Au pairs from Peru, Colombia, Panama, Brazil, Slovakia, and France sampled gelato made in the Greek tradition from a family raised in Australia, who found their home in Seattle. It doesn’t get more global than this! Since it’s opening, I have been an uber fan of the original Ellenos yogurt to this Hellenika gelato. When I asked the owner if we could have a cluster meeting tour of their business, he didn’t hesitate and, in fact, they gave us all the gelato we could eat along with information from their food scientist about how the recipes come together. This cluster meeting all of my loves came together. The love of the Au Pairs and their cross-cultural exchanges, Hellenika gelato, the global nature of Seattle, kindness in the form of Zeus’s Law, the various flavors created for the FIFA World Cup games, and taking pictures of it all.
Crafts, recipes, activities, and games related to dinosaurs can all be found here on the Camp Au Pair – Dinosaurspinboard.
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.
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.
The au pairs who came out on a cold, rainy night were warm and welcoming. They bonded over foosball and ping pong and too much ice cream with chocolate sauce. We did a touch of line dancing, played our Spotify tunes of the summer and got to chat just a little bit more. Thanks to all who brought some shoes for donating to the J-1 Day sponsored by the Department of State.
Au Pair’s cheered on our favorite local baseball team, the beloved Mariners. Taking a break from World Cup and the soccer season, they learned the rules of a new game. We played a half time quiz, took pictures in the sun and enjoyed a general lovely day at the ball park.
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. Search online to see if your area has any of the following:
Pet or outdoor store (Bass Pro Shop) with fish tanks
Webcams – You can do a google search for aquariums and zoos across the country (and the world) with webcams that allow you to observe sea creatures. Here are a few to get you started.
Videos – Look for fun videos on YouTube about sea creatures. There’s more to see than Baby Shark. Movies like Finding Nemo, Dolphin Tale, and The Little Mermaid also go well with this theme.
If your kids are a little older, check out 10 Crazy Facts About Sea Turtles (below).
Books – Stop by your local library and look for books on sea creatures. The Rainbow Fish is a classic children’s book, your kids may already own. If not, you can find videos like this of it being read aloud.
Movies – There are lots of movies with under the sea themes.
A Dolphin Tale
Finding Dory
Finding Nemo
Little Mermaid
Moana
Moana 2
Shark Tale
Song of the Sea
Television – There are some episodes of children’s television shows that talk about life under the sea.
The Magic School Bus is a television series that follows Ms. Frizzle and her class as they set off on field trips. Most episodes can be found on YouTube. Here are some episodes that fit this week’s theme.
Bill Nye the Science Guy has episodes on Fish, Marine Animals and more on YouTube.
The Discovery Channel has an annual Shark Week coming up on July 20. Check out 15 JAW-some Activities for Shark Week with lots of fun ideas for kids in grades 5 and up, but a few for younger kids too.
APIA was proud to sponsor Antonia from Germany as she ran in this half marathon in Seward Park.(Along with her family and other au pairs.) https://www.seattlecherryblossomrun.com/. Way to go, Antonia!
And huge thanks to Dain from Korea and Ana from Mexico for volunteering for the St Jude’s Songwriter’s Gala which raised over $1.3 million for the cause (our auction basket helped a little too). They helped check in some VIPs in WA, including one of our host mom’s who is on the Board of the organization. Thanks to all for being a part of something bigger than any one of us.
Friday nights with your friends from around the globe sometimes look like this! For some it was their first bowl and for everyone it was an opportunity to come together and chill after a long week with their American kids.
St Mark’s is one of Seattle’s oldest and most beautiful cathedrals in the city and the community (members and non members alike) gather weekly for a yoga practice and sound bath to unite the spirits and senses and share in a calm meditation. The practice is non-denominational and yoga is healthy for most bodies. Our au pairs enjoyed the sights and the sounds at St Marks and felt gratitude for our global community this month. Together we are stronger!
Au pairs gathered up – nearly 100 of us – and cheered on our favorite college team, the UW Huskies. We didn’t beat Illinois, but we had spirit and a very tight loss. New friends were made, chicken sandwiches won, half time safety quizzes quizzed and cheers cheered. Check out some of these shots from the game full of shots.
We are going on four years of our partnership with the Bellevue Police Department and Officer Craig’s innovative style of protecting and serving the community with his self defense community classes. This is the only police department in the world to offer such classes. Au Pairs learned how to not get involved with someone who is not making good choices by using three “C”s – Communication, Confidence and Crazy. Use your outstretched arms to indicate that you do not want that person to approach you. Say “back up” very loudly in a clear voice. And then use a “crazy” tone if needed to stop the perpetrator from thinking you will go quietly and easily with what they want. Au pairs learned moves to leverage the weight of someone off of them if they held a weapon. Saying “you don’t need the knife, I will do what you say” could help the situation. It was an informative and educational day practicing our power.
