Splash Day.

Beginners. The heat is definitely up, here in the eastern side of the North West. Even in the schools, cool activities are organised to keep the kids comfortable. Because this week is the last of the school year, Splash Day is one of the fun days available to the children. It is a day of putting on your swimming trunks and a spare t-shirt, and taking part in about 10 different water activities. Even though there is no swimming pool at the school, the playing field is organised into different stations where watery games are played. I went with my daughter to help out and take photos. We arrived after lunch, just in time to see the huge crowd of third through fifth graders line up and listen to the P.E. teacher give instructions. "No jumping on other people in the little pools. Tidy up your station when I blow the whistle, and follow normal school rules." And off they went. It was all very well organised, with teachers and volunteers helping out. The kids spent about fifteen minutes at each station, had fun, got wet, and then moved to the next station. Grammar notes. Useful vocabulary: definitely, available, spare, volunteer. Exs: That  boy is definitely the fastest runner in the school. I don't need my car tomorrow, so it is available if you need it. The kind gentleman helped me put the spare tire on my car; actually, he had his own spare tire on his stomach! We need more volunteers at school to help in the classrooms. Advanced.  Station one was the 'Slip and slide'. This is basically a long, wide, piece of plastic that has been sprayed with lots of water. To make things interesting, it can be placed on a hill, and you can always add soap to it if you want to make it more slippery. The children line up and then take turns running and jumping on it. Woosh! They can get up to quite a speed. Look out below! The next station was called 'Chicken Delivery.' The aim of the game is to run with a rubber chicken, as fast as you can, past a line of people on either side of the track. The people on either side have large, soft balls that they throw at you while you run. If you get hit, you have to sit down, and you don't get a point. Somebody else from your team has to run up, grab your chicken, and continue to the end. If you don't get hit, you get a point. It's great fun. All the children get very excited, and sometimes the balls get thrown quite hard. It's just as well  that they are very soft. One of the other stations was the 'Water Balloon Station.' A willing victim sits in a chair with a water balloon hanging right over his head. The balloon is attached to a metal device that will pop the balloon if it is hit by a ball. The other children line up for a chance to throw the ball at the target. Most of the time, the victim (or, as we say the 'Guinea Pig') stays dry. But when the thrower has a good aim, splash! Cold water right on the head! Grammar notes.  Useful verbs: to spray, to slip, to aim, to grab. Exs: I had just sprayed some expensive perfume on, when I went outside and got sprayed by a skunk! She slipped on a banana skin and broke her foot! The gunman aimed his rifle, but he completely missed the target. The thief (robber) grabbed my handbag while I was standing outside a shop. Lucky for me, I had my money in my jeans pocket. // //