Watermelon, popsicles, sleepovers, cricket under the hot sun, visiting thaatha paati ,...but wait, aren't we forgetting something? What's summer without summer camps? There are so many of them that kids can do everything they dreamed of, right from fishing in the freezing waters of the Ooty Lake to star-gazing with a new bunch of friends.
There are options aplenty for little ones interested in arts and crafts. Kalpana Subramanian of Sai Ganesh Creative Arts teaches up to 40 different painting styles that include Madhubani, Warli and Kerala murals, apart from jewellery making. Also, children can choose the painting style they wish to specialise in. Contemplate Art Gallery gets children to hob nob with renowned contemporary artists such as Shanthamani Muddaiah, Reema Alva, Rakhi Peswani and comics author Bharath Murthy. They learn paper making, painting and comics illustration from them.
Happy days
The ‘Spontan art camp' organised by Kalamandir Art School is all about making children work with spontaneity, rather than following a strict set of rules. For example, their nature sketching activity requires participants to observe insects and plants around and sketch them quickly using their own colour schemes. The same is the case with the blot and spatter designs activity using wet handmade paper. The wet paper requires one to work quickly since the colours tend to spread fast. The art camp includes activities such as relief work, collage work, creating textures, printing, glass work, art on t-shirts and stencil art. There also is a picture story book activity in which kids can design their own characters, illustrations and front cover.
At the summer camp in Subarban's Tejas kindergarten, children can not only learn drawing and painting, but slokams , dance and story-telling as well. And Pink Fitness One teaches quilling to kids this summer. Children learn to make motifs that can be stuck in photo frames, greeting cards, etc.
Children who are outdoorsy can participate in Holiday Adventure's camp at Ooty. The activities include trekking, fishing, horse-riding, a jolly-good campfire with dance, games and more. “We have trainers who will accompany the kids during the activities,” says Lakshmi Priya, coordinator of Holiday Adventure. “They will also be taken on a visit to a tribal village, a tea factory and a cheese factory,” she adds.
The summer camp organised by Satchidananda Jothi Nikethan, Kallar aims at inculcating leadership qualities and togetherness in children. Their 10-day residential summer sports and leadership training camp consists of activities such as cricket, badminton and tennis (children can select any sport of their choice), training in public speaking, decision making and communication, Karate, Yoga, and arts and crafts. And of course, the camp in not without a trekking expedition.
Kalanjiyam's ‘Discover Kids – Summer Residential Camp' at Coonor has plenty of fun-filled activities like origami, painting, balloon crafting, quilling, vegetable carving, simple stretch exercises, nature walks, bird watch, storytelling and puppetry.
Engineering fun
GD Naidu Technical Museum, Goethe-Zentrum and Gedee Technical training institute have jointly organised an innovative summer camp that will equip children with technical aptitude. By the end of the 12-day camp, participants will understand the working of mechanical equipment. Why, they will get to build their own bicycle and ride it home!
Participants will also be introduced to robotic technology by Big Bodhi Academy. “They will be taught the basic movements of robots such as walking and moving across obstacles,” says A. Balakrishnan, Manager, GD Naidu Charities. Children aged between six and 14 can participate in activities such as making electronic items, German puzzles and crafts, aircraft models, playing German skill games, Mathamagic, etc.
