Diversity is the flavour of summer camps in Thiruvananthapuram

Diversity is the hallmark of the summer camps happening in Thiruvananthapuram

Thirteen-year-old Dhwani S reels off all that she had done during her summer classes in one breath. “We are practising some Kalari moves to warm up for Kambadavukali (rhythmic dance with sticks). Last week, there was origami and folk music. Today I had an acting session too.” The teenager is one of the participants of a summer camp at Theatre Academy for Media and Performance (Thamp), Peroorkada. It is her third year at the annual camp organised by the contemporary art and acting collective.

Summer camps are no longer confined to options such as music, dance, yoga, fine arts, performing arts, swimming, sports, languages and theatre. Children [and parents] are spoilt for choice as organisers of summer camps come up with innovative, offbeat sessions. Educational institutions, individuals, coaching centres, cultural centres and the like have curated numerous activities for children in different age groups.

So now, there are classes in carpentry, soldering, plumbing and furniture-making. Cooking classes (no gas, no fire) have become the norm. Training in managing expenses, shop management, publishing magazines, public speaking boot camp, filmmaking, garden designing, training in Artificial Intelligence, adventure activities, new-age hobbies and art programmes…the list goes on.

Hobby classes have been the mainstay of summer camps for years. Every year, new categories of activities are added to appeal to parents and children. Pottery has a lot of takers, so too do crochet and mural painting. Premier Office Equipment has cashed in on this interest and is holding Artventure 2024, a series of art and craft sessions, featuring eight artists and 18 art forms, which started on April 6 and ends on May 8.

“We have been holding workshops on weekends at our space at Kesavadasapuram for some time now. As the vacations are on, we thought of bringing together some of the trending arts and crafts disciplines under one roof. Besides benefitting interested children, this would support the artists also,” says Sneha Govind, who runs Premier. Artventure includes classes in mural art, crochet, resin art, doodling, lippan art, origami, finger puppets, doll making, paper quilling, and 3D sculpture art among others.

“Except resin art, all other classes are open to those aged eight and above. There is no upper age limit,” points out Vineetha Nair, who conducts classes in crochet at Artventure, besides individual classes online, along with sessions in making dreamcatchers and embroidery.

Mural artist and IT professional Dhanya Dharan, who participated in Artventure, says, “Children are coming in out of genuine interest and not out of parental pressure. That is encouraging.”