All Italian kids go to school from Monday through Saturday, with classes starting at 8:30 am and ending at 12:30 or 1:30 pm. There is one break at 11:15 am for recreation. Some middle schools have a two-hour class in the afternoon when kids study different subjects.

Each year there are two long vacations: the Christmas break, from December 23rd to January 7th, and another break for the week of Easter. There's no school on November 1st, the day to remember the dead and visit the graveyard. There are two days off for Carneval, sometime in February, forty days before Easter. Carneval is a special holiday for both adults and kids. Everyone dresses up in costumes and masks and can be any person they wish, any age and either sex. Dressed in their costumes, kids throw confetti and streamers and spray white foam everywhere. The adults prepare floats that cross the city as part of a great parade. Venice and Viareggio organize the most famous celebrations of all and every year thousands of people visit these cities to see their parades.

Three more school holidays are on April 25th, Liberation Day, to commemorate Italy's freedom from fascist dictatorship; May 1st (Labor Day); and June 2nd (Republic Day). Each town or city celebrates another holiday, to honor its own patron saint. All those dates will be different, depending on the place.

Italian schools close by June 30th for the summer holiday. Students have two months of vacation, after which they return to school sometime in the second or third week of September. During the summer the weather is warm and kids have lots of carefree time to visit their friends. This is also a time that they can devote to their hobbies. Kids staying at the seashore will spend time on the beach. Kids who stay at home for vacation find lots of ways to amuse themselves in their own towns and cities. There are almost always special summer programs and sports tournaments, outdoor concerts and theatrical shows. There might also be a food festival where people can taste the local cuisine.