THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: For 10-year-old Albin Kurien, memories of travelling to his hometown in Kollam with his mother every year during the summer vacations is one of the sweetest. Far from tuitions and assignments, he would enjoy his time outdoors, playing with kids in the neighbourhood.
But since last year, Albin has been stuck at home, like all his peers. With no more online classes, even parents were clueless what to do with kids. They can stop worrying as a slew of virtual summer camps have come to their rescue. Fun-filled DIY science experiments and a bit of yoga are helping kids beat the boredom amid the ongoing lockdown. Most camps offer one or two hour sessions daily.
Art and literature all the way!
Satheesh Nair, theatre director and founder of Art Space Centre for Performing Arts, Pattom, has engaging virtual sessions for children between 5 and 15 years of age. His hour-long summer camp has dance, music, storytelling, poem writing, folk music and theatre acts. “As of now, there are 95 kids in the camp which was originally planned as a 10-day event. Owing to demand from parents, I extended it till May 30,” says Satheesh. “My daughter is not taught Malayalam in her school. The camp introduced her to Malayalam poems, stories, plays and books. After attending classes by writer Indu Menon, she has started reading Malayalam storybooks and is very enthusiastic about the language,” says Jeejabhayi V K, mother of Almithra Niramayi, a Class VII student at a Kendriya Vidyalaya.
DIY camps for science wizards
Apart from camps to boost the creative juices, science and robotics sessions help kids with a flair for science. Kishore B S, a teacher who delivers DIY activities and lessons in maths and science through schoolmynd.com, says he tries to make learning fun. “Most of the materials are available around the house. They are simple tricks that help them understand scientific principles through hands-on experiments. Recently, I taught kids how to make a rocket using tubes made out of paper, and in the process, taught them the laws of motion,” he says. Inker Robotics’s robotics assembling and programming camp follow a ‘phygital’ learning curriculum to equip the students. “Around 250 children across the country are part of it. We provide them with a learning kit with parts to create their first robot, Chota Bot, out of cardboard. The children are introduced digitally to our physical laboratory at Thrissur.
Yoga and life skills
Yoga instructor and nutritionist Uma Kalyani resumed her yoga classes online for stressed-out kids during the lockdown. She has students between 5 and 12 years of age. “Unlike elders, kids are not familiar with Sooryanamaskara. So I make them do various animal postures playing the sounds of those animals in the background, thus making the session interesting,” says Uma. An elated student of Uma’s class, 10-year-old Vaishnavi says, “Apart from yoga sessions we are also given life classes, lessons on microgreen gardening, hula hopping, skipping rope, and cooking without fire sessions.”
Learning for special kids
Satram School in Attakulangara, the first autism centre under the Sarva Sikhsha Abhiyan’s South Urban resource centre, has been engaging special children of the school with activities daily. According to Annie Stephen, special educator of the school, children with various levels of learning disabilities are provided with video learning sessions on drawing and crafting. Physical training is given through WhatsApp groups that also have their parents as members. “Though these online sessions cannot replace therapy at school, they will keep kids engaged,” he says.