Being an au pair is a wonderful opportunity to educate children in a unique and culturally diverse way. With your experience in childcare from your own country–paired with Au Pair USA’s vigorous Academy training program and your host family’s guidance–you will be ready to shape the lives of your host children during your program year in the best way!
Age-Appropriate Educational Activities
Did you know that a big way children learn is through play? That’s right! By simply being mindful of the different ages and stages of your host child’s development, you can incorporate the type of play that can help boost their learning. For example, infants are building their sensory development and exploration. By introducing toys that engage the five senses such as brightly colored rattles or different textured teething rings, your infant is learning to see, hear, touch, and taste. For toddlers, you may be playing through throwing a ball back and forth or playing eye spy to boost gross motor skills and language development. Preschoolers are developing their creativity and social skills. They would benefit from playing imaginative games or meeting other children at the playground. Your school age children will be doing a lot of learning already at school, but supplementing at home with strategic board games can be a fun way to help them practice their critical thinking skills.
Incorporating Cultural Exchange into Play
As an au pair, you are so fortunate to bring a new culture, and often new language, into your host family’s home. Sharing your language through games and songs is a fantastic way to incorporate cultural exchange into play. You can even have your host kids put on a concert for their parents to showcase their learning. Additionally, introducing foods from your home country through cooking activities can help children learn about different spices, ingredients, traditions, and even math and reading if you’re following a recipe. Who doesn’t love a good bedtime story? Yours could be an old folktale from your country that your host children have never heard before. Finally, taking out a globe or map and pointing out different locations and their characteristics can be a visually stimulating way to engage children about the world.
Everyday Learning Opportunities
Learning can be sprinkled into anything and everything you do throughout the day. For example, brushing your teeth for two minutes can help children learn to count to 120. Implementing schedules and routines can help children learn to tell time and become more aware of hours vs. minutes vs. seconds. Nature walks outside can promote mindfulness, vocabulary building, and appreciation for nature. Montessori methods in particular encourage children to become more independent, even from an early age.
Supporting Literacy and Language
Au pairs spend a lot of time with their host children, working up to 45 hours per week. You have the opportunity to instill an appreciation for reading by creating a daily routine of reading together. This can occur before naptime or bedtime, mid-morning while you’re having a snack, or even during visits to the local library. Many libraries also offer storytime, where librarians introduce and read books to groups of children of similar ages and often will pair the book’s theme with a craft or activity to follow. Besides reading, you as an au pair who may speak a language other than English have the incredible gift of introducing a new language to your host children. Placing post-its around the house on everyday objects in your language can be a fun way to teach simple words and phrases and trigger a visual learner specifically. Saying the words aloud can complement this and help younger children learn a new language who may not know how to read yet.
STEM Activities Made Simple
STEM, an acronym for science, technology, engineering, and math, can be more fun than you think! Doing simple science experiments at home, like mixing baking soda with vinegar to erupt a volcano or adding a drop of dish soap to a bowl of water and pepper to show how soap repels germs are creative and exciting projects to help teach scientific concepts. Educational apps and video games can boost a child’s tech skills, although you’ll want to check with your host parents before introducing screen time as part of your learning activities. Legos, wooden blocks, and magnetic tiles are a great way to promote creativity and engineering concepts. Finally, math can be part of almost any part of the day from measuring ingredients when cooking to counting the steps it takes to get from the car to the front door vs. steps from the front door to the kitchen and seeing which is farther.
Social-Emotional Developmental Play
Learning about feelings and how to treat others is an important part of a child’s development. You want them to become more in tune with how they feel and aware of those around them. Social situations are the best play-based scenarios to create teachable moments. For example, if your child is upset that his friend won’t share with him, you can ask questions to help them express their emotions using words, rather than through tantrums. You can also model conflict resolution skills by introducing a timer as a way to create a game of sharing. A situation like this one could also be an opportunity to help your child develop empathy, exemplifying that sharing can feel hard, especially if the toy is very special to their friend.
Working with Your Host Parents
No matter what age, stage of development, or area of focus you’re covering with your host child through play, you’ll always want to check in with your host family to ensure you’re in agreement with the activities and ways learning is taking place at home. Having regular communication with consistent updates about how your child is responding to the approaches you’re taking will help your host family feel more connected and involved in their learning and development. We’d also encourage you to share milestone moments via photo or video with your host parents so they don’t miss out on these amazing growth experiences for their children!
If you’re ready to begin your journey as an au pair, don’t wait! Hundreds of American host families at Au Pair USA are waiting to meet you! Apply today and let the learning and playing begin!
