Tag Archives: summer

Camp Au Pair – Dinosaurs

This week’s Camp Au Pair theme is Dinosaurs.

Crafts, recipes, activities, and games related to dinosaurs can all be found here on the Camp Au Pair – Dinosaurs pinboard.

Field Trips can be a great way for kids to learn and have new experiences. Get permission from your host parents before any outings and be sure to take all social distancing precautions.

Here are a few places to go that fit this theme:

    • Children’s museum with dinosaur exhibit
    • Natural history museum
    • Nature center with fossils

Toys – Many kids have dinosaur toys already. See what your kids have and think of fun, new ways you can play with these toys with them. Imagine taking a plastic dinosaur and making footprints in play dough to form your own fossils.

Webcam – This NPS Paleontology Lab offers a webcam where you can watch paleontologists remove rock from around fossils. The cam is normally working 9 am-5 pm PST, so 12-8 pm our time.

Videos – Look for fun videos on YouTube about dinosaurs and fossils. Here are a few to get you started.

Movies – The Good Dinosaur, Land Before Time, and Ice Age are all great family movies that fit with this theme. For older kids, consider movies like Journey to the Center of the Earth and Jurassic Park (which is rated PG-13).

Books – Check your kids’ bookshelf for books on dinosaurs.

Photo: krojotak.com

Camp Au Pair – Under the Sea

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In honor of Shark Week (see below), next week’s Camp Au Pair theme is Under the Sea.

Crafts, recipes, activities, and games related to creatures who live under the sea can all be found here on the Camp Au Pair – Under the Sea pinboard.

Webcams – You can do a google search for aquariums and zoos across the country (and the world) with webcams that allow you to observe sea creatures. Here is one to get you started.

Field Trips can be a great way for kids to learn and have new experiences. Get permission from your host parents before any outings and be sure to take all social distancing precautions. Search online to see if your area has any of the following:

  • Any pet store with fish tanks
  • Aquarium
  • Zoo
  • Nature Center

Television – The Discovery Channel has an annual Shark Week. This year it will be July 11-18, 2021. Much of the programming will be too scary for younger kids, but for nature-loving tweens and teens, it could be a great way to get them interested in sharks and other ocean animals. Check out 15 JAW-some Activities for Shark Week with lots of fun ideas for kids in grades 5 and up, but a few for younger kids too.

Online Games – NOAA has fun interactive games that help kids learn about sea turtle survival.

Videos – Look for fun videos on YouTube about sea creatures. There’s more to see than Baby Shark. Movies like Finding Nemo, Dolphin Tale, and the Little Mermaid also go well with this theme.

Books – Stop by your local library and look for books on sea creatures. The Rainbow Fish is a classic children’s book, your kids may already own. If not, you can find videos like this of it being read aloud.

Photo: mimisdollhouse.com

Camp Au Pair – Bugs & Butterflies

This week’s Camp Au Pair theme is Bugs & Butterflies.

Crafts, recipes, activities, and games related to all kinds of bugs, insects, butterflies, and spiders can be found here on the Camp Au Pair – Bugs & Butterflies pinboard.

Outdoors – Kids today do not spend enough time outdoors. Take the kids in the backyard or another nature area (approved by your host parents) and do some activities related to this theme:

  • Allow them to search for bugs and butterflies.
  • Observe lightning bugs (also known as fireflies) in the evening. Here is a map showing what people call these little guys in different parts of the country.
  • After it rains, look for earthworms. Not bugs or butterflies, but very interesting creatures you can find in your own backyard.

NOTE: If you are outdoors with the children, be sure to check for ticks when you come back inside. Here is a blog post explaining the health risk ticks can pose and how to find and remove them safely.

Videos – You can find many great videos of butterflies and insects on YouTube. Check out these videos for kids about bees and ants. All about Insects covers lots of tiny creatures who crawl and fly. Here are a few videos to get you started.

Movies – A Bugs Life, The Bee Movie, Maya the Bee, and The Ant Bully all fit this theme.

