Category Archives: Au Pair Tips

Martin Luther King Day

Martin Luther King Day is a federal holiday held on the third Monday of January. It celebrates the life and achievements of Martin Luther King Jr., an influential American civil rights leader. He was a leader in the movement to end racial segregation in the United States. His most famous address was the “I Have A Dream” speech. He was an advocate of non-violent protest and became the youngest man to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. He was assassinated in 1968.  Shortly after he died, a campaign was started for his birthday to become a holiday to honor him. Following support from the musician Stevie Wonder with his single “Happy Birthday” and a petition with six million signatures, the bill became law in 1983. Martin Luther King Day was first observed in 1986, although it was not observed in all states until the year 2000.

Martin Luther King Day is seen as a day to promote equal rights for all Americans, regardless of their background. Some educational establishments mark the day by teaching their pupils or students about the work of Martin Luther King and the struggle against racial segregation and racism. In recent years, federal legislation has encouraged Americans to give some of their time on this day as volunteers in citizen action groups.

Here are some fun activities to do with children on this holiday:

http://www.primarygames.com/holidays/mlk/games.htm

Nutritional Foods And Snacks For Kids

According to the American Dietetic Association children should eat 6-11 servings of grains (bread, pasta, rice, cereal), 3-5 servings of vegetables (about 1/2 cup is a serving for a child), 2-4 servings of fruit (again, about 1/2 cup), 2-3 servings of meat, poultry, fish or dried beans, and 2-3 dairy servings every day.
However, experts agree that children will eat when they are hungry and shouldn’t be forced to eat. Give children small portions which won’t overwhelm them, and remind them that they can always have more.

Snacks between meals should be nutritious (fruits, vegetables, cheese, bread, crackers, yogurt, or juice).
Keep fruits and vegetables at children’s eye level in the refrigerator or in a bowl on the table so they will be able to take them easily when they are hungry. Blend juice, chopped fruit and yogurt in the blender for a quick and delicious fruit smoothie. Add a touch of honey to sweeten.

Involving children in meal planning, grocery shopping and food preparation can help them to become more interested in what they eat. Have them cut out pictures from grocery store flyers to make a picture shopping list, and then they can help find the items in the store. Help them to choose foods in each of the five food groups listed above. Serve food in a pretend restaurant with homemade placemats and menus, or create your own grocery store with empty boxes or cans (if you plan on using cans, open from the bottom and then check for sharp edges).

Many children need to eat more often than three times per day. If a child becomes cranky or irritable, it may be time for a snack. Sugary foods make many children excitable.

Food safety:
• to avoid choking, never offer food unless the child is sitting upright.
• toddlers are just learning to chew – celery, carrots, grapes, apples, and hot dogs must all be cut up, peanut butter should be spread thinly on bread or a cracker, and children under four should not eat raisins, hard candy, nuts or popcorn, as they are all easy to choke on.
• food storage customs in the United States may be different from those in other countries. Generally, eggs, dairy products and all meats should never be left at room temperature. If meat is frozen, it should be defrosted in the refrigerator or in the microwave, not on the counter. All cutting boards and knives should be well washed after preparing chicken. Fruit will ripen at room temperature, but if it is already ripe, it will keep better in the refrigerator. The one exception is bananas – the refrigerator will turn them black.
• before opening a can, rinse the lid so the dirt from the outside of the can doesn’t get into the food.

Remember, adults should set a good example with the food they eat, and where and how they eat it.

Fun Things To Do With Kids in the Summer

Summer can be a load of fun for au pairs and their host kids provided some thinking and planning is done ahead of time.  Bored children are not good companions, so au pairs need to BE PREPARED.
It’s not wise to try and wing it. A much better way is to have a list of possible activities ready for each week.
When deciding on an activity, au pairs need to offer their host kids options but not so many that the kids get confused or overly picky. With young children “either – or” is often the best way to go.
Once the decision is made, everybody can go for it & have FUN!

Put the music on!

And dance. Let the kids pick their own tunes and make their own moves. If host mom or dad decide to join as guest stars that’s all for the better.

Jump!

Jack be nimble, Jack be quick, Jack jump over the candlestick, or a line, a branch, with a jumping rope, on one leg or two, to a tune, to count a hundred jumping jacks… the possibilities are endless.

Have a ball with the ball

Kicking, throwing, passing along, catching, rolling, chasing, bouncing, balancing on the top of the head or the tip of the foot… all the wonderful things you can do with a ball will amuse your host kids for hours on end.

Read aloud with the kids

If your kids are old enough to be able to read, find a book with a lot of dialogue and read it together dividing the roles.  Make sure to read like pros with voice modulations, shouts and whispers when appropriate, hushed silences and stern commands. Encourage your kids to get into it and improvise if they wish.

Yoga with kids

It’s okay if you can’t put your legs around your neck, just trying, together with your kids, will provide enough fun and laughter. Then you can switch to dog, cat, snake and crocodile poses and you’ll all feel like in a zoo.

Sticks and stones

Gathering and using sticks, stones, cones, seeds, shells and other natural objects to create sculptures and collages will provide hours of imaginative play.

