In Mexico and other countries of the Spanish-speaking world there is mostly pleasant weather so kids play outside a lot. Older kids hang out with friends outside too. It is very rare that kids watch T.V. after school in Spanish-speaking countries. As a matter-of-fact, most programs aimed at children are broadcast in the evening. Is this the same situation where you live?

Kids do enjoy T.V. though. In many countries kids watch programs that are created in the U.S.A., like Los Simpson, which is dubbed in Spanish. For kids your age, a common topic in books and on T.V. in Spain right now is that of witches and warlocks. In Mexico, the Spanish-Caribbean, Central America and South America, children of all ages often watch telenovelas at night with the whole family. A telenovela is a serial program of one hour that shows every night during the week for about four months. Telenovelas are very common in Spanish-speaking cultures and are usually filmed in Mexico or Venezuela. They often involve a family, love relationships and the problems that come from those relationships. In the early evening there is frequently a telenovela that is aimed only at teenagers and what goes on in their lives. On Saturdays there is usually one telenovela just for kids and, of course, the main characters are kids!

Young people in all the Spanish-speaking countries like many of the same books that you read, such as Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings. Of course, they read those books in Spanish! In Argentina especially, kids really love to read and not surprisingly the literacy rate there is one of the highest in the world. Even children in the most rural areas of Argentina learn to read from a young age, a situation that almost creates a problem because there are too many students for the size of the public schools. In those cases, some kids go to school in the morning, while others attend school in the afternoon until the evening. Which time would you prefer?

After school and on weekends girls love to spend time with their girl friends, especially female cousins or those who live in the same neighborhood. They spend a great deal of time communicating with each other by telephone, little notes, e-mail, or text messages. They like to talk about clothes, jewelry and obviously, boys!

Boys spend a lot of their time outside of school playing soccer with their friends. Many times it is not organized or scheduled-just a casual game in the street or the park. Boys are also interested in watching soccer and other sports such as Formula One racing. There are several famous drivers from Spanish-speaking countries like Spaniard Fernando Alonso, the champion racer in 2005. In the Spanish-Caribbean, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic and Cuba, boys love to play and watch baseball, too.

What about you?