Lace a Mitten Filled with Animals and Read “The Mitten” by Jan Brett

Creative Children’s Book Project There are few books as loved by kids as The Mitten by Jan Brett. Winter is a great time to read this beloved children’s book and do this cute craft with the kids in your care. As you read the book the kids will love when a Ukaranian boy named Nikki loses […]

Penguin Fun: Crafts and Books

Weekly Trip to the Library What child doesn’t like penguins? And now that’s it is cold outside it’s the perfect time to read and doing indoor crafts. This week I borrowed books from the library about penguins and has the kids make some penguins from different shapes cut out from colored construction paper. If you […]

Thanksgiving Day Parade Book and Activities

Balloons Over Broadway The kids I care for are going to the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade on Thanksgiving morning so I borrowed “Balloons over Broadway” by Melissa Sweet from the library to prepare them for the fun and festivities. But if your charges aren’t goingto the parade they will still love watching the parade on television […]

Coffee Filter Butterflies

Creative Wednesdays Who doesn’t love butterflies? This is one of the easiest projects you can make with kids. The five-year-old I care for just loves making butterflies out of coffee filters. Plus, it is fascinating to learn how a worm-like caterpillar turn into a delicate creature with wings.  Be sure to check out the link provided below […]

How to Encourage Learning at Home

Success In School Requires Support at Home Success in school requires support at home. As nannies we have a unique opportunity to teach children in important ways that cannot be taught in school. It is up to us to make learning experiences in everyday activities. We can even help children too young for school to develop […]

Color Mixing: Making a Chem Lab in the Kitchen

Fun Project to Do With Kids Here’s a quick way to make your employer’s kitchen into a junior chemistry lab. Provide containers of various sizes, bottles of food coloring, and various “lab” implements such as eye droppers, turkey basters, spoons, measuring cups. Before turning the kids loose in Chemistry 101, though, be sure to explain […]

A Blizzard of Snow Lesson Plans for Nannies and Au Pairs

Teaching Kids About Animal Tracks One of the greatest joys for kids is when they first walk outside after it snows and they leave footprints in the snow. Kids love comparing the different size and shapes of the footprints of their family members. So this week we recommend borrowing The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack […]

Art with Kids

Kandinsky Tree I love the subject of Art History and hope to inspire my Nanny Kids to appreciate art as well. I introduced my three-year-old charge to abstract art by showing her Kandinsky Trees. Wassily Kandisnsky was a famous Russian artist who had a gift called synaesthesia cognate which gives him the ability to hear […]

Autumn Leaf Lesson Plans for Nannies and Children

This week I visited the Scholastic web site for lesson plans about leaves in the Fall. I recommend going to the library and borrowing Fall Leaves Fall,  Red Leaf, Yellow Leaf, We’re Going On A Leaf Hunt and Leaf Man. In Fall Leaves Fall by Zoe Hall, two brothers enjoy everybody’s favorite autumn activities: chasing leaves through the […]

Peter and the Wolf

Weekly Trip to the Library One of the challenges of working as a nanny is finding activities my three charges (aged 3-years-old to 13-years-old) can all enjoy at the same time. But this week I remembered my favorite childhood classic Sergei Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf with the CD of musical themes. All three of the […]