more-in “Candy, the snowy cat, seeks help from its friend, the fiery dragon, to chase away an evil Snake that has entered their village.” Preethi Shanker, the storyteller narrates the tale with colourful puppets in her hand as kids sit around her, wide-eyed and brimming with imagination. Rishitha, a class four student from Good Shepherd School says, “I like doing my own art and craft at summer camps.” Sara, a class one student from Lakshmi school, chips in “I love hearing stories and colouring with my sketch pens.” A sun catcher, dragon puppet, a 3D ladybug and Agamograph painting techniques are some of the other cool DIY art projects that kept the kids engaged at the two day summer workshop in K K Nagar last weekend. If you want to ensure that your child does not remain glued to mobile phones, play stations and TV during the vacation, take them outdoors. And if do not have the time, send them to the summer camps where they get the opportunity to socialize with other kids, sharpen their creativity and learn something new while having fun at the same time. Here is a listicle of upcoming summer camps your child could enjoy: The annual summer camp organized by Gandhi Memorial Museum in collaboration with the Government museum is a much awaited event that offers unique choice of activities. It is starting on April 21 and will continue till May 18 for children between five and 15 years. “This is the 33rdsummer camp organized by us. Besides drawing, karate and language training (Tamil, Hindi and English), we also teach bharatanatyam, flute, yoga, Varma kalai, silambam and nattupura kalai including Poikaal Kuthirai”, says K.R.Nanda Rao, Administrative officer. For more details call 0452-2531060, 0452-2529298 Kondaattam 2018’ organized by TOPKIDS center at K.Pudur, claims to be a unique summer camp that focuses on attitude building and right brain advantage. It’s a six day camp from April 22 to 27 for children aged five to 15 years. “The camp includes fun activities and games aimed at cognitive development, emotional intelligence building, environmental awareness and creative thinking. We instil civic sense in the children and create awareness about first aid, saving water and traffic rules”, says Mrs.Uma, the program director and a psychologist. For further details call 9843781073 From April 23 to 25, YMCA, Madurai is organising its annual annual summer camp with a wide variety of activities including yoga, chess, carrom, handwriting classes, drawing, art and craft and western dance. Kids above six years can join. “We ensure the kids are taught by trained professionals from various disciplines”, promises Jebaraj, Secretary. Call 9943867821 for details. Sivananda Ashram’s three week residential yoga camp starts from April 29 for children between seven and 13 years. It is an ideal retreat for kids to improve their concentration power and ensure they have a strong physical, mental and spiritual foundation. For more details call: 9865155335 Thinnai, the story tellers, are offering an interesting blend of activities that include shadow puppetry, wood art, pottery, storytelling, stop motion animation, scratch, logo programming and much more. “We believe children grasp better when they learn through stories. As technology made its way into our life, the stories got left behind. We aim to bring the children back to the power of hearing and telling stories,” says Preethi Karikalan, the founder director of Thinnai. The camp starting on May 2 will be held at two venues -- Aivanam, KK Nagar and Aurobindo Miro CBSE school, Keelamathur. For more details call: 9677953879 Help your kid to aim for the target. Madurai Rifle club is conducting ‘Bulls Eye 2018’ a shooting training program for school kids between the ages seven and 17 years. “The children will be trained with air rifles and take back home participation certificates. There will be yoga and meditation sessions prior to the shooting lessons to ensure physical fitness and mind relaxation”, says Bala Muragan, Manager. The classes will be held from May 6 to 19. Call 9442902220 for more information. A four day workshop from May 21 to 24 will focus on storytelling techniques and science crafts. Kids will get to learn concepts like rocketry through catchy crafts. “There are also daily online contests in April where fun activities like drawing your dream and baking are announced in a whatsApp group and participation points are tallied each day”, says Swatik Prasanna, the organizer. To be held at KM Auditorium Kamarajar Salai, call for more details on 9585521388. Every big hotel with a swimming pool is offering training camps to kids. The best way to beat the heat is to take your child for a dip in the sparkling pools under the guidance of trained professional coaches. Hotels Fortune Pandiyan and J C Residency have already started slot bookings for free style and advanced stroke swimming classes. There are options available to make the blistering summer ahead exciting for your child. Just explore!

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