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

Books – Check your kids’ bookshelf for books on bugs and butterflies. 

Image: minieco.co.uk

Welcome summer!

First Day of Summer!

Long hot days make for children who need some quiet time. Relax and unwind at the end of the day with some summertime reading. Here are some books to choose from:

Picture books to read aloud:

  • Grandma Summer by Harley Jessup
    Initially grumpy about his trip with Grandma to her beach cottage, Ben slowly comes around as he falls under the spell of the old house, the seashore, and his grandmother.
  • Albie the Lifeguard by Louise Borden, illustrated by Elizabeth Sayles
    Albie gains the courage to go swimming at the town pool one summer.
  • Amelia Bedelia Goes Camping by Peggy Parish, illustrated by Lynn Sweat
    Amelia Bedelia, who takes everything literally, has never been camping before, and she’s trying her best to do exactly as she’s told. Her efforts make for a very funny book.

For beginning readers or to read aloud:

  • The Camp Knock Knock Mystery by Betsy Duffey, illustrated by Fiona Dunbar
    Crow and Willie have a not-entirely-friendly competition at camp over who tells the best knock-knock jokes. Willie spends the week looking for his joke book, which Crow has hidden.
  • Cool Ali by Nancy Poydar
    One hot summer day, Ali takes her sidewalk chalk and draws the things that everyone needs – a little lake for Mrs. Frye to dip her toes into, a beach umbrella, the North Wind. But what will happen when a summer storm comes?
  • Last One in Is a Rotten Egg by Leonard P. Kessler
    Freddy can’t swim in the deep water. When some big kids throw him into the pool, his friends and mother encourage him to ask the lifeguard for lessons. Freddy learns how to float, breathe, and blow bubbles in the water, and how to move his arms and legs, until he can jump into the deep water with his friends.
  • Sally Goes to the Mountains by Stephen Huneck
    Sally goes for a ride to the mountains, where there will be all kinds of new friends to meet: bears, moose, rabbits, and skunks! There will be berries to pick, sticks to fetch, and a lake to swim in. Sally can hardly wait!
  • The Summer My Father Was Ten by Pat Brisson, illustrated by Andrea Shine
    A young girl tells how every year she and her father plant a garden together, and every year he tells her the story of the summer he was 10 when he led his mates in vandalizing the garden of his lonely, old Italian neighbor but later righted the wrong.
  • Artwork from amyvolk.com

Welcome to Camp Au Pair in America!

When kids are out of school for the summer, it doesn’t take long for them to become bored and  sometimes that leads to sibling squabbles and mischief. Even though they don’t realize it, they are usually missing routine and predictability in their daily schedule. One solution is to make fun plans to keep them busy! 

Each week this summer we will share a different Camp Au Pair theme. These weekly themes are designed to give you ideas to keep your host kids occupied and engaged all summer long. They will also be learning. (But shhhh, don’t tell them that part.) Check back each Friday, for the next week’s theme. This gives you a chance to make plans and gather materials for the next week. For each theme there will be crafts, games, snacks and activities. You can just use these ideas or add your own and customize the themes to fit the ages and interests of your host children.

Here are the themes you can look forward to:

  • Art Experiences
  • Backyard Safari
  • Bugs & Butterflies
  • Cars and Trucks
  • Dinosaurs
  • Explore the World
  • Nature Explorations
  • Outer Space
  • Pirate Adventures
  • Princesses & Knights
  • Science (STEM)
  • Under the Sea

Check out Summer Fun & Summer Holidays pin boards for even more ideas.

If you get some great pictures doing these activities with your host kids, please send those to your counselor. We love to share your accomplishments and inspire other au pairs!

Let’s make this an amazing summer!

 

Have a toasted marshmallow today!

Toasting marshmallows at the end of a long green stick over a campfire is a summertime treat. This may not be possible at home, but you can still make S’mores, a messy, gooey, sweet summertime delight.

