Promoting learning and skills development is not the exclusive preserve of the school, even if it is the privileged space for both.

There are learning opportunities everywhere and during the summer there is more time and more freedom to take advantage of them individually, with friends or with the family.

Aware of the difficulties of reconciling work and family life during the summer, we at O Castro British International School offer you more than 10 original ideas to have fun while learning.

Games and activities to learn in summer

An old digital camera or a disused mobile phone could be used to make a photo album linked to trips, visits or simply corners of the urban landscape that could be connected to powerful ideas such as linguistic landscapes, heritage, cultural diversity or care for the environment. Be encouraged to make a museum at home with the selected photographs. All you need is a string, some clothes pegs and a wall on which to hang the exhibition.

One of the best "back and forth" activities between summer and school is reading. To encourage a love of books, we suggest that you encourage your children to make a den where adults are not invited. There, encourage them to have their own reading corner. There is a lot of evidence that reading in summer is a differential factor in minimising learning loss. If you don't want to spend money, our best allies are the municipal libraries, which are still fully active during the summer. If that doesn't work, you can always challenge them to read a whole book in a single day. You can't go wrong with challenges!

Another fun and educational option is to write a diary, as it can be used to practise elements worked on in language or foreign language classes. In addition, the diary can take the form of a blog and thus be a good opportunity to work on writing and digital competence. Along the same lines, an educational and playful activity for the summer is to encourage them to make up a story, giving them a start. They will develop their imagination at the same time as practising their language lessons. If your child is a little too old for this activity, encourage them to create a script for a film from scratch using stop motion animation techniques, or spend some time creating music.

Learning to cook, depending on the age of the child, is a very educational and practical activity for life. At the same time as they learn healthy habits, we will be teaching them autonomy. Make a small recipe book with them of possible culinary preparations that they would like to try and write the shopping list with the necessary ingredients. If you also go to the supermarket together to choose the materials, all the better!

Another educational activity is to set up a cinema at home with old films that have marked the history of cinema. Depending on your child's age, we suggest titles such as Billy Elliot, Inside Out, Wonder, The Wave or The Dead Poets Club.

If you start to run out of ideas, or you discard some of them, how about learning a poem by heart, or setting up a secret society in their room, or sending a postcard letter to their friends at school?

These are some of the ideas to make summer the time for a balanced diet of rest, leisure and some stimulating activities that bring into play the learning acquired during the school year. Real life is the best scenario to apply and reinforce what has been learned during the course. Holidays, well planned, are the best time. Happy summer!