Tag Archives: childcare

Summer Safety Tips – Sun and Bicycle Safety

This is from Walgreens’ site, and contains a lot of excellent information. I’ll probably post a few of these.

SUN PROTECTION

  • When outside on a warm, sunny day, protect yourself from the sun by wearing a hat, a water-proof sunscreen, and loose-fitting, light-colored clothing.
  • Sun protection is especially important between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.
  • Drink plenty of water, but avoid drinking alcohol on hot, humid days when you are outside. Alcohol can cause dehydration.
  • If you become overheated, sit in the shade, drink plenty of water, and try to keep your skin cool and moist.
  • Keep very young children’s skin from being exposed to the sun.
  • Never leave children or pets unattended in a car in the sun — even for a few minutes.
  • Wear appropriate sunscreens — a sunscreen rating of 15 should give adequate protection for most people.
  • Remember, there is no such thing as a healthy suntan.

BICYCLE SAFETY

  • Wear a bike helmet.
  • Make sure bikes are the right size. A child should be able to straddle a bike with both feet on the ground.
  • Young children should use bikes with coaster brakes — the kind that brake when you pedal backwards. With hand brakes, a child’s hands should be large enough and strong enough to use the levers.
  • Avoid riding at night if at all possible. Make sure your bike has reflectors.
  • Stop at stop signs, check for traffic before turning, and never ride out into a street without stopping first.
  • Ride on the same side of the road as the cars.
  • Be predictable and ride defensively. Ride where drivers of cars can see you. Bicycles are frequently hit by cars because the driver did not even know the bike was there. Many accidents have been avoided because the biker was watching out for cars.
  • Wear brightly colored clothing so that motorists can easily see you.

Summertime!

Summer is finally here! And this is a good time to go over safety rules for kids. Every kid, no matter what his or her skin tone, should be wearing sunscreen when playing outside. Hats and/or sunglasses can protect kids’ eyes and skin – don’t forget to protect little ears!

It’s really important to go over swimming safety now. If the child is a swimmer in the parents’ eyes, then the au pair must be watching him or her all the time – no texting or chatting with friends. If the child isn’t a swimmer, the au pair needs to be within ARM’S REACH at all times when they are in the water. Oh, and don’t forget to reapply sunscreen after swimming!

Bike helmets are another huge safety requirement. They dramatically reduce the possibility of serious injury or death. Adults need to model this behavior by always wearing a helmet when biking – our brains are important too! Kids shouldn’t get the idea that helmets are ‘only for babies.’

Summer schedule changes need to be discussed now too. Kids are out of school and need supervision – but the rules for au pair working hours remain the same.

Summer in the Twin Cities is amazing – one of the reasons people live here. Get out there (safely!) and enjoy it before the snow flies again!Jumping Spoonbridge

Fun springtime project!

Make a Bird Feeder with your Host Kids

Recycle a soda bottle into a bird feeder. Some inexpensive wood spoons, bird seed, a cord to hang it with and a tree to hang it in is all you need.

Then you and the host kids can watch the birds flock to the feeder! Have the kids color pictures of the birds that visit. Take photos, too. Identify the birds and keep a little photo album of the birds that visit your feeder 🙂

(Originally posted by Cindy birdfeeder

Originally posted by Cindy Garruba, Long Island Counselor

Beat the winter blues!

This was originally posted by Cindy Garruba, the Long Island CC

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?

1. 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!
2. 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!
3. Register for your classes, and get ready to start learning something new.
4. Call a friend and meet for coffee and conversation if you feel housebound.
5. Set up a play date with another au pair and her host children (similar ages) and enjoy a day together.
6. Join a gym with another au pair.
7. 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.
8. Prepare a Global Awareness presentation for one of your host kids’ classes. Talk to your counselor for ideas.
9. 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!
10. (From Jennifer) Go to the Conservatory at Como Zoo for a brief visit to warm weather, flowers, and other growing things.

Peace Day Competition

I know it’s kind of a contradiction, but Au Pair in America held a Peace Day competition for our au pairs to submit art or poetry on the subject of the International Day of Peace. You can see all submissions on our Global Awareness page at http://www.globalawareness.com/

Global Awareness is our educational program, where au pairs go to schools, Boy or Girl Scout meetings, birthday parties, etc. and share aspects of their culture. They can teach a traditional song, talk about holiday customs, maybe even share a recipe. If you would like to have an au pair visit your school or other youth event, contact me!

What to do when your kids say "I'm bored"

Sometimes, especially with younger children, cries of boredom are really calls for companionship and attention—their friends may be away on vacation and without the structure of school they may find it difficult to keep occupied during long summer days. Prolonged intervals where the kids have nothing to do can be stressful . When bored, children often become whiny, cranky and demanding. Calendar-of-the-season-300×216

Here are a few easy tips to help au pairs and host parents combat summer boredom and help kids develop the internal resources that are important for developing creative, resource and time management skills:

Put a weekly calendar together so as not to overwhelm yourself with planning entertainment for an entire summer, just take it one week at a time—day trips, arts and craft activities, play-dates, reading time, nature hikes, picnics, bike rides, a trip to the movie theatre etc. This way kids will have something to look forward to during down time. A calendar also helps with getting kids prepared for what comes next.
Ask: “If you could do anything, what would you like to do?” Try and encourage your children to generate their own ideas for activities—they are more apt to have fun when they thought it up on their own! Reinforcing that children use their imaginations will also help them develop a sense of resourcefulness and get them in the habit of making their own choices about how they will spend their time.
Keep an “art box” handy full of supplies: scissors, fabric, felt, glue, paints and brushes, stickers, paper, markers, canvass, needle and thread, beads, yarn, picture magazines etc. Rummaging through a box of art supplies can ignite the imagination and occupy children for long periods of time. They could even begin an entrepreneurial enterprise and sell their wares at the end of the summer.
Inspire them to play with water. Water is very calming and soothing for children and they can while away many hours playing and keeping cool. Get them to wash the car, hose off the deck, or run through a sprinkler. Spend time together at the beach or pool

(Thanks to Jan Peedin, Annapolis Community Counselor, for the great posting!)

National Library Week April 10-16

Libraries are great places to take kids of all ages! National Library Week is the ideal time to check out all the opportunities at your local library. From preschool story time to resources for high school research projects, libraries can be an important part of caring for children. In the Twin Cities, go to www.hclib.org to find your closest library and check out what’s happening!