Children take part in a drawing competition at a Chhota Bheem carnival, organised by Smily Marketing Solution in association with Telekids at Salkia, Howrah, on January 8. The carnival grounds were turned into a makeshift Dholakpur village, where the nine-year-old toon character lives. There were several joyrides, dance contests and magic and puppet shows for Chhota Bheem fans. Besides, the children and their parents also had a shot at gambling at the “Dholakpur ka Casino”, hitting Bheem’s rival Kalia with a ball and feeding their hero his favourite laddus. Pictures by Anup Bhattacharya

Two bookstores in the city had organised a host of events for children during the festive season last month. Starmark’s “Christmas Caravan” was held from December 16 to 31, while Crossword’s celebrations started on December 18 and continued till January 1.

At Starmark, children took part in an art-and-craft workshop and a book fest, among others. The different branches of Crossword organised workshops to keep young ones busy during their winter vacations. Some big draws were story-telling, card-making and toy-making sessions.

In another popular workshop organised by Camlin Sparkles, children learnt how to create eye-catching handicrafts.

“I learnt how to make a Christmas tree with the sparkles. It was great fun,” said Agnibha Chakroborty, a Class I student at Apeejay School, Salt Lake, at Crossword, Salt Lake.

Agnibha stayed back after his craft session to witness a magic show conducted by G. Mookerji. While some kids enjoyed learning new crafts, others preferred to catch up on their reading during their vacation. Ankana Banerjee, a Class IV student at Shri Shikshayatan, welcomed the book fest in Starmark as it offered her a range of books on adventure.

“I love reading Enid Blyton. I am spending the holidays reading her Enchanted World series,” she said.

Another fun session was the Lego Ninjago Building Event organised by Starmark, in association with Funskool and Mani Square. More than 300 kids joined in to build a Lego Ninjago more than 2.5 metres tall at Mani Square Mall on December 17 and 18. The structure had 66,000 Lego bricks.