One of my favourite games as a child was a treasure hunt. My dad would draw the clues and i would spend hours running around the house to find the few pennies that were treasure. It seemed the perfect game for the last day of a very successful summer school (Actividad de Vacciones).

Get the kids running all over the community collecting clues for the treasure (lots of marbles donated by a volunteer). I had forgotten (how could I after 3 months!!) how competitive the boys are and instead of working as a team they had a competition to see who could collect the most pieces of paper and ruined the trail of clues! Still fun was had by all and the thoroughly enjoyed all of the running around. Like most of the activities throughout summer school not everything has gone exactly to plan but it has all been fun, entertaining and a learning experience for the children who are not working all summer.

I have spent the last three months co-ordinating the summer school running it three mornings a week for all of the kids in the community and it has been an absolute pleasure. Sometimes there are five kids and other times twenty seven and there is always a lot of smiling. It has been very different to normal school with no teacher there has been complete freedom to do whatever activity we feel is appropriate. As a result of the summer school the volunteers have had a lot more contact with he parents of the children and got to know the families in the community as a whole.

We have had a huge range of children both in ages, skill, ability and even confidence. Two families who don’t attend the school during term time came regularly to summer school and over the three months have turned from a silent, wide eyed audience to energetic, creative, loud, smiling participants.

The kids are so grateful for any source of entertainment and to be able to play. The has been hand and feet painting, exploding volcano’s, tug of war, face painting, homemade connect 4 and twister, lots of bingo, an Aladdin themed day complete with homemade caves, kite making, paper plane and bridge competitions, obstacle courses, apple bobbing and mini gardens but most of all never ending laughter for everyone involved.

I have worn out many volunteers but all have been very sad to leave and my summer next year will just not be the same.