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Things to do with your aupair in Halifax, Nova Scotia

With 23 supervised beaches and temperate summer waters, your Halifax nanny will want to take the children to the beach daily -- and maybe even enjoy some beach time on her day off.

Each of the 23 beaches in the Halifax regional area has lifeguards on duty until 5 p.m. daily in July and August. Some of the beaches are on the ocean, where the water during the summer is warmed by the Gulf Stream. Other beaches are on nearby lakes and ponds.

• Check the Halifax Regional Municipality web site for a list of beaches, as well as the results of daily and weekly water testing.
• Make sure your children have proper flotation devices.
• Advise your nanny to set rules about how far out children can swim. It is best with younger children to keep them in shallower areas, in water that is knee-deep or waist-deep.
• Make sure that your nanny knows to let the kids swim only in supervised areas.
• She also should set rules for safe water play, and ban dangerous horseplay, such as pushing other youngsters underwater.
• Children with fair skin need to wear sunscreen.

Lunenburg is an hour's drive south of Halifax. It makes for an educational and enjoyable day trip for your Halifax nanny and kids, as they explore Nova Scotia's fisheries heritage.

Before the trip, your Halifax, Nova Scotia, nanny may want to take the children to the local library to research the Canadian fishing industry. There also is information on the Internet.

The Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic, located on the Lunenburg waterfront, should be the first stop on their day trip. It has a working fishing schooner docked next to the museum for the kids to explore.

Here are some things to do at the museum:

• Kids can try out the old-fashioned craft of mat hooking or quilting.
• They can launch a model schooner provided by the museum.
• Young visitors love to hear tales of the high seas from "old salts" who are retired from the fishing business. The conversations make the visits more meaningful, as they connect the fishing industry with the people who dedicated their lives to it.

While in Lunenburg, your Halifax nanny can also take the kids out on a two-hour tour on a working lobster boat, and even lend a hand landing some crustaceans.

Finish the day with a seafood dinner, either at the Lunenburg waterfront or somewhere along the coastal route back to Halifax.

Fishermen's Cove is even closer to Halifax, only about a 20-minute drive, and offers similar opportunities to study a working fishing community.

Of course, there's the Bluenose II Maritime Museum right on the Halifax waterfront. Still, Lunenburg is worth the travel.

The joy of hiring a Halifax nanny is watching her and your children develop a positive and healthy relationship. Now you can be assured that your children get the attention, education and care they need -- but that you cannot always provide because of professional and other commitments.

You can help ensure the job satisfaction of your Halifax, Nova Scotia, nanny by setting guidelines and goals at home, and encouraging her to make connections with other young people.

You nanny may need some help and support at first meeting people, if she is new to your community. Give her some time to explore the city on her own.

If you have friends or neighbors with young adults her age, perhaps they may want to escort her on a tour of the largest city in Atlantic Canada. She will quickly learn that Halifax is cosmopolitan, with a lot to offer young people. There are six universities here, giving the city of about 115,000 more than 30,000 students -- nearly 25 percent of the overall population. So she is likely to meet a lot of young adults close to her age.

The downtown also teems with youthful energy and places where your Halifax nanny will feel right at home: bookstores, coffee shops, microbreweries and nightclubs.

She will marvel at the beauty of the city, built on a hill sloping down toward the waterfront and large harbor. It is easy to see why Halifax is often compared to San Francisco for its mix of hills and ocean, as well as its exuberant character.

Make sure she gets enough time to take advantage of the youth culture the city has to offer. It will make her a happier, well-adjusted care giver for your children.

Although the outdoors always beckons in Nova Scotia, your Halifax nanny still needs to find indoor activities to do with the children on days when it's too cold or wet to hike or bike around the city.

Your Halifax, Nova Scotia, nanny should put the Discovery Centre at the top of her rainy-day list. The Discovery Centre is Nova Scotia's well-known children's museum, with three floors of hands-on exhibits with an emphasis on informal learning through play and fun activities.

Events and programs include holiday activities, such as a Halloween party featuring (no kidding) "Bat Poop Pumpkin Ice Cream" -- and the museum's annual Discovery Awards.

The Discovery Centre also hosts after-school programs and birthday parties. The Discovery Centre is located in downtown Nova Scotia and open year-round. It offers annual family memberships, which would give your Halifax nanny the opportunity to take the kids to the museum any time.

What kid isn't amazed by a street performer, whether he or she is a mime, singer, contortionist or juggler? Being so close to a performer makes children curious about the arts and self-expression.

Your Halifax nanny will want to mark early August on the calendar to take the kids to the annual Halifax Busker Festival, which is devoted to street theater. It is the largest outdoor festival of its kind in Atlantic Canada, taking place along the Halifax waterfront. It features a huge array of acrobats, jugglers, fire-eaters and contortionists, as well as musicians, singers and strolling bands.

The festival runs for 10 days and admission is free -- but be prepared to shell out for drinks and food and souvenirs. These are incidentals that you, not your nanny, should cover. A day or two at the festival is a relatively low-budget way for your Halifax nanny to entertain the kids during the day. She also may want to return at night or on her day off.

Here a quick safety tip for your Nova Scotia nanny and kids when they head out into crowds: They should decide on a central point where everyone can meet, should a child get separated from the family. Your nanny also should not let younger children head off alone to buy their snacks or go to the bathroom.