Poland Full of Adventures – our first Polish-language arts summer programme in Peterborough

Admin
Aug 30
6 min read

Can children develop their Polish without sitting through traditional lessons? Through music, theatre, art, legends, games, cooking and simply spending time together? For 10 days this August, we decided to find out. And the answer is a resounding yes.

From 17–28 August 2026, the Polish Centre for Music Education in Peterborough organised ‘Poland Full of Adventures’ – a Polish-language arts summer programme for children and young people.

For two weeks, The Stork’s Nest Community Centre in Peterborough became our little summer hub for language, music, art and Polish culture.

And from the very beginning, we knew one thing:

we didn’t want to recreate school during the summer holidays.

Polish beyond the classroom

Since the very beginning of the Polish Centre for Music Education, we have believed that language can be developed in a completely different way.

We see it every week in our music sessions.

A child singing a Polish song practises pronunciation. They remember new words. They begin to understand what those words mean. They hear the rhythm of the language. They repeat whole sentences – often without even noticing that they are learning.

That experience became one of the foundations of our summer programme.

Children growing up in the UK have very different relationships with the Polish language. Some speak Polish confidently, while others understand it very well but are much more comfortable responding in English. For some, Polish is spoken every day at home; for others, it is mainly the language they use with parents or grandparents.

So instead of asking:

‘How can we teach children more Polish?’

we tried asking a different question:

‘How can we create situations in which children actually want to use Polish?’

Our entire programme grew from that question.

Music that helps children speak

Of course, as the Polish Centre for Music Education, we could not imagine our summer programme without music. 🎶

There was plenty of singing, rhythm, musical games and making music together.

Children worked with our tutors, learnt songs, sang as a group and individually, and some even found the confidence to perform in front of everyone else.

On the final day, we also brought out a set of chromatic handbells.

Within around two hours, the children had learnt to play together and were ready to perform their piece for their families at our end-of-programme celebration.

Moments like this remind us why music is such a powerful educational tool.

To make music together, children need to listen to one another, cooperate, count, respond, remember and communicate.

And when all of this happens in Polish, the language becomes a natural part of the experience.

Polish culture you can touch, draw and perform

We did not want to teach children about Poland through facts alone.

We wanted them to experience it.

That is why Polish legends, traditions, history, cities, art and crafts all became part of our programme.

We explored stories including the Wawel Dragon, the Basilisk and the Warsaw Mermaid.

But reading a legend was only the beginning.

The children created their own comics, made puppets and scenery, acted out stories and invented their own versions.

We introduced them to classic Polish comics including ‘Tytus, Romek i A’Tomek’ and ‘Kajko i Kokosz’.

We made traditional paper cuts inspired by the Kurpie region, tissue-paper flowers, postcards and colourful Lajkonik artwork.

We talked about Polish cities, rivers and rulers. We danced the polonaise.

We also discovered that Jadwiga was crowned not Queen, but King of Poland – which prompted exactly as many questions as you might imagine. 😄

And that was a good thing.

Curiosity was one of the most important ingredients of these two weeks.

‘Mission Poland’ – a test that wasn’t a test

Towards the end of the programme, we created a special team challenge called ‘Mission Poland’.

There was no written test or end-of-programme quiz.

Instead, the children headed out on a mission.

They visited stations including the Dragon’s Den, Royal Court, Museum of Our Work and Musical Challenge, as well as tackling Polish riddles and charades.

They had to answer questions, work together, sing, perform, remember the legends they had explored and even dance the polonaise.

For every completed challenge, the teams collected mystery letters.

Eventually, those letters formed one word:

POLAND. 🇵🇱

For us, however, something else was far more important.

We could see just how much the children remembered, despite the fact that throughout the entire programme we had never told them:

‘You need to memorise this.’

There was plenty of simply being children, too

Not everything we did needed to have a planned educational outcome.

That was important to us.

There were building blocks, skipping ropes, bottle-cap games, charades, traditional Polish playground games, Chinese whispers and plenty of time outdoors.

Huge constructions appeared from wooden blocks. Children created their own performances and came up with ideas that had never appeared in any of our lesson plans.

There was also chicken soup, tomato soup, pancakes, pizza, freshly baked bread and our now rather famous jam sandwiches. 😄

Because we did not only want to create an educational programme.

We wanted children to create summer memories – in Polish.

A finale for the most important audience

On the final day, we invited parents and families to join us at The Stork’s Nest.

The children sang, played the handbells and shared a little of what they had been working on during our two weeks together.

Every participant also received a certificate to remember their summer adventure.

And because the British weather decided, for once, to cooperate with us, we were able to finish the programme with a family barbecue. ☀️❤️

It was a wonderful ending to an incredibly busy 10 days.

Every project is made by people

Behind the programme was a whole team of people who brought their experience, talents and enormous energy to these two weeks.

Our huge thanks go to Natalia for being there every day and sharing her love of singing with the children.

Thank you to Joanna for her extraordinary experience of working musically with children and an apparently endless collection of talents and ideas – from music to bread-making and our final-day chromatic handbells.

Thank you to Magda L. for endless creativity, games, activities and the huge amount of heart she brought to the project.

Thank you to Weronika for theatre, imagination, patience and workshops that allowed Polish legends to truly come alive.

Thank you to Julia for her help, kindness, beautiful storytelling and the warmth she brought to the group.

Our enormous thanks also go to Magda S., Sylwia and Rafał, who prepared meals – often long after the children had gone home – and to Piotr for helping with our final family barbecue.

And most importantly, thank you to our parents and carers.

For trusting us.

For placing your children in our care for two weeks and allowing us to take them on this slightly crazy journey through Poland. ❤️

From an idea to a real project

For the children, the programme began on 17 August.

For us, it began much earlier.

It started with an idea, followed by programme planning, writing the funding application, building the budget and many hours of preparation.

That is why we would like to extend a very special thank you to Fundacja Młode Pokolenie (Young Generation Foundation), our lead applicant for this project.

Thank you for your professionalism, support and the genuine heart you bring to your work. Your support helps our ideas travel all the way from the first sentences written in a funding application to real activities for Polish children growing up in the United Kingdom.

Without you, we would not have been able to submit this project.

Thank you for believing in our work and in our idea. ❤️

Why will we keep doing this?

These 10 days confirmed something we have believed at the Polish Centre for Music Education from the very beginning.

Language learning does not have to start with a textbook.

It can start with a song.

With a legend.

With cooking together.

With theatre.

With a question asked during a game.

With a word a child needs right now because they want to say something to a friend.

In a few years’ time, a child may not remember every fact they learnt during our summer programme.

But they may remember singing in Polish with their friends.

Performing as the Wawel Dragon in Polish.

Laughing together during Polish charades.

Standing in front of their parents and performing in Polish.

And that is the kind of relationship with the Polish language that we want to help children build.

One that is not based solely on obligation.

But also on joy, curiosity, music, culture and a sense of belonging.

So although ‘Poland Full of Adventures’ has now come to an end, what we learnt during these two weeks will stay with us for a long time – and will help shape future projects at the Polish Centre for Music Education.

And to all the children who joined us, there is only one thing left to say:

see you on our next musical, linguistic and artistic adventure! ❤️🎶🇵🇱