Calendar of the Season
International Children's Book Day
The perfect day to read the children a story from your own country or a book about cross-cultural experiences. Visit Kids Culture Corner for some ideas: www.aupairinamerica.com/resources/kids/culture_corner/.
Acting
Many children love to be the center of attention, so being on stage is natural for them. Choose four or five things that don’t go together and put them in a bag. Work with the children to make up a story to act out using the things in the bag. It can be very funny! Be sure to join in the fun with them, and give them a chance to choose objects for the bag for you. (Suitable for children ages 7 and up.)
Fun With Crayons!
The first box of 8 crayons was introduced in 1903. Since then, over 100 billion crayons have been produced.
At the Library!
Books about crayons:
- From Wax to Crayon by Michael Forman
- How Is a Crayon Made? By Oz Charles
- Crayons by Henry Pluckrose
Stories about crayons:
- The Strange Blue Creature by Paul Borovsky
- My Crayons Talk by Patricia Hubbard
- Not in the House, Newton! By Judith Heide Gilliland
- Bad Day at Riverbend by Chris Van Allsburg
- Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson
On the Web!
Be sure to visit www.crayola.com. It is a great site with many activities for children.
Art!
Separate pieces of broken crayons by color into individual zip top bags. Use a meat tenderizer or a rolling pin to pound them to small pieces; add some glitter if you like. Put the small pieces between waxed paper, and an ADULT should gently iron the paper between layers of newspaper. You can cut shapes from the paper and use them to create pictures. A great project is to read The Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister and then draw a fish outline and make sparkly many-colored scales to glue on to your own Rainbow Fish.
National Garden Month
Read the children The Carrot Seed by Ruth Krauss or try simple gardening with them. If it is not warm enough to plant outside, put some soil in a paper cup and start a few seeds indoors. Choose seeds that sprout quickly, such as morning glories or marigolds.
For more information about gardening with kids, visit the Au Pair in America activity page: www.aupairinamerica.com/resources/activities/spring_summer.asp#1.
Look Up at the Sky Day
Try to find shapes in the clouds, or wait until dark and look at the stars. Can you see any planets in the sky? Visit this site to learn more about the constellations: www.dibonsmith.com/constel.htm .
Scrabble
Alfred Butts, who was born on this day in 1899, invented Scrabble, the game that uses letter tiles to spell words. As soon as children learn to read and spell, they can play an easy version of Scrabble. You may have a regular Scrabble set or even a Junior Scrabble game that you can play with the children. For very beginning readers you can create your own simple game by making letter tiles from index cards for each letter that is used in the words the child knows. Be sure to make extra vowels (a, e, i, o, u), as they appear most frequently. Using these letter cards together, you can help strengthen the children’s reading and spelling skills while having fun.
National Library Week (April 11-17)
If you have not visited the library with your children, this would be a great week to do it. Check out books to read with your children and find out when the library offers story hour or other special activities for kids. Help older children to discover research opportunities to help them with their homework.
National Humor Month
Children love jokes and riddles. Find some new laughs at www.ahajokes.com/kids_jokes.html, or look in the library for joke books.
Joan Miro
Born in Spain in 1893, Miro is most famous for his paintings using bold, bright colors to create abstract designs. Miro’s work is very appealing to children. For more about Miro as well as an art activity and two coloring pages, visit www.enchantedlearning.com/artists/miro/.
Earth Day
The goal of the day is to "increase awareness, responsibility and action toward a clean, healthy future for all living things." Here’s a fun paper-making activity in the spirit of Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. This activity is appropriate for children ages 5 and up with adult supervision. It requires some advance planning to gather all the materials and will take several hours to complete and clean up.
Paper-Making Recipe
This paper-making recipe will help you recycle some of that wasted paper around your house, such as newsprint, envelopes, writing paper, left over gift wrap, or other types of paper. Note: Sort the paper by color, because it will come out that tone.
Materials
- a large bowl
- waste paper (about 5 sheets)
- water
- a mixer or food processor
- two wooden frames 8"-12" (you can buy a standard frame or make one)
- a screen (nylon works well)
- a stapler
- a large basin (dishpan for instance)
- optional: dryer lint, thread, glitter, flowers, thin leaves, pine needles, potato or carrot peel...be creative here
1. Soak It: To begin, shred the paper into small squares about 1x1 inch and put them into the bowl with hot water. Let soak for half an hour.
2. Make a Mold: While the paper is soaking, make the mold by attaching the screen to each frame using staples.
3. Turn it into Pulp: Place the soaked paper in the mixer bowl or food processor half filled with water. Mix at half speed until smooth. At this point, you can also add small quantities of vegetables or plants to the pulp. In this case, mix until the mixture is uniform. (Only a small amount should be used or you will end up with mush.) To add color to the paper, add nontoxic fabric dye or food coloring to the mixture.
4. Swish it in a Basin: Pour warm water into the basin until it is half full. Then, pour the pulp into the basin until the mixture resembles thick soup. The thicker the mixture, the thicker your paper will be. Working in the basin, place the pulp on the screen in the frame and shake it from side to side to distribute the pulp evenly until it makes a sheet of paper.
5. Drain: Take the paper pulp and frame out of the basin. Place the other framed screen on top. Hold both frames and turn them over so that the pulp is on the dry frame.
6. Let It Dry: Place the frame flat and let it drip dry.
7. Leftovers: When you are done, you can throw away the screened pulp or keep the drained, leftover pulp in the freezer, in a plastic bag, for later use. NOTE: Do not pour the pulp into the sink or toilet because the pulp could block the drain.
Remember use your imagination!
Activity from www.planetpal.com
Robinson Crusoe
The book Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe was published on this day in 1719 and may have been the first English language novel. The story tells of Crusoe, who leaves England on an ocean voyage. His ship is taken over by pirates, and after many adventures, he is shipwrecked on an island. You and your school-age children can play a game of imagination about being shipwrecked. What might they want to save from the wreck of a ship if they could? What would they have to find on the island? How would they protect themselves from the weather?
National Pretzel Day
Bake your own soft pretzels. Here is an easy and delicious recipe:
Ingredients:
- 1 package of yeast
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 11/2 cups warm water
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 egg, beaten
- course salt to sprinkle on pretzels
Directions:
Stir yeast into water. Add the sugar and salt. Blend in flour with hands. Knead until smooth. Cut into pieces and roll into long, skinny twists. Put a little flour on the counter and give the child a piece of dough to create what he or she wants - balls, worms, letters, or pretzel shapes. Put onto a foil-lined, well-greased cookie sheet. Brush with the egg. Sprinkle with the salt. Bake immediately at 425 degrees for 12-15 minutes.
Morse Code
The inventor of the telegraph and Morse Code, Samuel Morse was born on this day in 1791. Morse Code is a system representing letters, numbers, and punctuation marks by means of a code signal. It was the first electronic communication, and International Morse Code, which uses only dots and dashes, is still used today. You can learn more about Morse Code and type text in to be translated to Morse Code for you to listen to by visiting www.scphillips.com/morse/.
Great Poetry Reading Day
Children love the rhythm and imagery of poetry. Read a Dr. Seuss book or some Mother Goose rhymes, look in the library for poetry, or check this website for other poems: www.legendsandlore.com/kid-fun.html.
Cleaning Up Made Easy
Is it hard to get cooperation at clean-up time? Making a game of clean-up helps. Try throwing a die. If it lands on one, the person who threw the die must clean up one thing; if the die lands on two, he or she must pick up two things, and so on. Everyone plays (even the au pair)!
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