Tag Archives: live in childcare

It’s Harry Potters Birthday! Have a party!

504x504 Harry Potter Scar Clipart Free Clipart Images

Before embarking on a Harry Potter birthday party, start the magic by asking guests to come dressed as a character from the books. Some essential characters include: Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley (and the rest of his family), Neville Longbottom, Draco Malfoy, and of course, Harry Potter. Have older family members dress as professors from Hogwarts, such as Dumbledore, McGonagall, Snape, or even Hagrid. To start off the Harry Potter birthday party, have guests choose scenes to act out from one of the books for a fun activity that will put everyone in an enchanted state.

Harry Potter Birthday Party Tips:

  • Decorations
    Set the scene with candles, broomsticks, toy snakes, fake owls, and bats. For a magical touch, paint ping-pong balls gold, representing the Golden Snitch from the game of Quidditch. Hang them around the room with clear thread or fishing line. Display banners shaped like pennants with the house names printed on them. The house names and colors are: Hufflepuff (yellow and black), Ravenclaw (blue and bronze), Slytherin (green and silver), and Gryffindor (scarlet and gold).
  • Food and Drink
    Set up an area as the Leaky Cauldron. For Butterbeer, make root beer and ginger ale floats, pouring the soda over a scoop of ice cream in a clear cup or mug. Label food with magical names — cupcakes become “cauldron cakes” and malt balls are “chocolate frogs.” And naturally, you’ll need some jellybeans to stand in for Bertie Bott’s Every Flavour Beans. You can also put some jellybeans in a separate jar and have guests guess how many are inside.
  • Make Your Own Wand
    Have a crafts table stocked with straws and chopsticks for children to decorate and conjure up some fun. Creatively label yarn, feathers, and sequins with names like “Unicorn Hair,” “Phoenix Feathers,” and “Dragon Scales.” You’ll also need safety scissors, cardboard stars, colored markers, and glue.You can also have Harry Potter birthday party guests make their own wizard hats by making cones out of cardboard and decorating them with the same materials as the wands.
  • Magical Treasure Hunt
    Before guests arrive to the Harry Potter birthday party, hide golden eggs, a Sorcerer’s stone, plastic rings, Wizard’s gold, and other surprises around your house and/or yard. To make it challenging, hide riddles in easy-to-see places that give clues to where certain items are hidden. You or another family member can also act as a “gate keeper” for one-of-a-kind items like the Sorcerer’s Stone or a Goblet of Fire, requiring those who seek the prize to answer a riddle, give a certain amount of Wizard’s gold, or answer a trivia question. If you choose to challenge with Harry Potter trivia, make sure to have the books handy so kids can search for answers at the Harry Potter birthday party.

Money Questions

 

Miscellaneous Expenses

It’s important for the host family and the au pair to agree how to handle the little expenses that may come up.  Things like when an au pair takes the kids out for ice cream or picks up a gallon of milk.  Some families keep a cookie jar fund, a little cash that they set aside weekly or monthly for this kind of expenses.  Here are some suggestions for avoiding problems with that.

Host Families

  • It’s important to be clear about how long this money should last and what types of expenses are approved.
  • Let the au pair know whether or not you expect receipts.

Au Pairs

  • Only spend the money on approved expenses.
  • If it is something you are not sure about, ask first.
  • Put your receipts in the cookie jar in place of the money to avoid any confusion.

Gas and Fare Cards

Host families are responsible for the au pair’s transportation costs:

  • to and from classes and cluster meetings
  • driving the kids

It is a good idea to figure out how much gas an au pair will use for these trips and either put gas in the car or give a gas allowance.   If your au pair is riding to classes or cluster meetings with another au pair, you should offer to share the cost of gas.

Au pairs are responsible for their own transportation at all other times.  You should replace the amount of gas used for personal use.

It’s National Ice Cream Day!

July 18th is National Ice Cream Day! Celebrate by enjoying a few scoops of your favorite flavor or by making your own ice cream at home. Here is a simple recipe. You can change it up by adding a little chocolate syrup, a few chocolate chips, or using a flavoring other than vanilla.

mixinbag

In a quart size zipper baggie, combine…
1 cup of whole milk or half and half
2 tablespoons of sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract

In a gallon size zipper baggie…
Fill ½ way with ice cubes
Add 1/3 cup of rock salt (if you don’t have rock salt you can use table salt or kosher salt)

Seal the small baggie carefully and place the inside of the large bag. Seal the large bag and shake the bags until you can see the mixture thickening (about 5 minutes.) It will be cold to hold, so you may want to carefully pass it back and forth between yourself and a partner.  Remove the small baggie and wipe the top off (to remove salt water,) unzip and enjoy!

