At the Paradis Summer School, the children also loved coming on vacation, especially since they had challenges and trips that they will not soon forget. Pushing boundaries, creativity and fun were the order of the day.
“Magic really does exist!” exclaimed the little ones in chorus when they saw themselves transported to… the Land of the Fairies, a place that they arranged themselves by building houses for fairies, decorations, dwarfs and mushrooms. The fairies, embodied in colored wool and diaphanous wings, sprinkled magic dust everywhere.
With their skillful hands, the children also created binoculars or binoculars through which the surrounding world was seen more cheerfully and captivatingly. Like true explorers, they also went on a small expedition around the school where they returned with leaves or flowers that were good enough to paste into a painting.
The “window of the heart” was another alternative when they wanted to look at the sky and the surrounding nature with different eyes. Through the transparent hearts made by them, everything took on more vivid colors. And because it was Art and Craft week, the little ones created decorative clay objects, drew messages on t-shirts and even painted with… their feet.
And sport had a priority place at the Summer School, and the “Health Festival” was organized to charge the little ones with energy and maintain their general well-being. Among the exercises for relaxing the mind and body, they liked yoga techniques the most, which they mastered with patience and skill.
When they wanted to eat waffles, the little ones didn’t give up even from work. On the contrary, they prepared their utensils, chose the ingredients carefully and competed to mix the composition, guard the waffles that were turning golden and decorate them. But don’t think that our children are only good at dessert. Since no one’s table should be without a plate of fruits and vegetables, the little ones tried their best to make attractive arrangements. But the biggest challenge was to braid the buns. Finally, they sprinkled seeds on top and waited with bated breath for it to brown in the oven.
Dancing is a much-loved activity in the Paradis community, and one of the children’s favorite styles is rock’n’roll. The dance steps developed their balance, coordination, flexibility and grace, and when they felt they had mastered the choreography, the little ones went to a dance hall and masterfully synchronized in front of the mirrors. While we admire how they express their freedom through dance, we can only repeat: “Let’s Twist Again”!
Romanian dances were not missing from the program either. Teaching children to love folk customs and traditions is one of the objectives of the Paradis community, and by practicing dances they can most easily become attached to Romanian folklore. And when the passion for folk dance merges with the love of nature, the natural result was… a hot hour in the Botanical Garden.
Getting on stage in front of a crowd is not easy, but Paradis students train their self-confidence from a young age. And they couldn’t find a more suitable place than the “Vasile Alecsandri” National Theater to demonstrate that they can manage their emotions, but also their improvisation skills. In the spotlight, the little ones played, in turn, the roles of actors and spectators. At the Paradis Summer School, they also learned the secrets of a puppet show, from making mascots to staging a play.
The world of princesses and knights, dinosaurs or wizards opened its doors wide when the children from the Paradis Summer School stepped on the threshold of the “Gheorghe Asachi” County Library, the Păcurari branch. After seeing what a permit looks like and finding out what documents are required for registration, the little ones immediately got lost among the shelves, fascinated by the large number of volumes in all fields. The children’s favorites were the comics, but also the “Harry Potter” series. Our hosts showed them the biggest books they have in their collection of 25,000 volumes, but also the ones you can hold in the palm of your hand.
A hardworking man who is passionate about a job has every chance to succeed in his favorite field. This is the lesson that the children of the Paradis Summer School learned after meeting Mr. Costantin, a shoemaker for over 50 years, who not only explained to them the secrets of this profession, but also showed how to turn some broken slippers into new ones. The children watched in amazement as their host in the workshop of a few square meters in Păcurari glued the sole of a boot, replaced a broken zipper and widened a shoe on the shoebox. The little ones were delighted to see him working on the router and how quickly he handles the tools in the workshop.
The Paradise Summer School turned for a few days into… The Spy School. The little ones were challenged to a series of games that tested their senses, speed, memory, cleverness, but also their patience to discover clues hidden in the hallways and in the yard. They were delighted to decipher the Morse code, and from clay they modeled masks and objects specific to detectives, which they then painted in vivid colors. At the end of the educational activities, each child was convinced that they can be a future Sherlock Holmes who embarks on secret missions and unravels mysteries in the name of Good.
The beloved Paradis project “Travel around the world” continued during the Summer School. After having familiarized themselves with the traditions and culture of France and Greece during the school year, the little ones were now fascinated by a more distant country: Mexico. They made Mexican friends from colored paper, dressed traditionally and wearing the indispensable sombrero. And the classroom had little left and was turning into a desert, from how many cacti invaded it. The journey of the little ones doesn’t stop here, so stay with them for new adventures around the world.
