Au Pairs celebrated Earth Day this year by purchasing and using earth friendly products, collecting trash, planting seeds, hiking, biking, going to the beach, doing yoga, taking pictures, and of course, visiting the tulips in the Skagit Valley. Our Earth Day winner, earning the title of Earth Mothers of the Cluster and a gift card was Marine from South Africa for her self watering vegetable garden. Congrats to all for their dedication to cleaning up 
Tag Archives: kids
Team USA (Unbelievably Smart Au pairs) Makes Top 16 in Trivia – March
March Madness Trivia stars shown above know their stuff. When questioned about arts, culture, geography, history, they pulled out some great facts and figures and represented well. Our team “Team USA (unbelievably smart au pairs)” came in with only 16 other teams remaining. Smarties in Seattle! Thank you especially to Anna, Laura, Sharon, Natalia, Mariana and Sofia for representing. We are still apart, but we are together.
Not a Normal Holiday – December 2020
Au pairs gathered by zoom to talk about their favorite spots to go with kids, family traditions from home – swimming and eating fresh fruit in South Africa in the heat, BBQs in New Zealand and Brazil, sending letters off by balloons to Santa in Colombia, the Austrian Krampus, the German passion plays and Christmas Eves, and cooking in pajamas in Panama. They revealed gifts and secret Santas and shared the 2020 silver linings: baby yoda, cheese plates, new romances, great families, wonderful host kids, and traveling around the state. 
Turkey Trot and Culture Share Zoom – November 2020
Au pairs and host kids did some walking last month! Together we donated our time and money to Northwest Harvest, an APIA local partner for over a decade, which helps to supply our food banks around WA.
Congrats to Camila from Brazil, living in Lacey, and her host kids for winning our Top Turkey of the Turkey Trot Contest! She and her family walked a total of 575,225 steps in November. Way to go…and they are not done yet…checking their pedometers this month too! Thank you to everyone who went walking! The walks are clutch about now.
And on a zoom call, au pairs shared a bit of their culture with the group and asked some questions about childcare and education. Low key and just us. Attached is a shot of some of our lovelies in this zoom (black background shot) and of me, in perfect zoom spirit with eyes closed. Hope everyone had a lovely Thanksgiving holiday.
APIA Class Reps Run Games in Zoom – April 2020
We kept safe and at home and in our zoom room this month again. Au pairs shared their favorite television shows, favorite zen places, and we did a temperature check of the moods/feelings we are all going through. These women are strong (together we are stronger) and their program will go on…just not how they had imagined.
Social Distancing: Free Virtual Escape Rooms
Libraries may be closed due to COVID-19, but many librarians are coming up with creative ideas to keep people entertained and promote literacy. One of those creative ideas is free virtual escape rooms. With a variety of themes, some may be fun to do on your own, others as activities with the kids.
Sydney Krawiec, Youth Services Librarian at Peters Township Public Library in McMurray, PA created this Hogwarts Virtual Escape Room. She shared this tutorial on how to create your own virtual escape room, which seemed to spark the creativity of many other librarians.
Some amazing librarians all over the country have been busy creating virtual escape rooms with a variety of themes.
- Alice in Wonderland Digital Escape Room – Created by Erin Honeycutt, Children’s Librarian at Moultrie-Colquitt County Library System in Moultrie, Georgia
- Cinderella’s Escape – Created by Stefanie Reed, Youth Services Supervisor at Henika District Library in Wayland, Michigan
- Dog Man Digital Escape Room – Created by a humble School Library Media Coordinator
- Escape from Star Killer Base! (Star Wars) – Created by Richmond Hill Public Library
- Escape the Fairy Tale: Part 1 – Created by Marissa Lieberman, Children’s Librarian at the East Orange Public Library, New Jersey
- Golden Girls Escape Room – Created by Tomeka.
- Hogwarts Virtual Escape Room – Created by Sydney Krawiec, Youth Services Librarian at Peters Township Public Library in McMurray, Pennsylvania
- Marvel’s Avengers: Escape from the Hydra Base! – Created by Richmond Hill Public Library
- North Carolina Escape Room – Created by Shannon Grimes, Outreach Storyteller and Youth Service Assistant at the Davie County Public Library in Mocksville, North Carolina
- Pete the Cat and the Birthday Party Mystery – Created by the Abington Free Library in Abington, Pennsylvania
- Pikachu’s Rescue – Created by High River Library
- Sherlock Holmes Digital Escape Room – Created by Sherlock the Musical
- Space Explorer Training- Digital Escape Room – Created by Morgan Lockard, Adult/Teen Services Librarian at Campbell County Community Library
- Spy Apprentice Adventure – Created by Lauren Rura and Felicia Brock, Adult Service Librarians at Washington-Centerville Public Library in Centerville, Ohio
- The Minotaur’s Labyrinth Escape Room – Created by Karen Liu (Salt Lake County), Teen Librarian at The County Library’s Riverton Branch
Special thanks to the Humboldt County Library in Winnemucca, Nevada for gathering info on many of these escape rooms. Follow them on Facebook for their storytimes and weekly Facebook Live Science Time on Fridays.
Image: Canva.com
Social Distancing: 5 Online Adventures for Kids
Reading, playing, and doing art projects are always great ways to entertain children and keep them physically active and learning. It’s a good idea to limit screen time. But, in this time of social distancing, technology can play an important role in allowing kids to see and connect with the world outside of their homes. Many online resources are popping up to create those opportunities.
Here are five to get you started:
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- Cincinnati Zoo Home Safari (daily at 3pm EST). Resources available here.
- Visit Disneyland & Disney World with these online virtual rides.
- Mo Willems (author of the Pigeon kids books) Lunch Doodles (weekdays at 1pm EST). Each doodle has a printable activity page. The arrow on the right side takes you to the previous day’s doodle video/activity.
- Here is a list of 33 National Parks you can tour online. Maybe start with a virtual tour of Yellowstone National Park.
- Storytime from Space features astronauts reading stories from space.
And if kids have questions about the coronavirus, Live Science has created an ultimate kids’ guide to the new coronavirus that has lots of information and is appropriate for school-aged kids.
Jan 2020 Kim’s Coffee Chat
Our very own Franzi from Germany has made the cut in the finals for Au Pair In America Au Pair of the Year. She is seen here receiving her award to return to the family who loves her so much. Our cluster sent in more contestants than most others nationwide. People here know how to pick a great family member! Congrats, Franzi! Thanks to Third Culture Coffee for hosting us!
UW Strong Women Meet up with APIA Strong Women – Jan 2020
The 20s are off to a bang and this month, nearly 100 strong, female au pairs from around the world gathered to watch other strong women in action. Our UW Women’s Husky Basketball team. The sounds were loud and the athleticism inspiring. Au pairs made the big screen, complete with television interviews. One of our favorite meetings as proud APIA community counselors.
A Sort of Thanksgiving – November 2019
Our crew gathered in West Seattle this month for some pie tasting and craft making. Johanna from Germany led us in a Blidergebnis fur Laternen craft. The story goes that St Martin, being a kind man, cut his cloak in half to share with a beggar during a snowstorm. On Nov 11, this day celebrates altruism and modesty. Since APIA is all about sharing, we thought it relevant this season. Thank you to our host families who sharing their Thanksgiving tables with young women from around the world!
