Tag Archives: outdoors

Camp Au Pair – Nature Exploration

This week’s Camp Au Pair theme is Nature Exploration.

Crafts, recipes, activities, and games can all be found here on the Camp Au Pair – Nature Exploration pinboard.

Field Trips can be a great way for kids to learn and have new experiences. You can start observing nature at any local park or in your own backyard. If you want to take it a step further,  Below is a list of other local places to go explore nature. Get permission from your host parents before any outings and check websites before you go for hours and information.

Safety note: When coming inside after you have been outside exploring nature, it’s always a good idea to check the children and yourself for ticks. For more information, take a look at this post.

  • Aviary
  • Farm
  • Natural History Museum
  • Nature Preserve
  • Park
  • Wildlife Rescue Center
  • Consider joining the Free Forest School to find outings near you.

Virtual Field Trips:

Webcams – You can do a Google search for websites with webcams that allow you to observe nature.

Videos – Look for fun videos on YouTube about nature.

Books – Check your bookshelves and/or stop by your local library and look for books on nature.  You can also find many read aloud book videos on YouTube. Here are a few to get you started.

Image: toddleratplay.com

Look out for ticks

When the weather is nice, we spend more time outdoors with the children. Playing in the back yard, at the playground or walking on nature trails are great ways to get fresh air and exercise.

kids in woods

What are ticks? – Ticks are small mites that attach themselves to skin and suck blood. Click HERE to see examples of ticks.

Where are ticks commonly found? – Ticks are normally found in areas with trees, bushes or tall grass. This includes back yards, parks, nature areas and most places you would be spending time with the children outdoors in the nice weather.

What needs to be done? – When you return home from areas where ticks might live, carefully check the children (their skin and scalp) for ticks.

Most ticks do not carry diseases, and most tick bites do not cause serious health problems. But it is important to remove a tick as soon as you find it. Removing the tick completely may help you avoid diseases such as Lyme Disease that the tick may pass on during feeding, or a skin infection where it bit you.

Click HERE for Instructions on Removing a tick from WebMD.com.

Ways to keep busy in the winter

There is still  plenty to keep you upbeat and busy until the spring weather appears.

Here are a few suggestions:

  • Let the child in you escape and try tubing at the local ski resorts.

  • Go outside everyday, go for a walk, try jogging…exercise improves mental health.

  • Join  a health club. You not only get in shape for Spring, but you will also meet new people!

  • Use the library in your town. Sign up the kids and yourself, for the free programs.  Area libraries also have ESL programs !

  • Prepare a Global Awareness presentation for one of your host kids’ classes.

  • Volunteer at a local hospital, school , animal shelter, food bank or wherever your interests bring you. Helping others stimulates the brain activity. You help other to feel good and you feel good about yourself!

  • Set a goal for yourself, to learn somthing new each day. Record it in a journal and you will be surprised, at what you have accomplished, by the end of your year in the U.S.A

  • Arrange a play date with another Au Pair and her host kids.

  • Call a friend, and meet for coffee.

  • Get plenty of sleep each night, and as your mom told you when you where young, eat your vegetables!

  • Spring will be here soon!

Explore the outdoors

bug on handPhoto by D Sharon Pruitt

It is great to see the world through the eyes of children.  There are simple things in day to day life that can be a thrill for young children.  Below are a few ideas to get you started thinking.  Try to take time for them to marvel at the world and see new things.

  • A car wash (the drive through kind or a bucket and a water hose in the driveway at home)
  • Parking on the street near a construction site to watch the big trucks
  • Feeding ducks bread at the park
  • Collecting leaves, pinecones and rocks
  • Driving across a bridge where they can see the water
  • Driving past a place where you can see animals
  • Any place that has something out of the ordinary, like a fountain or sculpture