Author Archives: Jennifer Harriss

Camp Au Pair – Cars and Trucks Week

This is Cars and Trucks Week! I think all kids enjoy playing with their toy cars and trucks, and this will give you lots of ideas to expand on that! From making art by rolling cars through paint, to going to a laser-show car wash, to riding on a restored streetcar, there is something for everyone!

Pinterest Board

You will find a ton of activities here. There is also a section with ideas for car and truck field trips – car washes, auto museums, etc.

Field Trips

  • car washes
  • fire stations – call your closest fire station and ask if there’s a good time to bring kids. 
  • auto museums
  • streetcar rides
  • ‘Touch a Truck” activities
  • car-themed playgrounds
  • car and truck rides at Nickelodeon Universe, Valleyfaire, and Como Town

Virtual Field Trips

Virtual Field Trips

  • Watch vehicles being assembled with virtual auto plant tours from Toyota & BMW.

Videos 

Mighty Machines & Amazing Big Trucks are kid-friendly video channels showing machinery and big trucks in action. Look for fun videos on YouTube about cars and trucks.

Garbage Trucks: On Route, In Action!

School Bus Car Wash | Toy Car Wash | Games for Kids & Toddlers

Blippi Go Karts | Learn about Vehicles for Kids

Books

Movies 

Here are some movies that fit the cars and trucks theme.

  • Bumble Bee
  • Bob the Builder Mega Machines
  • Cars, Cars 2 & 3
  • Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
  • Go Karts
  • Speed Racer
  • The Love Bug
  • Turbo 

 

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Camp Au Pair – Music Explorations

Research has found that learning music facilitates learning other subjects and enhances skills that children inevitably use in other areas. “A music-rich experience for children of singing, listening and moving is really bringing a very serious benefit to children as they progress into more formal learning,” says Mary Luehrisen, executive director of the National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) Foundation, a not-for-profit association that promotes the benefits of making music. (from pbs.org)

Our Pinterest Board this week has ideas for making instruments, making music, enjoying music, and learning about music of different cultures.

Field Trips

  • Minneapolis Parks have music and movies in the parks every night and  Tuesday afternoons. You can find the whole schedule here.
  • Centennial Park in Bloomington has concerts for kids every week. Check website for upcoming events.
  • There are so many different free music events that I’m not going to list them all! Here’s a resource through Family Fun (which is a terrific resource anyway.)

Online music experiences

  • Carnegie Hall has a whole series of lessons about music around the world. designed for teachers but you can certainly use them! Share your own country’s musical traditions with your host kids.
  • Lincoln Center’s Concerts for Kids
  • PBS has an amazing amount of activity ideas and lessons. Here’s an interactive activity where kids can have fun while learning about music.

Books about music – read alouds

Spend this week making music with your kiddos! There’s so much music in the world – all you have to do is listen.

Camp Au Pair – Dinosaurs

Next 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.

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:

  • Children’s museum
  • Natural history museum
  • Parks with fossil hunting programs
  • Play spaces with dinosaur areas
  • Science centers

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.

  • Dinosaur
  • Dinosaur Island
  • Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs
  • Land Before Time
  • Lego Jurassic World
  • The Good Dinosaur
  • Walking with Dinosaurs
  • We’re Back! A Dinosaur’s Story

For older kids:

  • Journey to the Center of the Earth
  • Jurassic Park (which is rated PG-13)

Books – Check your kids’ bookshelf for books on dinosaurs. You can also find many read aloud book videos on YouTube.

Photo: krojotak.com

Camp Au Pair – Art Experiences Week!

Art Experiences can mean a lot of different things, from quietly sketching in museums to running from sculpture to sculpture in a big outdoor garden, to making messy art with rubber bands, to painting bread with stripes before eating the whole creation. Our Pinterest board has all of these ideas and a ton more, as well as local art Field Trips.

You can find tons of great ideas at our Pinterest board.

Local art field trips include Walker Art Center and Sculpture Garden, MIA, the Weisman Museum on the U Of M campus, the museum of Russian Art, Caponi Art Park in Eagan, Western Art Park in St. Paul, Franconia Art Park near Taylor’s Falls, Harrison Scultpure Garden in Chaska, and more. While you’re there, spend just enough time talking about what they see without overwhelming them with fancy details. You can bring a sketchbook and pencils to most museums so kids can make a lasting record of the visit.

If you’re not sure your kiddos are ready for a visit to a real museum, you can do a virtual visit to any museum in the world – are there any you visit in your hometown?

Seeking inspiration? Here are museums you can visit virtually. (list courtesy of the Minnetonka Center for the Arts)

But remember, parents love to have some kid art for the fridge, or for the office, or to wear as jewelry. No matter how old your kids are, you can create truly meaningful memories just splashing paint around on a piece of poster board in the back yard. Have fun! (and try to control the mess!)

Camp Au Pair – World Cup 2026

The World Cup is a major Soccer (or Football, as the rest of the world calls it) tournament held once every 4 years. The men’s world cup is taking place in North America this summer, which is a great reason to have a week where kids and au pairs can focus on soccer – skills and games, crafts, recipes, field trips, and watch parties. We have several local teams where kids can watch real games.

My Pinterest board for this week has a TON of fun things to do with your kids this week.

