If you haven’t heard of ‘ Oobleck ’ before - don’t worry! Neither had we, until we found out that it was a name created by Dr Seuss and given to a substance that you can create at home, in a fun experiment combining cornflour and water. So if you’re a nanny looking for a quick, simple activity to keep your charges busy this afternoon, why not incorporate learning and fun and try it out? The cornflour experiment is a great way to learn about non-Newtonian liquids and is fantastic for simply playing around and getting messy. This experiment is suitable for kids aged 5 and over, and younger kids can take part too under proper supervision. To perform your cornflour experiment you will need cornflour (or cornstarch, as it’s known in the US), some water, a large mixing bowl and some different coloured food colourings (optional!) When you’ve gathered your materials, it’s time to make your oobleck in 3 easy steps! 1.First of all, simply pour the cornflour into the bowl and, before adding any water, examine it with your charges. Take note of the texture, the fine grains of the cornflour, and try making imprints with your fingers or other objects. Ask your charges questions about what they feel, what the powder reminds them of, and consider making notes for a ‘before and after’ discussion. This mixture isn’t an exact science - you can use as much or as little cornflour as you’d like.   2. Next, pour in the water. If you want to colour your cornflour you may wish to add the food colouring of your choice to the water being pouring it into the cornflour for an even mix. Alternatively you can add the food colouring after the water - both methods will ultimately produce the same result. Add the water slowly, mixing at intervals to get an idea of how much water you want to put in. Different amounts of water will, of course, produce different consistencies, so don’t rush or you risk having extremely watery oobleck. Your charges can keep their hands in the bowl while the water is being added to feel the change in the liquid as the cornflour is diluted. Soon you should reach a stage where you understand that the cornflour is somewhere between liquid and solid. You should be able to pick up cornflour and squeeze it - it will feel solid - and then see it melt when you release your grip.   3. Play with your oobleck! Ask your charges to describe their creation. Try picking it up, squeezing it, releasing it. What happens if you try to bounce a ball on top of it? What happens if you drop it from a height, or try to poke holes in it? What if you leave it on a surface to spread out how it wants to? Again, if your charges are of an appropriate age, consider taking ‘after’ notes or even some photographs to conclude the experiment. When it’s time to clean up, you can wash your oobleck off with warm water. Just remember to be careful with the food colouring - too much colouring or a particularly strong colouring can colour your charge’s hands. So unless you want to explain to your charge’s mother why he has green hands, be careful! You can find our more about the science behind this experiment here , and get some ideas for experiments to perform with your new creation here . Have fun, and remember to visit the Jobs in Childcare blog for more fun activity ideas, including base building , a recycling experiment , a time capsule or a treasure hunt .   Register as a job seeker  with Jobs in Childcare to apply for jobs and to receive information on excellent international tutor, nanny and governess vacancies worldwide. If you are an agency then sign up to post on Jobs in Childcare to connect with the best candidates worldwide!

Language Activity Ideas for Young Children About the author : Fluent in French and English, Ali Neill has a long history in teaching languages to children as well as adults, through workshops, babysitting, tutoring and classes. She is also the job board tester and editor for the Jobboard Finder , the largest job board search engine in the world. At a young age, children are capable of learning new languages almost effortlessly. Past puberty, learning a language becomes far more difficult for most of us, partially because the grammar can no longer be assimilated without being learnt. The Instinct of Language by Steven Pinker explains some of the complexities concerning language learning for adults, which children don’t have. However, even if children can learn languages, that doesn’t necessarily mean they want to. For learning to become a fun experience, parents and teachers need to be creative with their activities. Here are some of my favourite games for children:   Toddlers (1 - 3 years old) Toddlers love to play but concentration can be an issue. In addition to a short attention span, toddlers have slightly underdeveloped eyesight and awkward movements. However, their hearing is actually better than that of older children, meaning they can distinguish between more sounds. With these different strengths and weaknesses in mind, the activities should focus on listening, showing and dancing. Nursery Rhymes. Every language has its own songs and nursery rhymes, which are a huge part of a child’s culture. The tunes are catchy, making it easy to remember simple words later on. Even if children don’t know what they’re hearing yet , the songs will become familiar to them. The Alphabet. In any language, the alphabet enables children to discover sounds. You can make the experience more interactive by imitating objects and animals, which start with the letter you are up to in the alphabet. Counting. The great thing about counting is you can use your body, and more specifically, your hands or feet. By showing children numbers as well as saying them, they will get used to associating the name, the physical number and the cardinal number.  Animal Sounds. Did you know that cows don’t go moo in French and dogs don’t go woof? That’s right: animals have different names and different sounds in foreign languages. Children love animals, so imitating them and using the foreign onomatopoeias as well as the foreign names for animals is a great way to capture the attention of toddlers.   Small children (3 - 7 years old) Past the age of three, children start interacting more verbally and socially. Activities, which encourage children to work together and notice each other, become pivotal for their emotional and social development. Imitating each other as well as adults becomes progressively easier as they learn to control their own movements. Children are also very curious and most of them like listening to stories, especially if the narration is accompanied by images and/or acting. Puzzles . It’s so easy to make your own puzzle and to cut out the different objects or creatures in the puzzle to create the pieces. That way, you can emphasise the names of each specific thing in the picture. Children can do puzzles alone or in small groups, which also creates social interaction.   Storytelling . At any age, human beings love stories. We tell stories all the time! Everything is new and marvellous to children, who have heard very few stories in their lifetime compared to adults. If you have books in foreign languages with illustrations or if you can create your own puppets or material to re-enact some of the scenes, then you will have small children gazing at you in amazement as they listen intently to your story.   