Yearly Archives: 2013

Au Pair In America volunteers with AFAC

Today, a group of au pairs spent a few hours distributing fliers from AFAC for the letter carrier food drive that will take place all over Arlington on Saturday,May 11th.After a hearty breakfast at their community counselor’s house,they went off and covered the whole Yorktown neighborhood in Arlington.

Thank you girls for dedicating your time to such a wonderful cause.

For more information on ARLINGTON FOOD ASSISTANCE CENTER,  go to www.AFAC.org.

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Mark the date:  Stamp Out Hunger (our second largest one-day food drive) will be SATURDAY, MAY 11.  It’s a short trip to your mailbox!  Please leave non-perishable food items at your doorstep by 9:00 a.m. and your letter carrier will collect the items and deliver them to AFAC.  Recommended items include:  canned protein, low-sugar cereal, low-sodium soup or vegetables, peanut butter, pasta, and cooking oil in plastic bottles.  Help spread the word by telling your neighbors and others in your community!

Teacher Appreciation Day

May 7th is a day to honor teachers – if your child is in school he or she might want to make
a card for the teacher. Preschool age children 3-5 love playing school. Let the child be
the teacher and read you a story or give you homework. You might want to invite some
dolls or stuffed animals into the classroom as well.images1-150x150

Our Annual Birthday Celebration

-1What a great day we had to celebrate  our au pairs’ birthdays. On Sunday,May 5th,we gathered at the Rose garden in Arlington,Va for our Annual Birthday celebration.About 60 au pairs from around the world came to spend a couple of hours with us,mingling and getting to know new people before playing a game-we asked them to create a hat out of 3 pieces of aluminum foil and had them vote for the most creative idea- and eating 2 full sheets of birthday cake!

They all went home with a little gift and a bag full of summer fun crafts ideas and safety instructions.We can’t wait to do it all over again next year!48045_10152388851215021_784073294_n255710_10152388849925021_1575010464_n225734_10152388850100021_1677348806_n

CINCO DE MAYO

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Cinco de Mayo commemorates the May 5, 1862, Battle of Puebla (Batalla de Puebla) in which Mexican troops defeated Napoleon’s French forces. Cinco de Mayo is celebrated more in the United States than in Mexico. Look for the book Cinco de Mayo by Janet Riehecky or visit www.elbalero.gob.mx/index_kids.html for information and activities from Mexico.

Mexican food is a huge part of celebrating Cinco de Mayo. To celebrate this fun holiday and all the tasty meals that go with it, try making these adorable foam tacos and tostadas.

FOAM TACOS AND TOSTADAS:

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What you’ll need:

  • Tan craft foam, cut into a 3-4″ circle
  • Brown, yellow, green and red craft foam, cut into strips
  • White craft glue
  • Hot glue gun

How to make it:

  1. To make the taco, glue brown foam strips to the circle. Be sure they are hanging over the edge so they will be sticking out when you fold the taco.
  2. Repeat Step 1 with each color until you’ve worked your way around the circle. Fold the circle in half as you go to make sure it looks right. Use green for lettuce, yellow for cheese, and red for tomato salsa.
  3. Fold the circle in half and hot glue in place to hold it closed.
  4. For the tostada, smear the circle with white craft glue. Cover with brown foam strips.
  5. Dot white glue on top of the brown strips and add a layer of yellow and orange foam strips for the look of cheese.
  6. Dot white glue on top of the “cheese” and add the “lettuce” by gluing on green strips.
  7. Lastly, cut a few red strips into squares and glue the “tomatoes” on top.

Tips:

  • You can purchase craft foam in individual sheets in many colors, or you can purchase packages of various shapes, sizes and colors. Either option will work since they can easily be cut down to strips.
  • You can add a magnet to the back of your taco and hang it on the fridge!
  • Felt can be substituted for foam in this craft.

MAY DAY

May 1st is called May Day and it is a holiday similar to Labor Day in the US. May Day is a spring
festival celebrating the renewal of nature. May Day was especially popular in England
during medieval times, with children dancing around the Maypole.

Let’s hope Mother Nature will remember this too and bring us some nice sunshine and beautiful long Spring days!

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The nature awakens

gardening-icons-vectorSPRING IS A GREAT TIME TO EXPLORE,LEARN MORE ABOUT DIFFERENT TYPES OF FLOWERS AND DO ALL KIND OF PROJECTS WITH YOUR CHILD.HERE ARE A FEW IDEAS:

Put some string or yarn outside. Watch to see if it gets carried away to become part of a bird’s nest.

Watch for sprouts of early bulbs and look for buds on trees and bushes that are starting to swell. Cut small branches and put them in a vase of water in the house. Watch as the flowers or leaves start to unfold.

If you leave near a pond look for frogs’ eggs-or go to a nature center that has a pond. You can bring some home by putting pond water and a small clump of frog eggs in a container. Take some weeds from the pond too. About a week after they hatch feed them fish food. When their back legs have grown put them back in the pond.

Take advantage of the spring breezes and blow bubbles, fly a kite or make a homemade pinwheel. Draw an X  on a square piece of paper from corner to corner. Cut halfway along each line and fold alternate corners into the center. Overlap the points and connect it to a stick with a pin.. A bead behind the head of the pin may help it to spin better.

Collect early spring flowers and press them between sheets of newspaper weighted down with heavy books for a week or two. Once dry, arrange them on paper and glue them down –make greeting cards, book marks, or a picture.

To find out more about Spring activities go to:

DLTK’s Crafts for Kids Spring Activities:
http://www.dltk-holidays.com/spring


Activity Idea Place: April Showers, Rain and Rainbows!!!
http://www.123child.com/spring


Smarter about Sugar And Healthy Eating Habits

-1The Au Pair In America group of Arlington and Falls Church had a great cluster meeting last night at Whole Foods of Clarendon,learning about healthy food and healthy habits.

Over 40 au pairs gathered to listen to a great presentation about nutrition,sugar and how to read labels  on packaged food as well as understand what goes into a product.-4

During the presentation,they tasted food prepared by  Whole Foods such as whole wheat bread,almond butter,almond milk,hummus,red lentils and carrots.

Everyone left with great new ideas and a better understanding about Healthy Food!

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Blossom Kite Festival 2013 on the National Mall in Washington, DC

March is known for its windy days,so why not fly a kite with thousands of other people on March 30th at the Annual Kite Festival.

Date and Time
March 30, 2013, 10:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m.

Location
On the grounds of the Washington Monument, Constitution Avenue & 17th Streets, NW Washington, DC. The most convenient Metro stations are Smithsonian and Federal Triangle.

Find out more about this event at http://dc.about.com/od/specialevents/a/SmithKiteFest.htm

March 26 Passover

Passover, also known as Pesach or Pesah, is a Holy Day, observed by several religions, begins today and lasts seven or eight days, depending on your beliefs.  It commemorates the exodus and freedom of the Israelites from Egypt.  It is also observed by some Christians to commemorate the deliverance from sin by the sacrifice of Jesus.