A school kid takes part in a winter camp in Bhubaneswar. Telegraph picture

Bhubaneswar, Jan. 13: An increasing number of schools are tying up with institutions dealing with adventure sports to hold special winter camps for their students.

Schools such as SAI International have tied up with the Delhi-based New Horizon Adventures to organise a weeklong winter camp for students of classes I to VIII. In these camps, students keep themselves busy with activities such as rock-climbing to fun sessions of singing, dancing and painting.

The seven-days bonanza include lots of exciting activities including rappelling, flying fox, jumaring, free fall, zorbing, tug-of-war, obstacle course, rope climbing, tarzan swing, monkey crawl, double rope bridge, commando crawl, hopscotch and tyre cross.

“Our winter camp will be on from January 6 to January 13. The objective of such camps is to promote adventure tourism and give an exposure of adventure and camping to the students,” said principal of SAI International Harish Sanduja.

“Camps like these help us acquire skills such as leadership, independence, teamwork and instills self-confidence in us. We are loving the camp and wish there were more of these,” said Samiksha, a student.

“They are great stress busters,” said Ramya, another student.

DAV Chandrashekharpur, another school in the city, also organised a similar camp for students.

“The camp was organised as part of a programme titled Aero Carnival. Apart from camping, students also took part in a national level workshop and competition.

“It’s a great opportunity for students to come together and unwind. It also gives the parents a fair idea of adventure camping who feel apprehensive about sending their kids away on camps,” said a senior DAV official.

Students in government institutions are also enjoying the winter. Similarly winter camps are being organised by the National Service Scheme (NSS) under the Council of Higher Secondary Education in various junior colleges of the state. As part of the programme, student volunteers from the colleges will camp at villages, monitor community life and organise programmes for the local people.