Tag Archives: child care

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.

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.

Local Field Trips:

    • Fossil Parks
    • Science Center
    • Science & Natural History Museums

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 – This NPS Paleontology Lab offers a webcam where you can watch paleontologists remove rock from around fossils. The cam is normally working 9 am-5 pm PST, so 12-8 pm our time.

Videos – Look for fun videos on YouTube about dinosaurs and fossils. Here are a few to get you started.

Movies – 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 – Check your kids’ bookshelf for books on dinosaurs.

Photo: krojotak.com

Focus on Play: New Ideas for Some Classic Toys

It is good to offer kids a balance of independent play time and play where you are actively engaging with them. You can make toys they may be bored with, feel new and exciting, by suggesting different ways to play with them. Try some of the ideas below as a starting point.

Play Food/Dishes

  • Teach your host children how to say the names of some of the food and dishes in your language.
  • Using English and/or your language play games where you are ordering food like in a restaurant. Take turns with who will be the waiter and who is the customer.
  • Come up with silly food combinations.  For example: Who wants pickles on their slice of cake?
  • Play a guessing game where the children have to figure out what food you are talking about.  For example: I grow under the ground in the dirt.  People eat me fried, mashed and baked.  What am I? (a potato)
  • Play a game with setting the table using your language to ask for the different items (plate, spoon, etc.)
  • Ask the children to divide the foods up into the different food groups (vegetables, meat, dairy, etc.)

Lego Blocks and Other Building Toys

  • Divide up all of the blocks between the people playing, by taking turns for each person to select block by block.
  • Suggest specific things to build (robots, houses, mountains etc.) and build together.
  • Challenge everyone to use all of their blocks.
  • Sort the blocks by color or shape and make patterns with them (red, blue, red, blue or square, triangle, rectangle.)  You can create a pattern and ask the child to fill in what comes next to continue the pattern.
  • Make the tallest block tower you can and let them knock it down (over and over again, if like most kids, they like destroying things.)

Mr. Potato Head

  • Teach your host children the names of the different parts in your language and play a game asking them to put on the body parts by name.
  • Play Hide and Seek with Mr. Potato Head. Have the children cover their eyes and count, while you hide Mr. Potato Head, then they go looking for him. Switch things up by letting them hide Mr. Potato Head and then you are the one to locate him.
  • Play the same game above, but using Simon Says.  Simon Says is a game where the leader gives commands by saying “Simon says” first. For example, “Simon says, put on the nose.”  The players are only to follow the commands when the leader says “Simon says.”  If the leader doesn’t say “Simon says” first and just says, “put on the nose,”  and the player follows the command, they are out of the game.  Repeat the game multiple times, so all kids get a turn to be the leader at least once.

Photos:  Lisa Maxwell (top) & Tom Smalls (bottom)

PLAYGROUND SAFETY

Supervise Kids Using Playground Equipment 

  • Actively supervise children on playgrounds. It won’t be hard – they’ll probably be calling for you to watch them climb, jump and swing.
  • Check playgrounds where your children play. Look for age-appropriate equipment and hazards, such as rusted or broken equipment and dangerous surfaces. Report any hazards to the school or appropriate local office.
  • Teach children that pushing, shoving or crowding while on the playground can be dangerous.
  • Dress appropriately for the playground. Remove necklaces, purses, scarves or clothing with drawstrings that can get caught on equipment and pose a strangulation hazard. Even helmets can be dangerous on a playground, so save those for bikes.
  • Little kids can play differently than big kids. It is important to have a separate play area for children under 5.

Choose the Right Play Area Based on Your Child’s Age

  • Ensure that children use age-appropriate playground equipment. Separate play areas for bigger kids and children under 5 should be available and maintained.
  • For babies who are mostly crawling or at best learning to walk, the play area should have a smooth and easy surface to walk on.
  • If your baby has fairly good head control and can sit up with support (usually around 9 months old), give the baby (bucket-shaped) swings a try.
  • Babies love slides but are too young to go down on their own. But they can slide down with your support. Just hold your baby all the way down and enjoy.