In Minneapolis, the official hub for tournament watch parties is the massive Minnesota United Soccer Celebration at Peavey Plaza and Nicollet Mall. Running from June 11 to June 27, this family-friendly event features jumbo outdoor screens, local food trucks, live DJs, and special guest appearances. Go to https://www.mnufc.com/soccercelebration/ to get free tickets (which are required for admission.)

There are also going to be watch parties at the North Loop Green. These are outdoors and no tickets are required. Go to https://northloopgreen.com/events/soccer-gameday-at-the-green-2026/ for info about events there.

MN Aurora is a professional women’s soccer team which plays in Eagan.

Minneapolis City SC is a minor league soccer club that plays at Augsburg College in Minneapolis.

Minnesota United FC is our professional major league soccer team.

Many parks have soccer leagues where you can go to watch people play soccer. Call your local park to see if they have any games coming up.

Soccer Story Read-Alouds

It’s an exciting summer to be a soccer fan in the US! Enjoy this week’s Camp theme and teach your host kids about soccer!

Camp Au Pair – Nature Exploration

This week’s Camp Au Pair theme is Nature Exploration.

For our first Camp Au Pair of 2026, we are doing Nature Exploration. Get the kids out into the fresh air and set the tone for the whole summer! We are so lucky to live in the Twin Cities with so much beautiful nature right around the corner.

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.

Information about all of the local field trip suggestions can be found in the Local Field Trip section of the Pinterest board.

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.

  • Aviaries such as the one near the Rose Garden in Minneapolis
  • Farms – try Gibbs Farm, Brooklyn Center Historic Farm, or Lyndale Farmstead
  • Nature Preserves like the Arboretum in Chaska or Woodlake in Richfield
  • Parks – there are so many parks around and they have so many opportunities! Three Rivers Park board, Minneapolis Park and Rec, etc.

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

Camp Au Pair!

Each week this summer we will share a different Camp Au Pair theme. We have a series of Pinteret boards with activities that follow a weekly theme. These boards 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 for kids of all ages. 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:

  • Nature Exploration
  • World Cup Fun!
  • Art Experiences
  • Under the Sea
  • Science (STEM)
  • Bugs & Butterflies
  • Cars and Trucks
  • Backyard Safari
  • Dinosaurs
  • Explore the World
  • Outer Space
  • Cooking with Kids
  • Pirate Adventures
  • Renaissance Festival

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!

#au pair #au pair in America #summer #summer activities #kids at play

Camp Au Pair – Pirate Adventure Week!

As summer winds down, we’re going to spend a week enjoying Pirate Adventures! Kids are always fascinated by pirates: the sea, the sun, the parrots, the treasure! Here is our Pinterest board with a lot of great Pirate-themed ideas, including field trips where they can practice their Pirate lingo:

Camp Au Pair – Pirate Adventure Week

If your littles need a bit of practice with their Ahoy!s, here’s a video that explains the whole thing:

Camp Au Pair – Princesses and Knights

This week’s Camp Au Pair theme is Princesses and Knights.

Crafts, recipes, activities, and games related to royalty, dragons, chivalry, fairies, and more, can all be found here on the Camp Au Pair – Princesses and Knights pinboard.

(Note – I recognize the inherent sexism in the title of this week, but I also know that kids really like princesses and knights. I’ll try to come up with a better title for next year.)

I chose this theme now because the Minnesota Renaissance Festival is coming up, and this will help everyone get in the mood. If you haven’t been to the Ren Fest, you’re missing out! This was the original Renaissance Festival, and even though they are found everywhere these days, I really feel this is something to experience!

Culture Sharing – Does your home country have a history of royalty? What about stories of dragons, fairies, things like that? Ancient ruins? You can share what it means 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.
  • Kids Castle in Maplewood is a castle-themed play area for all ages
  • The American Swedish Insitute is a castle-shaped cultural musem in Minneapolis
  • The Witch’s Hat tower in St. Paul is a fun place to visit
  • The Renaissance Festival in Shakopee is the ultimate immersive experience

Online Fun – Here is a great website with lots of chivalry activities including ones for older kids.

Webcams – You can do a google search for castle websites with webcams. Here are a few to get you started:

Videos – Look for fun videos on YouTube about medieval arts, jousting, and more.

Books – Stop by your local library and look for books on chivalry, castles, dragons, knights, princesses.

Check YouTube for books on medieval topics being read aloud:

Image: teachkidsart.com

Camp Au Pair – Cooking with Kids

This week’s theme for Camp Au Pair is Cooking with Kids. Even the littlest kids can help shake up a bag of ice cream! And with the heat coming our way, you might be happy to have ideas planned that you can do in the air conditioning. The ideas on the Pinterest board include homemade butter, fun healthy snacks, science-y ideas like the ice cream in a bag, and entire meals kids can make for their families (with a little help from you!)

Nutrition and healthy eating are important for many families. The Pinterest board includes age-appropriate activities to help kids understand how the food they eat affects how they grow and feel.

Field trip ideas include Mill City Museum, where kids can learn about the flour milling industry in Minnesota (the most EXPLOSIVE museum in the world – iykyk,) and a site where you can find farmer’s markets near you. Kids will love being able to choose the vegetables they get for lunch – plus you can always grab a few honey sticks, for kids over 12 months. The big Minneapolis farmers market by the Basilica has music and samples. My kids love it!

Here’s the link to the Pinterest board:

https://www.pinterest.com/?boardId=95279417055562239