Be crafty

Most children enjoy doing crafts and are proud of their creations. You can work with simple and inexpensive household items (yarn, old buttons, a piece of string) and with craft store materials. Make sure that the level of skill required to complete the project is appropriate for the age of your host kids.

Get under the table

The best ever idea for a rainy day is making a tent out of a blanket, a table and a couple of chairs. Sharing stories, writing notes, or playing games is so much fun under the cozy cover.

Dressing-up

Dressing up, putting on make-up and strutting around in the special getup is a perennial favorite of all children. Encouraging & helping older kids to create their own costumes will fire their imagination and produce amazing results

Cooking up a storm

Making a pudding, fixing Jell-O, peeling hard-boiled eggs, rolling out dough, decorating cupcakes will create a bit of mess in the kitchen, but the yummy results are so worth it! Just make sure the kids stay away from hot oven and sharp utensils.

Creative Outdoor Play

Outdoor play is more than merely supervising children – it is an interactive learning experience with endless possibilities, and is essential to a child’s development.

Researchers have found movement to be crucial to children’s development and are concerned with the amount of inactive time children spend watching television, playing video games or working with computers. An excellent resource on this topic is Jane Healy’s book Endangered Minds. It is shown that children need to have large amounts of unstructured playtime in order to develop well- rounded personalities, to build self-esteem and self-confidence, develop healthy social skills by participating in group activities, and to stimulate their intellectual development.

Playing outdoors allows children the physical freedom that is not always possible indoors. The more children move, the more they learn, and children can play outdoors year-round with appropriate clothing.

Children of all ages need to explore the outdoor environment and learn from their experiences. Children are able to learn about the four basic elements of nature — air, fire, earth and water.

They can find places to pretend they are whoever they want to be, such as a firefighter a super-hero or an animal.

There are places for creativity, such as drawing on the sidewalk with chalk or painting the driveway with water. Children can look for something heavy or light, something smooth or rough, something bright or dark, something man-made or natural, something huge or tiny, the possibilities are endless.

Creative outdoor play takes what is already on this earth and uses it in a way which is unique to a child: digging in the dirt or sand, making ditches and rivers where toy boats can float, or creating roads for toy trucks and cars. It means giving children the freedom for exploration and discovery. Children grow by daring, risking, failing, redoing and succeeding. Help children grow mentally and physically by playing outdoors whenever possible, giving them the opportunity to learn from the world around them.

Mardi Gras in New Orleans

NOLMardiGrasKingtoastCarnival is the time of festive celebrations just before the start of Lent, which in turn is the period of fasting and penitence preceding Easter.  Although Carnival is tied to the liturgical calendar of the Roman Catholic Church and used to be enjoyed in Catholic countries only, it is now celebrated all over the world…BUT… nobody does it better than New Orleans!! (even though we do get a bit of competition form Rio).

Huge, lavishly decorated floats start rolling down the New Orleans streets more than two weeks before Mardi Gras (Fat Tuesday).  Parades, dress up parties, fancy balls, King Cake eating contests, costume competitions, and the jostles to catch Mardi Gras beads and doubloons get more intense as Lent and the need for sobriety approaches.

For au pairs in our cluster the carnival season is the time to get their purple, green, and gold outfits ready and join their host families in a quintessentially New Orleans experience.

Have fun and SEE YOU AT THE PARADES!!

For parade schedule please consult http://www.mardigrasneworleans.com/schedule.html

P.S. Although gluttony is the order of the day during Carnival, for the health-minded a delicious and nutritious Mardi Gras Coleslaw recipe follows. Have it with your King Cake, lol.

MARDI GRAS SLAW
INGREDIENTS:

1/3 c frozen orange juice concentrate – thawed
1/3 c unseasoned rice vinegar
1/3 c canola oil
1 – 8 oz bag green cabbage
1- 8 oz bag purple cabbage
4 ears fresh corn or 2 cans niblet corn
2 med carrots peeled, grated
6 med green onions
1/2 c fresh cilantro chopped

PREPARATION:
Whisk orange juice concentrate, rice vinegar, and canola oil in small
bowl, season salt pepper – do ahead, cover refrigerate.

Combine slaw, corn, carrots, green onion, and cilantro in large bowl,
toss with dressing, coat well, let stand for 15 min for flavors to
blend. Toss again.

ENJOY!

Love is in the Air on Valentine's Day

Love is in the air on Valentine’s Day, but it doesn’t have to be romantic love only. Saint Valentine’s Day, observed annually on February 14, started as a celebration of intimate relationships, but has now turned into a joyful occasion to celebrate all amicable feelings.  In addition to diamonds, candlelit dinners, and bouquets of roses indulged in by starry–eyed lovers, we exchange Valentine cards, candy, pins, perfume, chocolates, and other tokens of affection with our near and dear.

valentine's day wreath

This simple Valentine’s Day wreath is a lovely gift children can make for parents, grandparents, or a favorite teacher. The idea comes from http://www.dltk-holidays.com/valentines/mvwreath.html, a useful source of holiday themed arts and crafts projects. You may want to bookmark the site for future reference.