Information provided by Safekids.org

Valentine's Day Activity Ideas for Au Pairs and Their Children

Valentine’s Day, celebrated on February 14, dates back to ancient Rome. Sending a valentine in the United States is not a serious declaration of love as in some other countries. Children usually send valentines to the other children in their class and to their teacher. Friends and relatives exchange valentines. For that we can thank Esther Howland, a young woman from Massachusetts, who in 1848 started the first mass production of valentines. Now valentine cards and candy are a fun way of keeping in touch with those we care about.
valentine

Make your own valentines: Although many store-bought valentines are designed for children, come in large packs and are quite inexpensive, it is lots of fun to make your own. Pink, red and white paper, crayons or markers and a little bit of imagination are all you need. Dress up the cards with glitter, doilies, lace, stickers, or feathers if you wish.

Valentine Collage (ages 18 months and older): Prepare hearts of different colors and sizes, ribbon, feathers, etc. Older children can use glue on paper. For younger children tape a piece of contact paper sticky side up securely onto a table. Paper shapes will stick easily to the contact paper.

Picture Frame Card (ages 3 years and older): Take a picture of the child and cut a piece of construction paper to make a picture frame. Have the child decorate the frame. Use this as the front of a card, or to stand by itself.

Heart rubbings (ages 3 years and older): First cut hearts of different sizes from heavy paper. Place those hearts under a blank piece of paper and rub over the shapes using the side of a crayon. The hearts will magically appear.

Sewing Heart (ages 3 years and older): Cut a heart shape from light-weight cardboard about 8 inches across. Use a hole punch to make holes all around the edges about 1 inch apart. Give the child yarn or ribbon to lace through the holes. Tie the ends into a bow.

Heart caterpillars (ages 3 years and older): Cut many heart shapes out of colored paper and have the child glue them down on a sheet of paper to look like a caterpillar. Use tiny hearts for eyes and at the end of antennas.

Edible Valentines (ages 3 years and up): Graham crackers, cake frosting and conversation heart candies make the most delicious valentines!

Heart wreath (ages 4 years and up): Cut out the middle of a paper plate. Arrange colored heart shapes, flowers, ribbon, etc. around the edges.

Valentine Puzzles (ages 4 years and up): Cut different-sized hearts down the middle with a jagged line. Children can match the sides of the hearts.

Heart mosaic (ages 5 years and up): Cut small pieces of paper, or use crushed eggshell dyed with food coloring. Arrange in a heart shape.

Heart people (ages 5 years and up): Use a large heart for the body and smaller hearts for eyes, hands and feet. Take long strips of paper and fold them back and forth like an accordion for the arms and legs. Glue them to the sides and bottom of the body.

Valentine’s Day Post Office (ages 5 years and up): Set up your own post office at home. Decorate mailboxes for every member of the family. Use a rubber stamp to show that the valentines have been properly mailed. Deliver to the boxes.

January Cluster Meeting – Tax Information

Who said taxes aren’t much fun? Rhode Island au pairs attended our annual “Tax Information Cluster Meeting” on Sunday, January 19, and had a wonderful time!Jan 2014 - Tax Meeting

We had a chance to meet our new arrivals, and to review tax information and answer questions about the U.S. government’s requirement that taxes be paid by everyone who earns money in the U.S., even au pairs:-( We talked about the benefits of putting away a few dollars each week so that there is a “cash reserve” available for expenses like taxes, emergencies, or on a more positive note — vacations and travel.
All tax information and forms can be found by clicking on this link: http://www.aupairinamerica.com/pdf/tax_information_for_aupairs.pdf
taxes

Martin Luther King, Jr., Day is Monday, January 20th!

