What can I give my host family as a gift?

At different times during your au pair stay (arrival, departure, Christmas), you may wish to think about suitable gifts for your host family. When meeting your host kids for the first time, a gift can surely help you break the ice. Here are a few tips which may come in handy.

Gift ideas for your host parents:

• Typical delicacies from your town and region: foods, sweets, wines, etc.
• A cookbook with traditional recipes from your region and country
• A book on your hometown or country

Gift ideas for your host kids:

• A book with traditional stories or fairy tales from your country, either in your native language or translated into the language of your host country
• Toys - ideally objects typical for your home country, e.g. colouring books, stuffed animals, CD with children’s songs or board games
• a DVD of a famous children's film from your country  
• Personalised objects with the children’s name written on them (e.g. caps, t-shirts, tissue bags etc.)

Gift ideas for your host family in general:

• Any self-made gift, such as a photo album you can add to throughout your au pair stay
• A photo calendar from your town or country
• Family friendly board games
• A gift card from their favourite shop

The better you get to know the members of your host family, the easier it will be for you to pick suitable gifts. 

Should you not know which gifts to choose for your host kids, you can always ask your future host parents to give you an idea as to what their children are interested in and would be particularly excited about.

Have you finished your au pair stay? Then why not give a farewell present to your host family? 

Of course, it is not compulsory to give gifts. It can just be a nice gesture that will certainly be happily received :)