Yoga therapist Meera Vaghani with children at Solace. Pictures by Rashbehari Das

Just a summer vacation may not be good enough for your child. There’s homework still. There could be an overdose of Cartoon Network. She may complain that too much of summer camps, video camps and even Harry Potter, is boring.

But if some spas and fitness centres are to be believed, there’s a way out. After offering packaged rejuvenation to adults, they are targeting children with summer packages mixing health, fitness and fun.

Gold’s Gym, which has on offer a three-month kids’ package priced at Rs 7,000, is trying to get more children in by focusing on their special needs. The gym has a one-hour session that stresses on freehand exercises.

Says Divya Himatsingka, director, Gold’s Gym: “Kids are fitness freaks like never before. But a tight schedule hardly allows them time to indulge in fitness activities. Holidays are a great time to pay attention to this neglected area.”

At the gym, a session monitored by a trainer includes workouts on the treadmill and the knee extension device that strengthens calf and leg-muscles. The arc trainer tightens thighs and the ab machine tightens the stomach.

“To add the fun element, our sessions are combined with a lot of music. From hip-hop to rock, there is everything that a child would freak out on,” says Divya. A nutritionist on board helps balance the calorie intake.

The package includes two “free” powder massages. Children can come in between 10 am and 4 pm. Once the results are visible, children try to squeeze out some time for fitness every day, says Divya. There is an annual student membership on offer at the gym on AJC Bose Road.

Day spa Solace at Sunny Park, which has started yoga classes for children, also believes that kids should be drawn in with a little play. Yoga therapist Meera Vaghani, in charge of the kids’ session held between 10.30 and 11.30 every morning, describes the classes as “fun-filled sessions that align the body to the mind”.

Children learn asanas based on the movement of animals, birds, insects, trees, wheels and geometric shapes ? Salbhasana is imitating the locust posture, Kagasana is the crow walk, Simhasana is the lion posture and Vikhasana is the tree posture. Meera also makes her sessions interesting with mythological tales. Hanumanasana ? Hanuman sitting on his coiled up tail to converse with Ravana ? is a favourite with tots.

They are also taught mudras. While the Jalandhar mudra is the chin lock that helps activate the thyroid gland, the Uddian mudra is the stomach lock that helps fight obesity.

The six-day yoga session is followed by a one-day aqua aerobic class. Marching, jogging and water games are sure to “increase the performance level,” says Meera.

On till June 9, the yoga session comes for Rs 800 and aqua aerobic classes for Rs 200. The kids’ packages are devised as long-term programmes that become part of a kid’s daily routine. As Sabyasachi Chakraborty, manager of Addlife, says: “These sessions allow the kid to accept exercise as a regular part of their lives.”

At the Special Fitness Programme for Kids at Addlife, 22 Camac Street, the package costs Rs 1,800. The child is put through an orientation programme to ascertain his/her fitness level and metabolic structure and identify areas of health that need improvement. This is followed by freehand exercises and workouts on the treadmill, bike and rowing machine. The timings: 12 noon to 5 pm, till June 15.