Service Trip to Guatemala

Build a playground, help improve a school, and authentically experience another culture!

Join Play360 for an unforgettable alternative break experience - work with a community in Guatemala to build a dynamic playspace for a local school.

On this trip, you will play a key role in creating educational tools and resources to improve student and parent engagement and teacher
effectiveness. You will climb a volcano, zipline through a rainforest, relax in volcanic hot springs and, most importantly, you will have the chance to authentically experience life in this wonderful country while making a real difference. Your hands will get dirty and your heart will be filled. For participants 18 and older.

Learning through Play

One participant reflects on last year's trip to Guatemala

For IU student Meghan Wicker, this trip had it all. Even though the Columbus, Ind. native had traveled to Guatemala once before, the Play360 service trip offered a fresh perspective, and an opportunity to both relax from a busy semester and apply her coursework at IU’s School of Public Health.

“The trip was a perfect balance of work, site seeing, and play,” Wicker said.

In addition to the playground build, Wicker worked with teachers of the Las Flores school to implement a greenhouse project. Wicker designed a lesson for children in kindergarten through third grade on the basics of plant life by constructing a water bottle greenhouse. Wicker’s project is one example of the small-scale learning resources Play360 develops for schools.

“It is a huge first step to start to integrate play with learning,” Wicker said.

After the playground's completion and dedication, the service trip participants spent their remaining days exploring Guatemala. “I had an amazing time and got to know a great group of people,” Wicker said.

Trip participants took a boat ride across volcano-ringed Lake Atitlan; visited bustling markets in the colonial city of Antigua, a UNESCO World Heritage Site; spotted monkeys on a zip-lining trip through the rainforest; toured a chocolate factory, coffee plantation and jade store; hiked Pacaya Volcano and roasted marshmallows over still smoldering lava fields; relaxed in volcanic hot springs sacred to the ancient Maya; and much, much more.

“The different experiences Play360 offered through this trip really helped me to have a well rounded view of what all Guatemala has to offer.”

Wicker and her other service trip participants returned to the U.S. with countless memories. Moreover, the teachers of Las Flores school now have educational resources and an implementation plan for maximum effectiveness; parents have learned first-hand how collaboration positively impacts their community; Play360's partnership with FUNDAP is going strong, with plans for many more playgrounds; and, best of all, the children of Las Flores now have a safe, fun place to play.