Au Pair theme will be Bugs & Butterflies.
More than 100 crafts, recipes, and activities related to all kinds of bugs, insects, butterflies, and spiders can be found here on the Camp Au Pair – Bugs & Butterflies pinboard.
Field Trips can be an excellent way for kids to learn and have new experiences. Get permission from your host parents before any outings. Check the websites before you go to be sure you understand the hours, costs, and whether advance tickets/reservations are required.
Games – There are more bug and butterfly-themed games than you might expect.
Outdoors – Kids today do not spend enough time outdoors. Take the kids in the backyard or another nature area (approved by your host parents) and do some activities related to this theme:
NOTE: If you are outdoors with the children, be sure to check for ticks when you come back inside. Here is a blog post explaining the health risk ticks can pose and how to find and remove them safely.
Webcams – You can do a Google search for websites with webcams that allow you to observe bugs. Here are some to get you started.
Books – Make a trip to the library and/or check your kids’ bookshelf for books on bugs and butterflies. You may find some classics like The Very Hungry Caterpillar or The Grouchy Ladybug by Eric Carle. You can also find books being read aloud on YouTube videos like this one.
Movies – There are lots of movies with insect themes.
Videos – You can find many great videos of butterflies and insects on YouTube. Check out these videos for kids about bees and ants. All about Insects covers lots of tiny creatures who crawl and fly. Here are a few videos to get you started.
Image: minieco.co.uk
Our next Camp Au Pair theme is Nature Exploration.
Crafts, recipes, activities, and games can all be found here on the Camp Au Pair – Nature Exploration pinboard.
Field Trips can be a great way for kids to learn and have new experiences. You can start observing nature at any local park or in your own backyard. If you want to take it a step further, Below is a list of other local places to go explore nature. Get permission from your host parents before any outings and check websites before you go for hours and information.
Safety note: When coming inside after you have been outside exploring nature, it’s always a good idea to check the children and yourself for ticks. For more information, take a look at this post.
Virtual Field Trips:
Webcams – You can do a Google search for websites with webcams that allow you to observe nature.
Videos – Look for fun videos on YouTube about nature.
Books – Check your bookshelves and/or stop by your local library and look for books on nature. You can also find many read aloud book videos on YouTube. Here are a few to get you started.
Image: toddleratplay.com
Next week’s Camp Au Pair theme is Under the Sea.
Crafts, recipes, activities, and games related to creatures who live under the sea can all be found here on the Camp Au Pair – Under the Sea pinboard.
Field Trips can be a great way for kids to learn and have new experiences. Get permission from your host parents before any outings. Check the websites before you go to be sure you understand the hours, costs, and whether advance tickets/reservations are required. Search online to see if your area has any of the following:
National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) – NOAA has a lot of fun, interactive and educational activities on their website. They focus on whales, sharks, sea turtles, sea lions and more.
Webcams – You can do a google search for aquariums and zoos across the country (and the world) with webcams that allow you to observe sea creatures. Here are a few to get you started.
Videos – Look for fun videos on YouTube about sea creatures. There’s more to see than Baby Shark. Movies like Finding Nemo, Dolphin Tale, and The Little Mermaid also go well with this theme.
Books – Stop by your local library and look for books on sea creatures. The Rainbow Fish is a classic children’s book, your kids may already own. If not, you can find videos like this of it being read aloud.
Movies – There are lots of movies with under the sea themes.
Television – There are some episodes of children’s television shows that talk about life under the sea.
The Magic School Bus is a television series that follows Ms. Frizzle and her class as they set off on field trips. Most episodes can be found on YouTube. Here are some episodes that fit this week’s theme.
Bill Nye the Science Guy has episodes on Fish, Marine Animals and more on YouTube.
The Discovery Channel has an annual Shark Week coming up on July 20. Check out 15 JAW-some Activities for Shark Week with lots of fun ideas for kids in grades 5 and up, but a few for younger kids too.
Photo: mimisdollhouse.com
When kids are out of school for the summer, it doesn’t take long for them to become bored and sometimes that leads to sibling squabbles and mischief. Even though they don’t realize it, they are usually missing routine and predictability in their daily schedule. One solution is to make fun plans to keep them busy!
Each week this summer we will share a different Camp Au Pair theme. These weekly themes are designed to give you ideas to keep your host kids occupied and engaged all summer long. They will also be learning. (But shhhh, don’t tell them that part.) Check back each Friday, for the next week’s theme. This gives you a chance to make plans and gather materials for the next week. For each theme there will be crafts, games, snacks and activities. You can just use these ideas or add your own and customize the themes to fit the ages and interests of your host children.
Here are the themes you can look forward to:
Check out Summer Fun & Summer Holidays pin boards for even more ideas.
If you get some great pictures doing these activities with your host kids, please send those to your community counselor. We love to share your accomplishments and inspire other au pairs!
Let’s make this an amazing summer!
“Game plan” means a strategy for how you are going to accomplish something. In the case of keeping kids from getting bored and/or into trouble, the best way to prevent it is to keep them busy with safe, fun activities.
When there are days home from school, letting kids sit around watching TV or playing video games is not the best use of their time. Providing fun alternatives will make it much easier to pull them away from the screen.
You need to make a plan of what you will do with them each day and prepare for that. Planning is very important. You don’t want to tell them you are going someplace fun, only to arrive there and see they are not open that day or you need to bring something and you don’t have it.
If your plan includes a craft or cooking project, make sure you have:
If your plan includes an outing to someplace fun, figure out:
Use some of these online resources to find activities and recipes:
Photos: vmiramontes (Flickr) & tasty.co
Just because a child is old enough to occupy themselves, doesn’t mean that they should be expected to do so the majority of the time. Host families have a certain expectation of activity and involvement for their children. Get the kids engaged and active. You can be more fun than the TV or a video game.
Problem:
But, my kids don’t want to do anything but watch TV or play video games.
Solution:
Instead of saying, “Would you like to (fill in the blank with any activity)? The answer will often be, “No.”
Try this, “Now we are going to (fill in the blank with any activity.) or “Would you rather do _____ or ______?” Make sure both the choices are good options.
Your chances of co-operation are greatly increased. Even kids who are reluctant to try new things will usually get in the spirit of things and have fun if you pick a good activity.
Problem:
I don’t know what to do with school-age kids.
Solution:
Look for ideas online. Google “activities school-age kids” or “activities tweens”. You can also take part in an au pair webinar on this topic. Below is a list of some ideas to get you started.
As part of Au Pair in America’s continuing education webinar series for au pairs , there is a session with advice on working with teens. Be on the lookout for the next time that topic is offered.
