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BEAT the HEAT, with CREATIVITY
Children learning to swim at a summer camp. --Photo: K.R. Deepak
Come summer and most parents are left with one thought. How to get hold of their offspring who idolise naughty cartoon characters like Pokemon and Karate Kid. On one hand they have to worry about the rising mercury levels and how to protect their little ones from the wrath of Sun God and on the other they have to cope with the silly pranks that germinate from these young minds. The very thought of making the best use of the two-month holiday in a productive way and under a protected environment bother them from the start of the vacations.
Keeping this in mind, schools and private individuals have been getting into the business of summer camps.
"The idea is not just keeping the kids busy during holidays so that their parents, especially their mothers, could heave a sigh of relief but to stir the latent talent in them ," says Shobha Kishore of Quest.
It's time to learn volleyball . -- Photo: C.V. Subrahmanyam
She, along with her friend Narmada Reddy, would be starting this camp for kids in the 5-13 age group from May 3. Apart from teaching the kids crafts and painting, sessions on public speaking, dance, calligraphy and science exhibition would be the other features at the camp.
"We would also screen movies on weekends and have a host of games to keep their spirits high. The main idea of the camp is to make the children learn amidst fun," Says Narmada.
For the computer-savvy kids the NIIT campus in Asilmetta would be the ideal place to vent their creative instincts. As part of its summer camp the institute offers a wide variety of courses for the beginners as well as for the advanced programmers. The programme encompasses courses right from the school curriculum of C++ to web designing and from multimedia to personality development.
Another way to beat the heat and learn something new at the same time would be by going for a splash in the pool. Hotel Dolphin has already started its summer swimming camp a couple of weeks ago for children above the age of seven or kiddos over four feet in height. "We have been running this camp for over a decade and to accommodate more children we have two sessions this time, 7 to 8 in the morning and 4 to 6 in the evening," says the hotel's general manager, Rajendra Prasad.
Apart from having the hotel's physical trainer and expert swimmer, Shyam, in the pool the management also hires a couple of other coaches for safety and for giving personalised attention to one and all. The 15-day camp ends with the issue of a certificate by the management and to tickle the taste buds of the young swimmers the hotel spreads unlimited hot-chats and ice creams and pizza and burger dhamaka.
If games are the best way to keep them busy as well as cheerful then Venu Mohan, the correspondent of Little Angels School in M.V.P. Colony, had rightly designed a sports and games summer camp. "We pay a lot of attention to games and sports after school hours for our children on a regular basis, as we believe in the adage, `All work and no play make Jack a dull boy'. But this time we have opened up the summer camp for all, apart from our own students. And we have a similar camp running at our Ukkunagaram branch also," says he.
The games include shuttle-cock, basketball, table-tennis, volleyball, chess, cricket and yoga, and each game is played under the watchful eyes of the District Sports Authority coaches. And to add professionalism to cricket coaching the school has procured a bowling machine. With so many sporting activities throughout the year one should have little doubt how the school has been able to send students to national and State level meets every year.
For the culturally inclined parents who wish to see that their wards add up some extra skills to their persona from the music and fine arts domain, Sri Sarada Kala Niketan is the destination. The institution is offering crash courses in painting and in musical instruments like keyboard and veena apart from vocal classes.
"People who intend upgrading themselves to the advanced stage of learning could continue with the regular classes after the one-month summer camp at any of our branches, Seethamdhara or Shantipuram," says Kiranmayi.
Well, almost every aspect is covered in the above summer camps right from sports to dance and from painting to swimming. To add some learning into the fun, Sri Kapila Gopla Rao Sri Krishna Vidya Mandir, Lalithanagar, would be conducting special classes for students from Std. IV to Std. IX in English, mathematics and science subjects during the holidays.
Taking a cue from all the private summer camps, the District Educational Officer has also decided to host a month-long camp at K.N.M. Girls High School, New Colony.
The summer camps could not only be viewed as place to spend some quality time but also be treated as an ideal place to enhance the inherent creative talent and add skills to one's persona.
Contact Numbers
Quest : 3105215, 9849053462
Hotel Dolphin : 2567000
K.N.M High School : 3110278
Sri Krishna Vidya Mandir : 2735878, 5548538
Sri Sarada Kala Niketan : 2597747
Little Angels : 2553221
NIIT : 2551982
SUMIT BHATTACHARJEE
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