Summer camps with a twist

Five years back summer camps meant sending children to craft, dancing, painting and cooking classes. But these days these just won’t do. Summer camps are taking on a whole new meaning and the courses offered are extensive. Correspondingly the fees for these summer camps are skyrocketing.

With the number of summer camps mushrooming in the City, the race is on to offer something new and unique. The focus too has gradually shifted from keeping children busy during the summer holidays to equipping them with skills of various kinds. Some of the camps are offering workshops in robotics, filmmaking, vedic mathematics, animation, spirituality-based sessions and yoga among others.

Amongst the wide genera, robotic workshops have been attracting a large number of teens and pre-teens. This year the City has several robotic workshops, and children as young as six or seven have been attending these classes to learn the basics of robotics.

“We conducted a series of test sessions at a mall in the City and were amazed by the response. We now have full-fledged workshops where students will be taught about the different aspects of robotics. We are also giving them home-kits that contain a robot guru software and kit. This will help them understand the subject better and they might take up the subject as a major if and when they eventually do their engineering,” says Shivani Upadhaya, technical associate, Jay Robotics.

Apart from this, filmmaking and post-production are some of the other most sought after workshops this summer, especially amongst high school students. Coaches say that students in Hyderabad are more inclined towards learning Photoshop, video editing and other animation software. “These students are usually caught up with their studies and other activities during the school year and are hard pressed for time. This is why we have introduced a crash course in these software for them. We have already completed training one batch and the next one will start soon,” said Vaishnavi, chief operations officer, Mac labs.

Breaking off from the run of the mill courses and busting the myth that spirituality is for the old and grey, Hyderabadi youngsters are also signing up for spiritualty-based summer camps. “I have enrolled both my children in a spiritual workshop. Here they learn yoga and Vedic chants along with other activities. Though this is an expensive workshop, it is a fun way to help my child get in touch with Indian history, culture and heritage,” says Usha K, a homemaker.

Unique as they may be, these summer camps are also proving to be an expensive deal for most parents with their skyrocketing fees. Some of these camps charge as much as `12,500 for one month.

“Sending children to summer camps is more of a herd mentality since everyone does it. Yet, this is a more productive way of spending vacations. But there needs to be a regulatory body to keep a check on the increasing number of summer camps. None of these camps charge less than `3,000,” complains Shradha K, an IT employee.

Tags: summer camps

Category: City, City News