Simmering down in summer

Summer holidays have started again and the kids after a hectic academic year, are free from school, want to relax the whole summer by playing outside and plan for a vacation.
The city too gears up to host a slew of activities to keep children occupied; with several organisations announcing summer camps at every nook and corner of the city.

Gone are the days when kids used to look forward for a trip to their grandparents’ home during the vacation, which meant unlimited ‘masti’ and pampering. They also wait to pen their experiences once the school opens for the next academic year by writing an essay ‘How did you spend your summer?’ -- which was the first thing you are asked to do once you enter the classes.

It used to be a gay abandon for the kids who used to play outdoors with friends, wander aimlessly and have a story telling session in the night to complete the day.

Now, the summer vacation is well taken care of by the parents, who find it difficult to tolerate the ‘lovable brats’ for the whole month, and find them place at one of the summer camps that are being held in city. In majority of the cases, both the parents are employed and it is difficult to take a long break from their routine to spend some time with their kids.

Most of them justify that they are working round the clock to give their wards the best and apparently the kids are registered for one of the day-long camps. But the onus lies on the parents to see that the summer holidays are spent constructively and utilised optimally.

They should not admit the children to the camps that they wish but consult them on their areas of interest before putting them to the camps.  They should not be forced upon and should be left to their own, after all they deserve to at least select their  field of interest.
Experiencing success on the annual camps, the organisations too have totally commercialised the summer camps, with the prices almost doubling every year. Some organisations charge an exorbitant fee for the month-long camp.

The parents neither mind shelling out money nor wait in long queues just to get the application forms. It may be mentioned here that there was a huge rush for the applications of a summer camp organised by Rangayana, a theatre repertory, which was sold out in a few hours.

Advantages

While the advantages of the summer camps are improving independence, group living, and have the chance of pursuing the courses that they are interested of, utmost importance should be given while selecting the summer camps that do not have unprofessional teachers and bad students.

Generally, kids love sports and games and various government and private institutions offer various courses during summer vacation, where the children may learn to play games like football, cricket, tennis, volleyball and others.

Apart from making the vacation enjoyable, these games and sports can create good exercising habits which would benefit them in long run.

Trekking is another option. There are several organisations that conduct trekking trips for kids of different age groups.

This would help them in bird watching, help identify different animals and plants. Moreover, the nature walks and camping are interesting ways for them to bond with nature.