Italian kids like to read ghost stories, science fiction, adventure and comic books. The libraries and bookstores always have a section where they can find the books they like. Right now the Harry Potter books are very popular. Very young children have heroes from their cartoon magazines, such as Doremi, the trainee witch. Older kids read comics like L'Uomo-ragno (Spiderman), Dylan Dog or Martin Mystère. Some kids watch about two or three hours of TV a day, in the afternoon or before going to sleep. Younger kids watch cartoons from Japan dubbed into Italian or Picchiarello (Woody Woodpecker) and Tom and Gerry. Middle school kids might watch The Simpsons. Reality shows and sports are quite popular and just about every Italian boy is a soccer fan and watches the soccer matches, often with his father.

Many kids spend their free time at home, playing videogames, sending text messages to their friends, playing card games or collecting stamps. They also like to play with their pets, usually a cat or a dog. Girls like to go shopping and buy clothes. The middle schools have special afternoon classes to encourage kids to develop their interests.

As for sports, soccer is the most popular sport in Italy and many boys practice it when they meet in their free time. Girls prefer gymnastics, dance and swimming. Trentino, in the northeast, is where most of Italy's sports-minded people live. They like cycling, skiing, playing winter sports, swimming, water polo and diving. People in Umbria might prefer jogging, riding horses, hunting and fishing, while people in Emilia-Romagna mostly play basketball

July and August are the vacation months in Italy and about half the people go somewhere else to spend a month or a few weeks in a more relaxing environment. About 56 percent of the people choose to go to the seaside, 14 percent go to the mountains, 8 percent go to the countryside and 14 percent visit another city or travel from place to place. Some young people might choose to camp out together.