Tag Archives: Camp au pair

Camp Au Pair: Art Exploration

Camp Au Pair: Art Exploration

Roll up your sleeves for some artsy fun this week!! Art is a great way to engage with your host kids and have a great time together!

For more great art ideas, check out the Au Pair in America Pinterest board!

The National Art Gallery has a wonderful option for kids. NGAkids interactives offer an entertaining and informative introduction to art and art history. Featuring a variety of art-making tools that encourage exploration and creativity, these computer-based activities are suitable for all ages. You can learn about each program by clicking on the associated thumbnail image. Download the Art Zone or NGAkids App applications to your Macintosh or Windows-based computer, or order the free CDs. There is also an iOS version of the NGAkids App for iPad.

Field Trips:

  • How to have fun with kids in an art museum
  • Art museum scavenger hunt for kids
  • Taking kids to an art museum (tips)
  • Annmarie Sculpture Garden & Arts Center is located in scenic Solomons, Maryland, where the Patuxent River meets the Chesapeake Bay. The sculpture garden features a 1/4 mile walking path that meanders through the woods past permanent and loaned sculpture, including over thirty works on loan from the Smithsonian Institution and the National Gallery of Art.   Currently, they have a Fairy House exhibit along the trails and the Fairy Lolly is a wonderful place to play! A wonderfully whimsical natural play space where kids can run, jump, climb, perform and more!  There is an art exploration room there as well in the gallery where kids can create art freely! Check with your host family to see if they are members! Admission fee.
  • Bonus: you can spot Cynthia’s photograph – Gifts from the Chesapeake on display in the Ebb & Flow exhibit until Sept. 2.

 

Virtual Field Trips:

  • #MetKids is a digital feature made for, with, and by kids. Explore The Met with our interactive map and watch behind-the-scenes videos that feature kids just like you. With fun facts and creative projects for the galleries or at home, #MetKids has been inspired, tested, and approved by real kids ages 7–12.

Art work by Sarah, age 7

Camp Au Pair – Bugs & Butterflies

Get ready to get buggy as we explore bugs and butterflies this week! Ready for some serious fun?

Activities

Check out the Au Pair in America Pinterest site for more great ideas!

Field Trips can be a great way for kids to learn and have new experiences. Here are a few places to go, that fit this theme:

  • Two local attractions offer the opportunity to surround yourself with hundreds of live butterflies from all over the world and learn about their metamorphosis and the part they play in our ecosystem.
  • Also at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History, you can visit the Orkin Insect Zoo. Don’t miss the tarantula feedings daily at 11:30am and 1:30pm.
  • Goldpetal Farms has a second sunflower maze opening on July 21st. The flowers attracts bees and butterflies!

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 is a video showing a Monarch Butterfly metamorphosis time-lapse.

Photo: Nick Goodrum {flickr} & Cynthia Chan

Camp Au Pair – Dinosaurs!

This week’s 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.

Consider these awesome activities –

Field Trips can be a great way for kids to learn and have new experiences. Here are a few places to go, that fit this theme:

Videos – Look for fun videos on YouTube about dinosaurs. Dinosaurs for Kids is a great video that explains dinosaur history and what paleontologists do.

The Good Dinosaur, Land Before Time and Ice Age are all great family movies that fit with this theme. For older kids, consider movies like Journey to the Center of the Earth and Jurassic Park (which is rated PG-13).

Books – Stop by your local library and look for books on dinosaurs.

Photo: aaron parecki {flickr}

 

Camp Au Pair – Nature Exploration

Now for some fun in nature!!! Get out and explore a bit, collect some treasures along the way! Most of these activities are easily created using items likely already around the house, but you may need to plan ahead a bit to have supplies on hand! Check with your host family about getting supplies to use!

How about leaf bowls using air dry clay? Leaf painting mandala?  Create a birdfeeder or make a suncatcher?

How about creating a twig raft? Creating Nature Journals? Maybe a pocket sized nature collection?

So many great ideas! Check them out on the Au Pair in America Pinterest boards here!

Check out your library (or Amazon) for great books about the outdoors! Backpack Explorer: On the Nature Trail.  How about, My First Book About Backyard Nature: Ecology for Kids!

Check out the cool videos at Bob’s Pennsylvania Wildlife Camera 

Consider joining in the Free Forest School outings near you! Free Forest School ignites children’s innate capacity to learn through unstructured play in nature, fostering healthy development & nurturing the next generation of creative thinkers, collaborative leaders & environmental stewards.

