What’s keeping Noida kids busy this summer holiday

Not very long ago, summer camps usually meant

painting

,

singing

and dancing. Remember how in ‘

Kuch Kuch Hota Hai

’, Anjali tells her dad, “mujhe singing aur dancing ka kitna shauk hai” before asking his permission to go to a summer camp? But that’s passé now, as kids are enrolling for summer camps that teach

pottery

, table manners, non-fire cooking and even how to make your own motor boat and battery-operated pencil sharpeners! Several summer camps in Noida are offering a variety of creative activities for kids this summer, making parents glad that their children are acquiring new skills while having fun at the camps.

Pottery classes for little artists

For most kids living in metros, playing with mud is an alien concept. But with this class, Noida kids are not only having fun while playing with clay, but are also creating interesting art pieces. A pottery studio in Sector 21’s

Jalvayu Vihar

is offering sessions for kids where the focus is on creating things using hand techniques and without the potter’s wheel. Pooja Verma, who takes these classes says, “Children are being introduced to clay modelling. When they get accustomed to claying, they are introduced to the potter’s wheel. We also share ideas in our class and kids use their own imagination to create their art pieces. We will also teach them slab technique where they’ll learn to make tiles. In pinch technique, strokes and patterns are made on the creations with the help of fingers. In clay modelling sessions we teach them to makem raw sculptures like a squirrel and a bird by joining clay pieces.”
Age group: 6 years and above

For

science

wizards
Studying science with the help of experiments not only makes it easy for students to understand the concepts, but also makes it fun. Shalu Singhal, who takes science workshops in Sector 51 Noida, says, “In our class, children brainstorm on a particular science concept apart from focusing on experiments. We take basic science concepts of light, magnetism, electricity, levitation, and pressure, and do experiments based on them. Once, after learning the concept behind a motor, a student made an automatic sharpener. Experimenting rather than mugging up the concepts helps them understand the concept more easily and also increases their curiosity.”
Age group: 8-14 years

For budding actors

Annu Mehta, Resource Person (Theatre in Education) who conducts theatre classes in Noida, says, “For kids aged 4-6 years, we have a thematic week where there’s a particular story and song of the week. Then there are drama games and activities, which help in improving children’s attention, oratory skills, creativity and team spirit. Kids aged 6-12 years stage musical dance-dramas. They’re taught to handle UV lights and puppets. Children also get involved in the planning and choreography of the story. Theatre is the only performing art which is highly social in nature. When a kid gets involved in theatre, they cooperate with each other in a team and adjust. This helps them in learning socialising, being empathetic, working in a team, cooperating and sustaining efforts.”
Junior group: 4-6 years
Senior group: 7-12years

STEAM classes for li’l strategists

There’s also a summer workshop taking place in the city to enhance the kids’ STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Maths) skills. “We cover science and technological skills, which include structures, models, engineering, creative art including crafts and mathematics. For example, in a group of four students, we will give them a task to do - like building a car out of two disposable cups. These four children will come up with four different solutions. We will analyse them and then come up with the strongest solution. We also do team building activities like meditation, fun activities, etc, to help children coordinate and learn teamwork” says Shuborno Chakroborty, a resource person for the camp.
Junior group: 6- 10 years
Senior group: 11-16 years

For the young health-conscious cooks

A private school in Noida is offering non-fire cooking classes, where kids are taught to make dishes without using fire. The items made by the kids are not only easy to make, but are healthy too. “We teach kids to make sandwiches, biscuit cakes, cakes, green chaat, sprouts, fruit chaat, among other healthy food items. We also discourage them to drink carbonated drinks, which they can replace by other healthy drinks like lemonade, butter milk and shakes. Cooking requires patience and teaching children as young as three is a tough task. But we are receiving great response as students are liking to cook for themselves,” says Shailja Chhabra, who is managing the workshop.
Age group: 2-10 years

Learning table manners

This summer, many workshops on personality development and etiquette learning are being conducted in Noida. Varsha Singh, etiquette and manners trainer and personality enhancer, says, “We have students as young as five. Kids who belong to the age group of five to eight years are taught general manners and more emphasis is given on personal hygiene. The other age group (9 to 13 years) is taught about basic table manners, bullying, sexual harassment, apart from common etiquette involving saying sorry, thank you, please and being polite. Children above 13 years are taught finance management, and how important it is to give respect. We round it up with dining etiquette by giving them a three-course lunch and teaching them table manners including the correct way to eat spaghetti, pasta and how to break bread.”
Age group: 5-16 years




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