I’m just back from 2 weeks in France staying in one of its many campsites. France is good at campsites – swimming pool complexes with water slides, crazy golf, tennis, fishing and of course playgrounds. It all culminates with the evening entertainment at the outdoor bar and restaurant.

My kids loved all of it, they became little fish and ate croissants, but it was the playground where their little friends were made. It was there that children from Holland, France and Germany all chatted away together without one common word and climbed castles, had tea parties and chased witches around. Us parents tried to chat using leaving cert French and German and sat beside each other smiling at the scene.

Later in the evening with a Euro match in the background those same parents all cheered and consoled with each other.

You don’t get that same ability to meet at the grocery store, swimming pool or tennis courts, it’s only in an environment where people are standing beside each other turning an awkward silence into the start of a conversation. And when you continue to meet its developing a sense of friendship, community and shared interest in safety and fun with children.

– Emma Leonard