Summers are no longer boring for kids as they try their hand at a host of fun activities. By Sharang Bhaskaran
When summer arrives, and the schools are closed for the break, it’s a conundrum for most parents as to what should their do children do to spend all their free time during the break. While some families take a trip in the holidays, some parents are too busy to be able to that. That’s where most summer camps for children come in that promise to engage your child in something productive and creative for a few days. What is most interesting is that how these summer camps have changed over the years and become dynamic and reflect modern trends. Just like the concept of popup stores, we now have popup summer camps that take place in large malls in many metro cities.
One such camp is the ‘We love summer 2016’ at the Ambience Mall to be conducted from May 23 to June 5 that has a plethora of interesting and unique activities for children between the ages 8 and 13. Arjun Gehlot, director, Ambience Mall, Gurgaon and Vasant Kunj said, “The advent of technology and easy access to electronic gadgets and devices along with change in life style is slowly changing the way summer vacations were traditionally spent.
Hence, we organise this carnival every year and include activities that engage the children, both physically and mentally for a wholesome fun-filled learning experience that lets them explore their imagination.” With several options to choose, from music and dance to baking to robotics, children will definitely love it this summer. The activities also include basketball and football, puppet workshop, paintball, sewing classes, theatre workshops, ice skating, zumba-kickboxing, meditation through music, and science and quizzing workshops for kids who want to learn something new over their summer holidays.
The carnival is based upon the the concept of edutainment wherein children learn important lessons like team-work and discipline, and developing mental and physical skills by engaging in activities that are fun for them. The kids will learn the basics of the piano and music under the talented pianist Aman Bathla and shake a leg with popular Bollywood choreographer and dancer Shiamak Davar who’ll be teaching the little ones to dance like pros. If your young one has a sweet tooth and likes to experiment in the kitchen, they will have a lot of fun at the baking lessons by some of the best bakers from The leela Ambience Hotel. The most endearing thing is how excited the little pastry chefs are when get to taste the delicacies prepared by them.
Theatre and puppetry workshop will be conducted by Dramabaaz Company where children will learn the art of acting and narrating stories through the use of puppets. Junior NBA coach Karan Baweja will impart training for football and basketball to give the children their daily dose of sports to keep them fit and active.
In the sewing classes by Usha Janome, kids design and sew bags and small articles. They will also get to sharpen their minds and enhance their knowledge in the quizzing workshop by Xpress Minds. One of the most interesting and unique things on the whole list of activities are the storytelling classes by renowned theatre actor and the master storyteller Kamal Pruthi, who will narrateKabuliwala stories to kids. When asked if he feels that children today are lacking in imagination, Pruthi replied, “Storytelling has no age limitation. Kids and adults alike like to tell stories and like listening to stories. Stories come from your experiences and from what you see and hear from others. Children do read less these days but I don't think that they lack imagination. It’s just something that develops on its own once you experience more.”
“Children today are very smart because of their exposure to so much information, so it becomes important for them to recall information easily and use the right techniques for it. Quizzing is such an activity that speeds up your thinking process and helps you remember and recollect information easily after a period of time,” said Raktim Nag, the quizmaster from Xpress Minds.
Physical fitness is as important as mental fitness for little children, especially in today’s age when children do not play physically anymore, but spend too much time in the virtual world. “With activities like zumba or kickboxing, they develop physical strength coordination of their senses,” explained Rohit from Vivafit.
A robotics class teaches kids to build a robot by instructing them on the basic mechanics behind robot building. “We teach them the basics of robotics and how a circuit and battery helps in the motion of robots. But we essentially let them be creative with their ideas,” said Vishal, a robotics instructor.