Afternoon activities of German children

1. Pick two of the activities you are most interested in, 2. talk to your neighbour about it, 3. and be ready to present your favourite one in class

Anna, Thomas' oldest sister, meets with her friends for a picknick in the park. "The Latin exam was so difficult today", complains Anna. "Don't think about it now, it's over, let's have a good time instead", says Anna's best friend Amelia. If there is good weather, chances are high that you see lots of teenager groups either in a park, next to a river, or by a lake, where they play games, listen to music, and make a bbq.

Before they can enjoy their afternoon activities, they all have to do their homework. They have to prepare things, read texts and do assignments for many subjects; usually they get homework in math, German, English and French or Latin. Thomas usually takes between 30 and 60 minutes to do his homework. His sister Emma is a little slower because she gets lost in her thoughts easily; it takes her at least an hour every day. She loves to look out the window and dream about the vacations when she meets her friends every day to go swimming in the nearby lake.... But around 3:30 pm they are usually ready for their afternoon activities.

There aren’t normally lessons after lunch in German schools – imagine that!In fact, in the past, many schools did not offer lunch at all, but nowadays, there are usually afternoon clubs, homework workshops and more activities. Emma had her lunch at school today, because she meets with the school's theatre group in the afternoon to practice their new play. Acting has always been a passion of hers, but there are different afternoon clubs to choose from as well: ranging from a photography course, to a sustainability course, to a gardening course, and more.

In Germany, students get 15 weeks of holidays every year. Quite similar to those in Great Britain. And of course, the six-weeks of summer holidays are the ones everybody looks forward to the most! In that time, many families go hiking and camping into the mountains, or drive to the sea in italy. Thomas and his family enjoy their holidays both at home and on their favourite campsite on a lake in the nearby alps.

Skiing and snowboarding is an extremely popular winter activity among Germans. Especially in the south of Germany, where the Alps are within reach. People who live by the mountains go skiing on weekends and many families go on ski vacation after christmas. So does Thomas and his family. They usually get to the peak around 9 am via a cable car. Then, they go skiing until they go into an "Alm" (a small traditional restaurant in the mountains) for lunch. Every year Thomas and Emma look forward to eating "Kaiserschmarrn" (a special variation of a pancake) after skiing. Kaiserschmarrn

Thomas and Kilian ride their bikes to the local football field to meet their coach and their teammates for tonights training session. Football is by far the most popular sport in Germany. Over two million German children play football in a club. The two boys are having a lot of fun, but they're also a little nervous about the game coming up on Saturday. Because they will play against the rival team from the other village, where many of their classmates play.

Around 3 30 pm all have their homework finished, and Thomas immediately heads outside and rides with his bike to his friend Kilian, where they play the new Fifa on Kilian’s PlayStation. In fact, 25 % of 6 to 13 year olds play everyday or nearly everyday videogames in Germany. After around 40 minutes Kilian's mother tells them that it would be enough screen time for today and that they should get ready for the football training.

Emma and many of her friends go to the stable three times a week to care for the horses and ride them out. As a matter of fact, lots of German girls love to ride horses and there are many stables around.

Anna loves to go to the swimming pool in the summer. She often meets her friends there in the afternoon. In summer, it can get quite hot in Germany with temperatures around 80 to 100 °F. When it is extremely hot, it can even happen that school is cancelled. Can you believe that?!