Martin Luther KingMartin Luther King Jr. goes down in history as one of the principal leader of the civil rights movement in the United States and a prominent advocate of nonviolent protest. King’s challenges to segregation and racial discrimination helped convince many white Americans to support the cause of civil rights in the United States.
King was born in Atlanta, Georgia, and was ordained as a Baptist minister at age 18. He graduated from Morehouse College in 1948 and from Crozer Theological Seminary in 1951. In 1955 he earned a doctoral degree in systematic theology from Boston University. While in Boston, King met Coretta Scott, whom he married in 1953.
In 1954 King accepted his first pastorate at the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama. Montgomery’s black community had long-standing grievances about the mistreatment of blacks on city buses. Heading the year-long bus-boycott against segregation in buses, King soon became a national figure.
In 1957 King helped found the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), an organization of black churches and ministers that aimed to challenge racial segregation. King and other SCLC leaders encouraged the use of nonviolent marches, demonstrations, and boycotts to protest discrimination.
King and other black leaders organized the 1963 March on Washington, a massive protest in Washington, D.C., for jobs and civil rights. King delivered his famous “I Have a Dream” speech to an audience of more than 200,000 civil rights supporters. The speech and the march created the political momentum that resulted in the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibited segregation in public accommodations and discrimination in education and employment. As a result of King’s effective leadership, he was awarded the 1964 Nobel Prize for peace.
Throughout 1966 and 1967 King increasingly turned the focus of his activism to the redistribution of the nation’s economic wealth to overcome entrenched black poverty. In the spring of 1968 he went to Memphis, Tennessee, to support striking black garbage workers. King was assassinated in Memphis on April 4, 1968.

Information Sessions on Flexible, Affordable Child Care

The Rhode Island office of Au Pair in America offers free, no obligation information sessions to provide details and answer questions that parents may have about hosting an au pair for their child care needs. Program costs are discussed and compared with other child care options, with emphasis on the benefits and cost-effectiveness of the Au Pair Program. Information sessions are held in Smithfield on Wednesdays at 3:00 p.m., just prior to our 4:00 p.m. prenatal yoga class (Moms-to-be are welcome to stay for both!) Reserve at 401-949-2427 or BarbaraFetta@gmail.
prenatal pic
Prenatal yoga classes are held on Wednesday afternoons from 4:00 pm – 5:00 pm at the East Smithfield Neighborhood Center, 7 Esmond Street, Smithfield, Rhode Island

For moms-to-be, prenatal yoga classes are a wonderful way to put aside time for you and your baby, and to prepare for the birthing process. Each class begins with a brief check-in and discussion — an opportunity for mother-to-be to talk about how she is feeling and address any questions or concerns. The discussion is followed by meditation to quiet the mind and bring focus to the body and the woman’s growing baby. We then move on to breathwork, stretching, strength building and balancing postures that help prepare the body and mind for the process of giving birth. Each class is a unique experience tailored to all stages of pregnancy. We finish the yoga session with deep rest and relaxation. This class is suitable to those new to yoga. Pre-registration is required.

“A mother’s joy begins when new life is stirring inside….when a tiny heartbeat is heard for the very first time, and a playful kick reminds her that she is never alone”

Au Pair In America Offers Free Information Sessions on Affordable Child Care

Free, no obligation information sessions are being offered to Rhode Island parents to provide information and to answer questions that they may have about hosting an au pair. Program costs will be discussed and compared with other child care options, with emphasis on the benefits and cost-effectiveness of the au pair program. Reserve a spot at an upcoming session, or schedule another convenient option by contacting Barbara Fetta (BarbaraFetta@gmail.com). Information sessions can also be scheduled on-site for corporations, groups and community organizations.

January Au Pair Meeting – Dinner at Madeira Restaurant – Portuguese Food at its Finest!

IMG_0177IMG_0178IMG_0175MadeiraOur January meeting was held at Madeira Restaurant (www.MadeiraRestaurant.com). It was a great way to start the new year — The food was incredibly delicious, and it looks like some of our au pairs will be returning to Madeira to enjoy more of that wonderful Portuguese food! We have two au pairs celebrating January birthdays – Aylin on January 1, and Nathalie on January 27. Unfortunately, neither Aylin or Nathalie could join us for dinner on this particular evening — so we are sending our birthday wishes to you via our blog. Happy January Birthday Aylin and Nathalie! We’ll look forward to seeing you in February – details of our February meeting will follow by e-mail.