Now that the older kids are out of school for a few months, the idea of keeping them happy and occupied all day can be a daunting task! Here are some suggestions of some fun activities au pairs can do with their host children throughout the long summer months. Be sure to get your host parents’ permission first!
Ask your host family if you and your host children can have a small part of the garden to grow some “friendship” flowers. Then take your host children to a local shop, together select and purchase some flower seeds. Plant them in your special garden. Throughout the summer you can see the seeds you planted together turn into beautiful blossoming flowers.
Plan a picnic
Pick a nice spot near your home, or even in the garden, to have a picnic. Ask children to help you get ready. Plan a game to play together and then share the food and drink you prepared. You can even do this on a rainy day, just put a blanket on the floor.
Play dates
Get together with another au pair with children of about the same age and plan to meet at a play ground or park. Make sure you bring your camera and something to drink.
Write and act a Play
Most children like to dress up and act out plays. Write a simple play with your host children. Ask them to invite their friends to participate. Help them make their costumes, build a “stage” and make up invitations for the parents to come and see it. Perhaps you can include the grandparents, aunts, uncles. Plan some simple refreshments, you can have the children help with that as well.
International Day
Pick a country you and your host children would like to learn about.(Yours maybe?) Go to the library with them and find some books about that country. As soon as you’ve picked a country, the whole family can try to all learn as much as they could about it. Let’s say you picked Greece. You could plan a Greek dinner and try to find appropriate music. You could all set the table together and then during dinner, talk about all the things we had learned about the country we had selected. If you have an artistic host child he or she could make placemats with a map of the country drawn on it. The possibilities and ideas are endless.
Memory book
If you have not done this yet, now is a great time to start your memory book. You can also help the children make one of their own. You can paste in pictures, ticket stubs, etc from all the things you do together. They can also write in their books every day about what you did. This will be a great thing to have for all of you. You and they will love looking back at this for years!
Plan a surprise dinner
Plan a simple surprise dinner with your host children for their parents. Take them for a walk to pick some flowers and have them help set the table. You can go to the library or on the internet to find recipes the (older) children can help make.
Treasure Hunt
Hide “treasures” around the garden (or house on a rainy day) and have the kids find them. They can dress up as pirates and start searching. Maybe a little prize at the end? Afterwards just make sure all treasures are put back where they belong.
