Children take part in a cultural programme on the opening day of the summer camp at Kilkari Bal Bhavan on Tuesday. Picture by Ranjeet Kumar Dey

The fun of vacations began for hundreds of children at Kilkari Bal Bhavan on Tuesday with a summer camp.

Named “Greenmahotsav 2013”, it would continue for 25 days and help students not only beat the heat but also learn various skills.

On the first day, the children played games like “Feed the Joker” and “Khazana Khojo”. In the first game, the participants had to aim and throw a ball into the mouth of a cardboard joker. Along with the children, Ajay Kumar Choudhary, the director of primary education, also took part in it.

As its name suggests, the second game — “Khazana Khojo” — was a treasure hunt. Deciphering clues provided to them, the children had to find “treasures” hidden all over the Kilkari Bal Bhavan at Saidpur.

Students who took part in the events said they enjoyed themselves very much. There is more in store for them over the next few days.

Manish Kumar, a Class X student of Devi Dayal High School said he would learn voice modulation and how to write a story at the camp.

“I’m also interested in theatre. I shall learn stage management, story writing and how to use lights on stage,” he said.

Besides the games, they enjoyed a rain dance on Tuesday.

The children danced to the popular song “Lakdi ki kathi…” from the Naseeruddin Shah and Shabana Azmi-starrer Masoom (1983).

“I really loved dancing in the rain with my friends,” said Anand Raj, a Class X student of Sir GD Patliputra Interstariya School.

A recent winner of the state-level hasya-kavi (comic poet) competition, Raj would also learn voice modulation and writing stories at the camp. He said: “I shall be utilising this opportunity in learning various skills.”

On Tuesday, Sanjeevan Sinha, secretary of the education department, Jyoti Parihar, director, Kilkari, and dancer Soma Chakraborty attended the opening of the summer camp.

Chakraborty would teach dance to the participants.

They would also get an opportunity to learn other skills like voice modulations from professionals in radio and TV and paper modelling. They would get an introduction in astronomy from Amitabh Pandey.

The participants at the summer camp would be taken on a trip down the Ganga. Every evening, they would get to see a play and a film. The foodies at the camp would have a special attraction: they would be able to take part in an eating contest where they would have to gulp down golguppas and watermelons.