Bhubaneswar, May 5: Youngsters in the city are taking part in number of summer workshops and camps to put their free time during the school vacation to good use.
Various organisations are offering workshops on dance, including Odissi and modern, theatre, swimming, painting, horse riding, film-making, photography and a host of sports activities.
East Coast Railway Women's Welfare Organisation organised a summer camp at Rail Vihar to engage children, particularly the wards of railway employees, in a number of creative activities.
Children in the camps are having a great time playing with mud, sand, papers and vibrant colours. They are being encouraged to express their feelings and emotions using these items.
They are also taking part in yoga, meditation and aerobics camps. Experienced trainers in various fields are training the kids.
Parents said sending their children to summer camps has become a necessity at present. "Earlier parents were not so busy and could spend time with children. There were fewer options and less competition for children. But, these camps help children to learn something new and remain engaged," said Sonali Dash, a mother of two children.
Summer camps, organised in partnership with a Delhi-based voluntary organisation Aspire under Tata Steel's Thousand Schools Project, were launched recently at Daitari Primary School in Keonjhar district.
Under the project, a 45-day long camp is being organised simultaneously at 363 schools in six blocks - Danagadi and Sukinda in Jajpur, Harichandanpur and Joda in Keonjhar, and Koira and Kutra in Sundargarh.
Around 18,000 children have been enrolled in 507 camps that will run till June 15. "The objective of the initiative is to engage children meaningfully and inculcate the habit of going to school and increase involvement in school governance," said Anand Sen from Tata Steel.
He further said: "Summer camps give an opportunity to children to learn while having fun." Children are being provided activity-based teaching through singing, dancing, playing fun games with the help of teaching-learning materials.
A few offbeat courses such as bird watching, start gazing, robotics, cookery, film-making, editing, animation and graphics design, radio jockeying, anchoring, theatre and acting are also up on offer for the students.
"Twenty-five short films have been made by children during the vacation," said a teacher of DAV Public School, Pokhariput.
Odisha Modern Art Gallery has been organising a summer art camp for children in the city. Children learn about terracotta, pottery, wall hanging, glass painting, tie and dye, canvas painting, balloon craft, tribal painting, leave painting and many more at the camp.
