Thirteen-year-old Dhwani S reels off all that she had done during her summer classes in one breath. “We are practising some Kalari moves to warm up for Kambadavukali (rhythmic dance with sticks). Last week, there was origami and folk music. Today I had an acting session too.” The teenager is one of the participants of a summer camp at Theatre Academy for Media and Performance (Thamp), Peroorkada. It is her third year at the annual camp organised by the contemporary art and acting collective.
Summer camps are no longer confined to options such as music, dance, yoga, fine arts, performing arts, swimming, sports, languages and theatre. Children [and parents] are spoilt for choice as organisers of summer camps come up with innovative, offbeat sessions. Educational institutions, individuals, coaching centres, cultural centres and the like have curated numerous activities for children in different age groups.
So now, there are classes in carpentry, soldering, plumbing and furniture-making. Cooking classes (no gas, no fire) have become the norm. Training in managing expenses, shop management, publishing magazines, public speaking boot camp, filmmaking, garden designing, training in Artificial Intelligence, adventure activities, new-age hobbies and art programmes…the list goes on.
Hobby classes have been the mainstay of summer camps for years. Every year, new categories of activities are added to appeal to parents and children. Pottery has a lot of takers, so too do crochet and mural painting. Premier Office Equipment has cashed in on this interest and is holding Artventure 2024, a series of art and craft sessions, featuring eight artists and 18 art forms, which started on April 6 and ends on May 8.
“We have been holding workshops on weekends at our space at Kesavadasapuram for some time now. As the vacations are on, we thought of bringing together some of the trending arts and crafts disciplines under one roof. Besides benefitting interested children, this would support the artists also,” says Sneha Govind, who runs Premier. Artventure includes classes in mural art, crochet, resin art, doodling, lippan art, origami, finger puppets, doll making, paper quilling, and 3D sculpture art among others.
“Except resin art, all other classes are open to those aged eight and above. There is no upper age limit,” points out Vineetha Nair, who conducts classes in crochet at Artventure, besides individual classes online, along with sessions in making dreamcatchers and embroidery.
Mural artist and IT professional Dhanya Dharan, who participated in Artventure, says, “Children are coming in out of genuine interest and not out of parental pressure. That is encouraging.”
Making art and craft a wholesome experience has been the motto of Thamp, says Rajesh Chandran T T, director of Thamp. “We have been using games and activities to influence an individual’s personality. There is dramatics behind every activity. Theatre is our forte and we are using it as a therapeutic aid,” says Rajesh.
The two-month programme has activities ranging from yoga, martial arts and cooking to theatre, puppetry, folk arts, travel, dance, music, literature and media production. At the end of the camp, full-fledged productions will be staged.
An emerging trend has been sessions that teach different trades such as carpentry, plumbing, electrical work etc. One of the activities at Educool Learning Solutions’ ‘Skill spectrum summer camp’ covers carpentry, electrical repair, welding, soldering, bike mechanism, cement concreting, cooking etc.
The Friends School, in their fifth edition of its annual summer camp, is promoting design and product development. “For instance, in the carpentry class, they learn to make furniture and will be trained in making ready-to-assemble models. Under the plumbing project they will be developing a drip irrigation project for our school,” says George K Thomas, one of the directors of the school, which has branches at Venpalavattam and Nanthancode.
He adds that the activities are designed to be interconnected. “The macrame products they make will be used in our school. The dishes they learn to prepare at the cookery session will be prepared at the campfire we conduct. Whatever content they create at the literary sessions will be published as a book. The things they make, be it robots or pottery, will be exhibited at the carnival we conduct at the end of the camp next month,” says George.
Alternative schools are also in the picture with a plethora of programmes. Khushi (Isha Kriplani), founder of Yen’s School, Kalliyoor, says, “Our school focuses on experiential, activity-based learning and we are showcasing the same through our seven-week-long summer class.” Each week there are activities based around a theme, such as the ocean, sky, wildlife, solar system, robotics AI etc. “Besides covering performing arts, they are also introduced to skilled work such as welding and fixing/repairing things. Time management, housekeeping, self-grooming etc are also covered,” Khushi says.
“We emphasise the involvement of the parents. This is not a camp where they can just leave the kids at the door and walk away. The classes are designed in such a way that children open up and share their insecurities even as they try to understand more about themselves,” Rajesh adds.
Meanwhile, there is even a summer camp to groom children for pageants and ramp walks. Conducted by Three Seconds Pageants and Events Pvt Ltd, Kumarapuram, the classes are now online and there will be offline classes from April 25, says Dr Rakhi SP, coordinator of the grooming programme. “There is a lot of interest among children to take part in fashion shows these days. Besides ramp walk, the children are taught how to give an impressive self-introduction at contests and answer questions from the jury,” she says.
Even as the camps become diverse, the catch is that they are getting expensive as well. Aswathy Sabu, mother of a seven-year-old girl, says, “The rates keep going up every year. I have no other go but to leave her at a camp since both my husband and I are working. But we have to shell out ₹5,000 a month for this camp, jam-packed with a lot of activities. Nevertheless, we are sending our daughter since we are rest assured that she will be safe there.”
