TYRE, Lebanon – As the old American school bus painted in a riot of colors pulls into a school yard in this city in south Lebanon, a dozen children are waiting, the youngest jumping up and down and clapping in excitement.

The former yellow bus, now covered in images of iconic film, music and comedy stars, is at the heart of an arts project that for a few hours a week whisks away children displaced by conflict to a place where they can be kids again.

Kassem Istanbouli, the founder of Tiro Association for the Arts, shouts out greetings as the youngsters clamber on and squeeze onto the padded metal seats.

“The purpose is that we want them to come to have joy and fun and to learn,” says Istanbouli, a Lebanese actor and theater director. “But the most important is that they can get out and forget the war for two hours.”