Crochet, Paper Quilling, Calligraphy and more

Summer camps are here again and children are trying their hand at different skills. With cultural centres mushrooming, parents have a wide choice to choose a variety of activities for their kids.

Revathi, a grade 6 student of Railway Mixed High School, Lallaguda, makes sure every strip of paper found in her house goes into the cotton bag that she carefully preserves. In other times she would not care for waste paper but ever since she enrolled for a paper quilling workshop, collecting paper has been her passion. Quilling is an art form that involves the use of paper strips to create designs.

Likewise, Anuradha, a student of Kotwal School, Marredpally is hooked to crochet after her aunt introduced her to an Anglo Indian lady who teaches the art. Making scarfs and bags is now her favourite pastime. Crocheting is similar to knitting.

It is not just activities indoor, from making short films to theatre workshops and rock climbing, students today have a wide range of activities to choose from. While a two-hour crochet workshop is going to be held at Our Sacred Space on June 1, children’s theatre workshops are underway at different places in the city.

Nayantara Nandkumar of Our Sacred Space, a cultural space in Secunderabad says, “There are many activities that children can choose. From basket weaving to crochet workshops, handicrafts and learning Telugu songs that the present generation has almost forgotten. The idea is to provide a platform for all to discover their inherent talent and learn something new.”

Meghna, a teacher who specialises in child centred activities, and who holds a summer camp at Padmarao Nagar every year, says, “When children learn a skill in a group they pick up quickly. Storytelling and writing short stories helps children in several ways. They learn how to frame sentences, use their faculties as they have to imagine and become better writers. It helps them analyse better and do well in other subjects as well.”

Resy Mannemplayan, coordinator, Head Humanities, Indus International School conducts workshops in candle decoration and eco-friendly bags. She says, “Children are more imaginative and creative. We just provide them a good environment and a few tools and they come up with extraordinary items.”

The children also make their parents shun the plastic bags and urge them to use the eco-friendly bags for shopping. Uma, a parent says, “Children not only learn to make use of their time in a fruitful manner but also become conscious of their environment.”

“It is a pity that schools do not expose children to pottery. We used to make leather belts at the Hyderabad Public School. By not exposing children to performing arts also one is doing a disservice. Mugging up matter is not education,” says Rustom a parent.

Schools too are conducting summer coaching camps. Workshops on balloon twisting, clay modeling, photography, calligraphy and yoga are held.

Calligraphy training centres may not be many in the city but there are many takers especially in the Old City. Ali, a resident of Moghulpura teaches batches of students the fine art of Calligraphy. In these days when the mouse rules, calligraphy is still providing resistance. Once someone gets hooked, there is no looking back, says Ali.