The summer holidays don't mean kids will have to stay home and play games on XBox. It's the age of the summer camp - some sheer fun, some educational and some that give you essential life skills.
Gone are the days summer holidays spelt stress for parents and boredom for kids. No more staying in and staying glued to either TV or the Xbox. This is the time when kids, on almost a two-month-long break from school, can learn what is now called “enhancement skills” at summer camps. And no, they are not few and far between, they are everywhere in the city these days – run by individuals, academies and even a few schools.
What’s more, the focus is not just on traditional extracurriculars such as painting and clay modelling, but on building life skills that may not necessarily be part of a school curriculum.
But don’t sweat it, we did the hard work for you. Here’s City Spidey’s selection of five of the best camps in Gurgaon:
UDAAN Summer Camp, Sector 46 (Until June 9)
In its fourth consecutive year of organising summer camps, Udaan teaches compelling new-age skills to kids between 4 and 14. Sangeeta Warrier, organiser of the camp, says, “This is a skill-based camp that covers story creation, public speaking, 3D art and craft, Western dance and fire-free cooking. We even have specific themes that can be especially interesting to young campers. It helps them gain self-reliance when out in the open.” Udaan already has 30 kids from schools such as Shikshantar, Lotus Valley, The Heritage School and DPS signed up, and is expecting more this weekend.
Future Ready LLP, Uniworld Gardens, Sohna Road (Starts May 31)
For slightly older kids, from Class IV-XII, this camp offers supplemental education programmes - such as bootcamps and workshops - in entrepreneurship, innovation and design thinking to equip them with 21st-century skills. Pallavi Srivastav, the camp organiser, says, “The world is changing in ways we have never imagined - the way we work, live and maintain our relationships. But education has remained unchanged. This kind of programme is essential in that it helps kids build real-world skills in a fun and challenging way.” A highlight of the camp is the Young Innovators Bootcamp, a 2.5-hour-long workshop where the kids are exposed to winning mindsets and fun challenges they can practice even at home. Another is the Entrepreneurship workshop for students between Class IV-VIII. In this six- to eight-hour-long workshop, kids actually make their own products and learn how to launch them. The Social Entrepreneurship workshop, for those in Class X-XII, teaches students to identify the social problems they would like to solve and come up with strategies to help them work towards it.
Kids at the Entrepreneurship Workshop, for students between Class IV-VIII, organised by Future Ready LLP
We Love Summer ’17, Ambience Mall (Until June 4)
Now this one is not just for the kids but also for their mothers. While kids between 5 and 14 years enjoy fun-filled activities that build their confidence and social adaptability, enhance their organisational abilities and increase productivity, mothers are sent to pampering sessions at the salon. Quite a package deal, that.
Brilliant Knowledge Camp, DLF Phase II (Until June 9)
This camp makes overall personality development its focus. While including sessions on mythology, superheroes, art and craft, it also teaches them the importance of the three R’s - reuse, reduce, recycle – and other socially relevant issues.
Mogly’s Gurukul, DLF Phase I (Until June 24)
For the tiny tots, this brings back the joy of old-school summer camps and offers kids between 2 and 8 fun storytelling sessions, street games, gardening, pottery, basic cooking, drama and much more.
So if you have a kid who’s getting bored at home, you know what to do next – flick through your daily newspaper for that pamphlet that will make the next few days not only fun but also educational.
Here's a glimpse of how much fun it can be:
