Meet your Kids Club friends

Meet Teresa, one of your Kids Club friends. Originally from the state of San Luis Potosi, she studied childcare and a course in gym instruction before moving to the Mexican Caribbean to learn English and find work.
Her first job was in the Activity team at Royal Sunset but she soon transferred to the Kids Club. She worked in the Mayan Palace Kids Club for five years before starting a family. She opened her own gym but a health problem five years later led to her selling the business and returning to the hotel industry.
After a short spell at Vidanta, she joined Grand Residences and has been here for a year and a half.
She explains that the most popular Kids Club activities are face painting and the spa day, the water balloon battle, treasure hunt, pirate’s day, feeding the iguanas and t-shirt painting. “This summer we started to do theme days, for example a day with the chef making and decorating cookies and having a picnic,” adding. “Then there’s environment day with activities like recycling art, plants and a nature walk. Children have sporting fun with the mini Olympics, or dress up like buccaneers on Pirate’s day, Fiesta day is the piñata party and on Mexican day we do the girls’ hair in plaits with flowers, make bracelets and teach the children Mexican folk dances.
“Many of our art sessions involve recycled materials,” Teresa says, “for example, newspaper for papier mâché, plastics and aluminum foil and we are always looking for activities in which we can spread the environmental message. Friday is Fiesta Day and we have a party for the children who had birthdays during the week. There’s a cake, special decoration, piñata, candies, popcorn and a gift and we all sing Las Mañanitas and Happy birthday. We also have a weekly movie and pizza night and themed activities during the year, for example for Easter, Children’s Day, 4th of July, Mexican Independence, Halloween and Dia de Muertos and Christmas of course.
“I would like our owners and guests to know that we give a big welcome to their children and grandchildren. They are really going to enjoy themselves. They can relax in the knowledge that the little ones are having just as much fun as they are. In fact, they don’t want to leave the Kids Club at the end of their stay.
“We want the children to feel at home and it’s our job to create exceptional vacation moments for them. They start to tell us about themselves and their lives, making friends. Some children visit us two or three times during the year and they run in and give us a big hug and send us letters and drawings when they leave. It is immensely satisfying to know that we make them happy.
“Our goals are to keep innovating, adding new activities and games. We are also looking for a course to design activities for children with autism.
Teresa loves working at Grand Residences and enjoys the friendly work environment and the team spirit. She says, “It’s a great responsibility looking after children, I enjoy working with them, talking to them. You enter their world, their imagination, creativity and way of looking at things. I love it.”
She adds: “Here in the Kids Club we try and give the children a taste of Mexico, a look at our traditions. We play lottery with them and they learn Spanish words. We make dream catchers, piñatas and paper flowers and then we do the girls’ hair in traditional plaits and braids. We want them to take home a piece of Mexico and learn about a different culture too.”