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The Story of Joyce ’n’ Fun

Rooted in Skiathos, Joyce ’n’ Fun grew from a simple belief: that learning can be playful, communal, and alive. A home for children and youth to discover the world through culture, language, and curiosity.

Growing Together: Our Beginning

At Joyce ’n’ Fun, everything begins with curiosity! A child’s question, a traveler’s story, a spark shared under the trees. What we create grows from these simple moments: playful afternoons with local kids, exchanges with worldschooling families, nature-based learning, and adventures through Erasmus+ that connect Skiathos to many corners of the world.
Our journey is about weaving community, nurturing creativity, and building bridges between people, cultures, and the land we call home.

Our Mission

To create spaces where children, youth, and travelers learn with the world rather than about it.
Rooted in nature and guided by community, we offer inclusive, hands-on experiences, from alternative education and worldschooling to volunteering and Erasmus+ mobility.
Our mission is to nurture curiosity, strengthen resilience, and empower every person, from every background, to grow, create, and contribute to a more compassionate, sustainable world.

Our Vision

We imagine a living-learning ecosystem where people of all ages coexist with the land in harmony.
A place where education is joyful, community is intergenerational, and diversity (cultural, neurodiverse, and experiential) is celebrated as strength.
From our forested mountain to the Aegean Sea, we envision Skiathos as a home for collective learning, regenerative practices, and global connections that ripple far beyond the island.

The Story of How We Began

2014

In 2014 we opened our cosy Play Lounge filled with wooden houses, handmade toys, costumes, a slide, and a bouncing castle that sparked endless role-playing adventures during daily play and birthday parties. It became a warm meeting place for families on Skiathos, where children created worlds of their own and parents enjoyed shared moments over board games. This lively little haven planted the first seeds of what Joyce ’n’ Fun would later become.

2018

When the Play Lounge closed in 2018, the story did not pause. We carried our energy into the island itself, visiting local schools to present Erasmus+, tending new gardens, and planting small projects that would grow into Skiathos Youth. Those in-between years guided us back to the land, where pine scent, birdsong, and open sky became our partners. Step by step, our dream shifted toward creating a natural playground for all ages, a place where imagination could roam as freely as children running barefoot through the trees.

2020

In 2020, we planted the first chapter of a new adventure. High in the forest on the mountain, the land became a playground, a garden, and a workshop. Vassilis had just been born, the children were exploring new horizons, the first raised beds took root, compost toilets rose from the soil, and Stella, our faithful van, rolled into her new life on the land.

Here, imagination could run barefoot, the birds provided the soundtrack, and every little act felt like magic taking root.

2021

In 2021, our land became more than a dream, it became home. Solar panels shimmered like morning dew, our office and tiny house nestled among the trees, and volunteers shared winter days warmed by fire and friendship. Spring welcomed our first Erasmus+ trainings, and the platia and terraces emerged, shaping spaces where meetings, learning, and play could breathe together.

Every board laid, every seed planted, every circle gathered, deepened our connection to the land, to each other, and to the vision we were slowly bringing to life.