New age skills all the rage as summer camps, workshops change tack

Many institutes are offering culinary, acting and even pottery classes to help children learn and hone new skills

PUNE

A number of theatre/acting workshops are being organised for children and young adults which are garnering a good response due to theatre being an integral part of Pune’s culture. (HT PHOTO)

For years now, summer- camps and workshops have been about school- and college- goers learning skills such as swimming, singing, dancing, writing and art but the trends are changing and the focus is now shifting to imparting and imbibing newer, more modern capabilities.

For instance, various summer schools around Pune city are offering classes in science, information technology (IT), Robotics and virtual reality (VR) where students and parents are exposed to these new-fangled concepts. Hope Foundation’s International Institute of Information Technology (IIIT) is organising a ‘Summer Innovation Camp’ for teenagers interested in Geoinformatics, web development and coding among others. A participant in this camp said, “The initiative has been taken with the thought to provide students a more hands-on experience. Children are growing up in a tech-savvy world and we want them to understand how the applications (apps) used by them are made.” Similar such camps are helping youngsters gain practical knowledge through live projects and interactive sessions.

Many institutes are offering culinary, acting and even pottery classes to help children learn and hone new skills. The Line Story Studio is conducting pottery workshops with special batches for children during the summer. Ameya from The Line Story Studio says, “We have been organising pottery workshops for the past three years now. Parents bring their kids for a different experience. We cater to a wide range of customers and organise customised workshops.”

A number of theatre/acting workshops are being organised for children and young adults which are garnering a good response due to theatre being an integral part of Pune’s culture. Whereas some institutes are offering camping and trekking activities which not only give children an opportunity to explore nature but also inculcate a spirit of adventure in them. One such, the Pugmarks Summer Camp, has local as well as outstation trekking and camping packages catering to different age groups. A three to five days trekking and camping programme costs anything between Rs19,000 and Rs30,000 depending on the package selected. There is also a local trek worth around Rs12,000 in which the parent can accompany the child.

According to the director of the Pugmarks Summer Camp, “Camping and trekking can give children not only a sense of adventure but also the exposure of being independently away from their parents. Children can make their own decisions, although they are obviously under the supervision of our volunteers.”

“We have trained and specialised volunteers for each group of children. We follow all safety and health measures at all times along with all the guidelines provided by the Maharashtra authorities. We take due permission whenever it comes to hill- and mountain- trekking and we even require a health certificate at times. We have female volunteers as well and make sure that the children get all the amenities,” he said.

With summer at its peak, all these camps and workshops are proving to be a blessing for children and parents looking for fun new ways to spend vacations.