  • 2 graham cracker squares
  • 1 large marshmallow
  • Handful of chocolate chips, or half a chocolate bar
  • 2 tablespoons melted butter
  • tin foil

Place the marshmallow and chocolate between the two graham crackers (like a sandwich) and wrap in tin foil. Place in a toaster oven or under the broiler for 2-3 minutes, and voila gooey treat!

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!

10 Tips for Summer Safety

  1. Remember to bring along drinks, especially water. Try to get children to drink water every 20 minutes, when they are outside in hot weather.
  2. Pay attention to surfaces that can be hot against children’s skin, such as metal slides and other playground equipment in the sun.
  3. Safety around water is particularly important. A child can drown in just a few inches of water. Whenever you are near water you must never leave a child alone – if the phone rings, take them with you or let it ring! Always stay within arm’s reach when the children are in or near water.
  4. Young babies should be kept out of direct sunlight. Keep the baby in the shade or under a tree, umbrella or stroller canopy.
  5. Dress babies in lightweight clothing and use brimmed hats.
  6. Apply sunscreen 30 minutes before going outside, even if it appears overcast (cloudy).
  7. Try to keep children out of the sun in the middle of the day when the sun is strongest.
  8. Learn what poison ivy looks like and keep children out of it. A good rule to teach the children is “leaves of three, let it be.”
  9. Use insect repellent spray to keep away mosquitos and ticks. Ask your host parents before applying.
  10. Check for ticks when you bring children in from playing outside, especially if you’ve been in tall grass or the woods.

Photo: Scott97006 (Flickr)

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Don’t forget to drink water!

drinking-fountain-water

Step 1
Encourage your child to drink plenty of water. On hot days, children should drink significantly more water than usual, as they are losing more due to the heat.

Step 2
Do not wait until your child is thirsty to give him water. By the time they feel thirsty, they are already becoming dehydrated.

Step 3
Have other liquids on hand for your child to drink throughout the day. Juices also help with hydration.

Step 4
Be alert to changes in behavior.  A child may act confused or more irritable when they are becoming dehydrated/overheated.  Get them into cooler temperatures and drinking more fluids.

Step 5
Dress your child in lightweight clothing in the summer months, particularly if she’ll be playing outdoors in warm weather. You may also consider clothes that are well ventilated as they do not trap heat close to the body.

Additional Safety Note: When there are heat and/or air quality advisories because the weather is dangerously hot, you should avoid taking the children outdoors. Check with your host parents for further guidance on this topic.

Keeping cool in the heat!

Tips for Staying Cool This Summer
• Be aware of the heat. Pay attention to it and modify your activities appropriately.
• Pay attention to your hydration status and be sure to drink plenty of fluids.
• Try to stay in relatively cool areas, even when outside. Many public places, such as libraries, shopping malls and movie theatres, are air conditioned.
•Avoid hot, enclosed places, such as cars. Never leave children unattended in a car!
• Use a fan, if available.
• Stay on the lowest floor of your building.
•Eat well-balanced, light and regular meals.
•Wear loose-fitting, lightweight and light-colored clothing.
•Cover windows that receive a significant amount of sun with drapes or shades to help keep your house cool.
•Cool beverages are good for cooling down the body, while alcoholic drinks can impair the body’s ability to regulate its temperature.

Signs of Heat Overexposure
•Heavy sweating — though if heat stroke sets in, the body can no longer compensate and stops sweating.
•Pale skin.
•Muscle cramps.
•Feeling tired and weak.
•Altered mental status (confusion or disorientation).
•Headache.
•Becoming semi-conscious or passing out.
•Nausea or vomiting.

Steps to Take After Recognizing Heat-Induced Illness
•Call 911.
•Get the person out of the sun and into a cool area. An air-conditioned area is ideal, but moving someone into the shade will also help.
•Apply water to help the person cool off.
• Apply ice to the neck or armpits, where large blood vessels are close to the surface.
•Remove any heavy clothing.
•Immerse the body in cool water, either at a swimming pool or in a bathtub.

photo from lisatortorello.blogspot.com