Photo by Cynthia Chan

 

Camp Au Pair – Global Awareness/Multicultural Experiences

Wrapping up Camp Au Pair for Summer 2018, let’s focus on global awareness and share some cultural experiences!

Let’s create mini books from multiple countries!  Culture through cooking! Around the world in 12 dishes! Check out this photo collection of how children play around the world.

Create a bilingual literacy game! Listen to samples of various languages! Learn about volunteering in your host kids school or scouting group!

Learn about Christmas in Australia! Have some Diwali fun with playdough! Look at the library for books on different cultures! Use the internet to help you share language with your host kids!

Check out these tips and activities for raising global citizens! Check this out to see what people around the world eat for breakfast! How about using apps to develop foreign language skills?

Photo by {Rona Proudfoot}

Camp Au Pair – Kids in the Kitchen

Camp Au Pair is in the kitchen this week! Feeling creative? Try making these adorable palm tree snack plates!

For more creative cooking ideas, try these under the sea yogurt snacks! How about some American flag brownies? Make your own mason jar “lunchables”. Try your hand at making butter in a jar.

Try some theme foods! Outer space snacks are out of this world! Edible sailboats are fun too! Rainbow weather cloud graham crackers are guaranteed to make you smile! Speaking of graham crackers, try these awesome under the sea graham crackers!  Do you have older kids? Try using marshmallows to build structures!

Do you want to build a snowman snack? Want a healthier option? Try making salads in a jar! Everyone loves mac-n-cheese, try making it in a crockpot! Taco cupcakes are fun! How about PB&J sushi rolls? Banish snacktime boredom with these fun ideas! Create a Very Hungry Caterpillar plate! Turn hard boiled eggs into chicks! Try using M&M’s to get to know your host kids if you are a new arrival!

Who says you can’t play with your food! Have fun in the kitchen with your host kids!

Photo: Melissa {flickr}

 

 

 

 

 

Photo: Melissa {flickr}

Camp Au Pair – Let’s Go Outside!

Summer is winding down, but we still have two more weeks!! Let’s get our creative hats on! This week we have a variety of creative outdoor activities!

How about some awesome chalk art ideas? Summer activities with ice to help us cool off! Make soap boats and then race them! Check out even more fun ice activities to try!

How about some I Spy free printables? Chalk ideas to keep your host kids active! Check out the squirt gun racing! Learn how to make sponge water balls!

Create an ice block treasure hunt for lasting, cool fun!  Make sidewalk chalk paint and help your little Picasso’s shine!

Make homemade mud playdough for creative play! Learn some new handclapping songs!  How about a nature scavenger hunt?  Check out this amazing list of 100 things to do this summer for more amazing ideas!

Photo credit: Chalk art – Walter {Flickr}

Camp Au Pair – Art Exploration

Roll up your sleeves for some artsy fun this week!! Art is a great way to engage with your host kids and have a great time together!

Have your host kids draw a self portrait or draw each other!

Check out some cool magic color transfer ideas! Make colorful paper fans!

Raid your recycling bin for some artistic options. Use your designs further to make cool photographs or brush paint on the edges and then press onto paper!  Make your own sidewalk chalk paint!

Try your hand at balloon art painting! For variety, how about using small balls?  Playing with ice?

How about incorporating a bit of math into your art activities?

For more great art ideas, check out the Au Pair in America Pinterest board!

Art work by Sarah, age 7

Camp Au Pair – Bugs & Butterflies!

Get ready to get buggy as we explore bugs and butterflies this week! Ready for some serious fun? How about creating a butterfly suncatcher, explore a bit of science and make glasses of dancing worms or creating a toe caterpillar on a leaf rubbing? Try creating a butterfly themed  snack.  

How about playing some bug bingo? 

Create a sensory bug bin to investigate!

Read Eric Carle’s The Very Hungry Caterpillar and create a whimsical lunch plate!

Check out the Au Pair in America Pinterest site for more great ideas!

Photo: Nick Goodrum {flickr}

Camp Au Pair – Backyard Safari

This week we are off on a backyard safari!! Many safari animals can be seen in zoos. Lions and tigers and bears! Oh, my! But, how about bringing the safari or zoo to your own backyard?

 

 

Try your hand at creating polar bears with this cute craft!  Try your hand at an Animals of Africa wordsearch! Make a lion lunch plate! Create your own box zoo! How about making some hand print zoo animals?

Photo by: anjanettew {flickr}