Hard to get the kids to help you clean up?

Make a game of it! Throw a die, and if it lands on one, the person who threw it must clean up one thing. If the die lands on 4, he or she must clean up four things. Everyone plays, even the aupair!

This artist was born in Spain in 1893. His paintings use bold, bright colors, and is very appealing to kids. See the attached link or an art activity and two coloring pages that kids will enjoy: http://www.enchantedlearning.com/artists/miro/.

Alfred Butts , who was born on this day in 1899, invented the game of Scrabble. This game uses letter tiles to spell words. There is a child’s version of this game and host families may own it. For very beginning readers you can play this game by encouraging the children to spell out simple words. Remember that vowels (a, e, i, o, u) appear many times in simple words. Playing even a simple form of Scrabble strengthens the children’s reading and pre-reading skills and spelling skills while having fun too!

April 8-14 is National Library Week. – If you have not visited the library with your children, this week would be a great one to do so in. Check out books; find out when the library offers “Story Hour” or other special activities for kids.Help older kids discover research opportunites for help with homework.

April is the month in the US that many people celebrate Easter. For children that means the Easter Bunny is coming. Enjoy some “funny bunny” reading, crafts and games throughout this month. Here are some bunny books to look for at the library:

The Bionic Bunny by Marc Brown; Bunny Money by Rosemary Wells; The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter; Little Rabbit Foo Foo by Michael Rosen; Good Job, Oliver! by Laurel Molk; The Runaway Bunny by Maregaret Wise Brown; Dear Peter Rabbit by Alma Flor Ada

Bunny Crafts: Cut a sheet of paper in half. Have the children tear an oval shap from one half and two ears from the other half. Glue the ears to the top of the oval; use crayons to color ears, eyes and nose. Poke 3 whisker holes on either side of the  nose with a toothpick and gthread dry spaghetti or straws from a broomstick thru the holes for whiskers. Add a cotton ball for a tail-= display your bunnies around the house.

Take advantage of mild days and head outside to draw on the sidewalk and/or driveway with chalk (ask your host family first if this is ok!) Kids love to have their whole bodies outlined and then fill in the drawings with clothes and a face.

AuPair in America will pay for the cost of a Red Cross classs providing that an aupair has at least 6 months left on her visa, and the aupair will be taking Infant and Child CPR training. Recently, 13 aupairs from our cluster were training by The American Red Cross in Old Town Alexandria.

The festival of Purim is one of the most  joyful on the Jewish calendar. There are 4 commandments; the reading of the story of Esther, festivity and rejoicing, sending gifts (usually food) and giving gifts to the poor. It is customary to dress in costume for the celebration

Mardi Gras, French for “Fat Tuesday” marks the end of Carnival and the beginning of the Christian feast of LEnt. The biggest Mardi Gras celebration in the US is in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Weds, Feb. 22 is Ash Wednesday, in some Christian churches the first penitential day in the season of Lent. In the US, some Christians go to church and receive a smudge of ashes on their foreheads as a sign of penitence.