Friday, July 2, 2010

If You Work 4th of July Do You Get Overtime Rate?

Fun Party Ideas for Nannies and Au Pairs Working on the 4th of July

Sara Henderson, a nanny that works in Tarrytown, NY is working at a party with 10 children for the 4th of July. She explains she accepted the job at double here typical rate because it is a holiday. She also asked if we have ideas for the party. We like the fun games we found at apples4theteacher.com. The ideas are so much fun the parents may want to join in the activities.

Balloon Pass:
Use red, white, and blue balloons in a relay race. Create two teams of people, and line them up in straight lines. Give the first person a balloon and tell them to put it between their legs, passing the balloon to the next person in line with their legs only. That person will take the balloon and pass it to the next person by putting it over their head. That third person will put the balloon between their legs and pass to the next person like that. The game continues until the balloon has passed all the way down the line. If you have a small group, require that the balloon get passed down the line and back again before declaring a winner.

Scooter and Bike Parade:
Have guests decorate their bikes and scooters to win prizes! Ask everyone who comes to the party to decorate their bike or scooter or other item in patriotic garb. You can have people bring them to the party already decorated and have a contest for "best bike" or have them decorate their bikes and scooters at the party with red, blue, and white streamers, banners, flags, and ribbons available. The children and adults can decorate their bikes and scooters as a party activity.

Red, White, and Blue Guessing Game:
Have guests guess how many items of red, white and blue are in a jar. Fill a large jar with peppermint candy (the red and white striped kind) and decorate it with blue and red ribbon. Have children guess how many candies are in the jar. The winner, or the person who comes closest to the number without going over, gets the jar of candy.

Are you working this 4th of July? If so, will you be paid time and a half, overtime rate?

6 comments:

NY Nanny said...

My work week is Tues to Sat so they are just giving me Saturday off.

Lisa said...

I've always had the 4th off as a holiday, sometimes even when it fell on the weekend I would have the Friday or Monday off.

BUT let's talk ideas for fun games with kids, Noodle Games, as in swimming pool types. There are books written on them you can find at Amazon. There are ideas on the Web, and you tube even has some links. For the 4th I would take the theme colors of the day and look at some of the game ideas and match/adapt objectives or concepts to the idea of the American Revolution and Independence Day.

Lisa said...

Oooh, an idea for the noodle games could be Yankee Noodle Dandy!!!

Anonymous said...

I am working Saturday just a few hours and they are paying me cash for the day rather than on the books so I'll take home more.

Anonymous said...

I didn't think to ask for overtime because it's a Saturday not the actual holiday today. I didn't think to ask for cash either. But, I will get paid extra for coming in today so the family can have a party. I think some of the other mothers coming to the party will tip me too. Next year I'll think to mention OT for holiday weekends.

Reyna

Life said...

I have had many nights working on the fourth and in recent years, I've had the holiday off. I never realized what I was missing! The towns an streets come alive with fun for all ages!

Indianapolis