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The arrival of the school holidays is met with delight by children, but for their parents it can be a headache if they can’t look after them all day. In order to manage this situation, there are a wide range of children’s activities on offer in the summer, which generally take place in a natural environment. 

Information and activities

When choosing the most suitable place for your children, it is fundamental to find out everything in advance, which makes it advisable to visit the facilities, meet the people who will be looking after the children, find out about the meals they will eat, the sanitary conditions, the possession of the appropriate licence...etc.   

Summer camps and educational farms offer a wide range of services depending on various factors such as the length of the stay, the cost, their proximity to the place of residence, the child’s age and the activities available. They usually include activities such as rambling, sports and educational workshops (on recycling, looking after the environment, food production, contact with animals...etc).   

Numerous options

In short, the idea is that the attendees have a good time whilst gaining new experiences and values, and there are numerous options. It would be impossible to mention all of them, but it is worth taking a look at a few of them in order to have an idea about the activities they offer. 

At the camps promoted by Greenpeace, for example, open to children and adolescents between the ages of 9  and 17, “environmentally-friendly habits are promoted along with values such as tolerance, equality, solidarity, responsibility and coherence.”

In Seville, the Cuna Educational Farm, promoted by the Andalusian Ecological Agriculture Committee, introduces young people to traditional rural tasks, since its facilities include vegetable gardens and barns where they can learn about food production. They also have workshops on recycling “waste materials by turning them into useful or artistic objects or toys: soap, picture frames, streamers, puppets, organic murals, masks, lip balm, candles, beads...”. 

In Asturias, the Eo River Educational Farm offers stays lasting between 2 and 15 days for pre-school, primary, secondary and sixth-form groups with workshops on recycling, excursions in the country, boat trips on the Eo River...etc. 

In Guadalajara, the Huerta “La Limpia” Educational Farm is spread over 7 hectares, and its objectives include introducing children to nature so that they become aware of the link between their everyday life and the rural environment, as well as “understanding and experiencing man’s role as an environmental transformer”. 

The Santa Maria de Palautordera Farm, founded in 1994, was the first educational farm created in Spain and is the biggest in Catalonia. In addition to offering various activities such as horse riding and English classes, in relation to the environment, primary school children are taught to save the magic forest from dangers such as fire or indiscriminate tree felling, for example. Older children, meanwhile, are given a practical guide to environmental problems and the issues faced by farmers in their everyday life.

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