It’s national sugar cookie day!

Sugar cookies are perfect for cutting out shapes with cookie cutters. Do it the easy way during the hot summer and purchase ready made dough in the freezer or refrigerator section of the grocery store.

Recipe:

  • Cream 1 cup (2 sticks) of butter with 2/3 cup sugar.
  • Beat in 1 egg.
  • Add 2 1/2 cups flour, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1 teaspoon vanilla.
  • Chill 3-4 hours before rolling.
  • Preheat oven to 350°F.
  • Spread a little flour on the counter to keep dough from sticking.
  • Roll 1/4 inch thick and cut into shapes using cookie cutters or a glass. Place on cookie sheet.
  • Bake 8-10 minutes or until slightly browned.
  • Allow to cool before eating.

photo by http://flickr.com/people/22334306@N02

Go to a Drive In Movie Tonight!

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A blast from the past! Authentic 1950’s drive-in movie theater. Bring the entire family, including pets, for an evening of fun at the country’s only non-profit, community-owned drive-in movie theater.

Pack a picnic and a frisbee for some quality family time before the show starts.

Open tonight! Open every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday night, April-October.

In Lexington (Rockbridge County) Virginia located on Route 11, four miles north of town.

Use exit 55 from I-64; use exit 195 from I-95.

http://www.hullsdrivein.com/

 

 

Celebrate the Statue of Liberty today!

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The Statue of Liberty was a gift from the people of France in 1885 to recognize the French-American

cooperation during the American Revolution (War of Independence against Britain in 1776).

It stands 93 meters (305 feet) high in New York Harbor.

The seven rays on her crown represent the seven continents and seven seas of the world.

Look at a map with the children and find the seven continents and the seven seas.

Why do you think New York Harbor was chosen for the statue?

Click here for more history of the statue.

Do you and the children know where their families lived before they moved to the United States?

Ask your host parents to tell you about their family history. Explore the history with the children.

Make a family tree or find a book about the country where their family once lived.

Visit a zoo or aquarium this month!

Zoo and Aquarium Month

Visit your local zoo or aquarium or set up a pretend zoo with play animals and blocks. Invite the host parents to visit your pretend zoo. Read One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish or If I Ran the Zoo, both by Dr. Seuss. Encourage the children to make up their own animals and draw them. Think of all the animal sounds you can and play a game guessing what animal you are. You may find that the same animal says one thing in America and something quite different in your own country!

Find out more about the National Zoo at  http://nationalzoo.si.edu/

Meet an au pair

 

Image may contain: one or more people, people sitting, baby, child, outdoor and closeup

I had a wonderful time in America, it was the best decision I made in my life and I gained a lot as a person!

I had THE best family and they are like my second family now.  I visit them for holidays when I can and we share our news with each other often.  I miss the kids and I try to send a gift for their birthdays and call them on the phone…

I met a lot of nice people in the USA and made 2 really good friends who I know I will stay friends with forever (I am even going to be a bridesmaid for one of them).

One of my motivations to do the program was to improve my English and this worked as I now have a job in France where I talk English everyday!

Discovering the USA was amazing too – I miss a lot of places there.  This program gave me way more than I expected so thank you!

Joy

Merry Christmas!

Every family and culture has their own Christmas traditions. Try some of these ideas with the children:

Art Activities

  • On a BIG piece of paper draw a fireplace and a mantle. Make a paper stocking (two halves stapled together) decorate with glue and glitter, write the children’s names on them and “hang” them on your fireplace mural. Use catalogs to cut out toys to put in the stockings.
  • Cut out a tree from green construction paper. Decorate your tree with colored ornaments, glue and glitter. Pieces of ribbon or wrapping paper.

Books to Read

  • Cranberry Christmas by Wende and Harry Devlin
  • It’s Really Christmas by Lillian Hoban
  • The Christmas Doll by Wendy Parker
  • ABC Christmas by Ida DeLage
  • Santa Claus Forever by Carolyn Haywood
  • A Forest Christmas by Mayling Mack Holm
  • The Christmas Party by Adrienne Adams

A Fingerplay for Fun

Five Little Bells

    • Five little bells hanging in a row
    • (Hold up 5 fingers)
    • The first one said, “Ring me slow.”
    • (Move thumb slowly)
    • The second one said, “Ring me fast.”
    • (Wiggle index finger)
    • The third one said, “Ring me last.”
    • (Move middle finger)
    • The fourth one said, “I’m like a chime.”
    • (Move ring finger.)
    • And the fifth one said, “Ring us all. It’s Christmastime!”
    (Wiggle all 5 fingers)