Games with instructions . A vast number of activities fall into this category. You can create flashcards for emotions, colours, animals, the weather, sports, etc. and teach children to call out the right word when they see the corresponding image. If you don’t have time to create flashcards, you can use music or oral words, which children then have to repeat or imitate.   I Spy . One of my personal favourites is “I Spy”. Whether the game officially exists in the foreign language or not, you can adapt the rules. The children must name something blue in the room for example, or something starting with the letter R if you have advanced groups.   Older children (8 and up) The great thing about children over the age of eight is that most of them know how to read. When a child starts reading, the possibilities are endless for language games and language learning. Treasure hunts . Treasure hunts take a bit of time to prepare but they are so much fun. To encourage children to practise reading and to help them remember words for familiar objects, like table, bedroom and book, use them in your instructions. Each set of instructions should lead to another clue until they finally find the treasure. Fill-in-the gaps exercises . You might be surprised to find children can quickly become pro translators, without even realising it. If you have a children’s book, which you can translate, leave out easy words like “and” or “he”, so that the child can fill them in as they read the story. As their English skills advance, remove more complicated words. They will be so proud of themselves for filling in the gaps. Sentence reconstruction . For small children, you need to start with easy simple sentences and it might be best to start by telling them the meaning in their mother tongue. Reconstructing sentences can be very difficult at first, but it’s a great way to learn about grammatical structures, verbs, nouns, adjectives and so on. Guessing games . Much like “I spy”, guessing games can be adapted to a specific topic. One example of a guessing game would be to put the name of an object, animal or person on each child’s forehead, and to guess what the word is. This helps children learn how to ask questions and to use describing words.  A bright future for bilinguals Being bilingual opens many doors. A second language could mean a better position in a company or being hired over another candidate in an international business. Teaching a child a second language is hard work but it doesn’t have to be boring. By making language learning a fun experience, children won’t even notice that they are developing a skill, which will stand them in good stead for their future careers.   Register as a  job seeker  with Jobs in Childcare to apply for jobs and to receive information on excellent international tutor, nanny and governess vacancies worldwide. If you are an  agency  then sign up to post on Jobs in Childcare to connect with the best candidates worldwide!

How do I find a pen friend or pen pal for my charge? Well - first you may need a few things; pens, paper, stickers or glitter, photographs, writing paper and somebody to write to! As a nanny , you are probably always looking for more ways to keep your charges busy, entertained and away from the dreaded screens. Writing letters to a pen pal may seem old fashioned, but it really can be an exciting venture for young kids. As well as being brilliant fun, a letter to a pen friend is a wonderful way for your charges to get creative, to improve their reading and handwriting skills - and perhaps even to practise a new language. As well as the inherent excitement which comes with receiving, opening and reading a letter (as long as it’s not a bill) writing letters to pen friends can be rewarding in the long term. A good pen pal can be a friend for life - perhaps one day your charge will be able to visit his or her pen pal in their native country. So help them to take the first step in what could be a beautiful, budding friendship now! First - you’ll need to inspire your charge(s) with the idea.   This should be quite easy. Ask your charge: How would you feel about having a friend in a different country? Would you like to have a little boy or girl you can write to who will write back to you? You can send each other pictures, and tell each other about your lives. One day you may even be able to visit one another! Hopefully the child you care for will be enthusiastic about the idea - so...   the next step is to find a pen pal.   The easiest way to do this these days is online. You can visit one great site to find a pen friend here . Of course, you will have to discuss with your charge whether they would prefer to write to a boy or a girl, to choose an appropriate age group (probably the same age as your charge works best), and to have an idea of which country your charge’s pen friend may be located in. If you don’t want to follow the website route, think about who you know in foreign countries who may have connections with a school. You can also easily post in international nanny or teaching groups on Facebook , a surefire way to connect with thousands of teachers whose students would love to have somebody to write to. There are more useful tips on where to find a pen friend on this site , too. Be aware of local postal conditions - letters in Europe will be easier to send and faster than those in countries with slower logistics, or smaller cities. You will also have to think about language. Of course, it is great to encourage cross-cultural interaction and you should have no trouble finding kids living abroad who want to study English. On the other hand, if you are a language governess and your child is studying French, Spanish, German or another language at school, this could be an opportunity for them to improve their own language skills too. Finally - having found a pen pal and noted their address - it’s time to get creative!   You and your charge can spend time writing, decorating your letter and choosing and printing appropriate photographs. Encourage your charge to write a fun letter with lots of colour and detail, depending on their age group, telling their new pen friend all about his/her life. If you are a nanny, manny or working in childcare (as opposed to a parent) make sure you check with your charge's parents that the photos are OK to send. Maybe your charge can show his/her new pen pal which arts and crafts  they've been up to with their nanny! It may help to get them to think from their pen pal’s perspective to help them focus on writing a great letter - what sort of letter would they like to get back? So there you have it! 3 easy steps to finding a pen pal! And just in case you’re not totally sold on the idea yet, you can find more about the benefits of having a pen friend here . Have fun!     Register as a job seeker with Jobs in Childcare to apply for jobs and to receive information on excellent international tutor, nanny and governess vacancies worldwide. If you are an agency then sign up to post on Jobs in Childcare to connect with the best candidates worldwide!