While immersion programs provide some of the greatest benefits to children learning a new language, many school systems have yet to dedicate the financial and personnel resources necessary to plan and implement such programs on a wide scale. In areas where immersion or formal FLES programming does not exist in the schools, often opportunities to explore language and culture exist outside of the classroom through Foreign Language Exploratory (FLEX) programs either before or after regular school hours. Such programs may be available as school clubs or as classes through community education departments or private businesses. FLEX programs strive to provide engaging activities that integrate culture, vocabulary and communication in a fun and relaxed atmosphere. However, just because it is "fun" doesn't mean that a program lacks substance. In fact, there are many ways to integrate language and culture. Core content from math, reading and social studies helps students, parents, teachers and administrators understand the connections that can be made between early language learning and core curriculum. Combining language learning with core content is good for the students, too, as it provides young learners with an extra opportunity to reinforce the skills they are learning in their regular classrooms. With a little imagination, FLEX programs can incorporate core skills into fun activities that engage students, keep them moving and provide a culturally rich environment when they explore new languages.