Summer camps for little champs

Today is the last working day for government schools and many private schools. Students are looking forward to dabbling with robotics, Abacus frames and puzzles at summer camps to kill the summer boredom and find their own passion to become little champs.

Summer is here again, bringing jubilant smiles on kids’ faces. The summer vacations are a period of ecstasy for the kids with no school, homework, exams and all the cramming for it. However, this joy doesn’t last longer, soon the days become mundane and the scorching heat prevents the kids to play outside. What do the kids do then during these never ending vacations? The numerous summer camps budding across the city provide an easy solution to kids’ boredom. These summer camps offer various activities that not only do away with kids’ boredom but also help their overall development.

Visiting grandparents’ home or going for a week’s vacation to a hill station seem tame and boring at a time when kids and their parents are aspiring for more and the summer camps and providing for the same. Today, summer camps are no longer about a bit of music, dance, painting and slokas. Instead, it encompasses a host of activities like robotics, public speaking, indoor games, Sudoku solving classes, spell and word bee coaching etc.

The ‘Abacus Brain Study’ institute at Somajiguda in Hyderabad offers abacus classes for 15 days, 30 days and 45 days programmes scheduled especially for summer vacations. The institute manager said that the parents are highly interested in sending their kids for this programmes as it helps them to improve pace of solving complex mathematical problems. The institute offers other programs like Vedic Math, Combi Arts, which includes drawing, painting, and spoken English. According to them, Vedic Math is highly popular among the high school students, while kids are more into Combi-Arts. Some institutes even incorporate a bit of fitness with Yoga, aerobics and Zumba dance for kids.

‘Our Kids’ in Kondapur also offers exciting courses for the summer. They engage the students in activities like puzzle-solving, drawing, painting and construction with Lego sets, which they say contributes to the child’s logical and spatial ability. For children from higher age groups they offer programmes like debating, writing, public speaking etc. The institute manager talking to The Hans India said that “The kids attending the summer camps show no interest in learning from books; hence we let the kids between the age groups of three to five years solve exciting puzzles on iPad.” The institute indeed knows what to give to the technology natives.

Tapping into kids’ interest in TV shows like Backyard Science is ‘Creya Institute’ in Banjara Hills offers some exciting activities with chemistry and physics. They also have workshops on clay modelling, ad making, animation, life skills etc. which could be a great learning experience. They have programmes for children from all the age groups.

Bhanumathy Ashok, parent of a four-year-old child, said, " I would like to send my daughter to summer camps because I don't want her to get bored at home. Summer camps offer so many activities which can be refreshing for her."

A 13-year-old student said that in summer camps he can learn a lot of additional activities that are not offered in the regular curriculum. "We do not get time to learn a few fun extra-curricular activities during the regular days. Summer camps enable us to learn them during our free time."