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Summer Camp – Sounds Like Fun, But Why Have It?

Home / Blogs / Summer Camp – Sounds Like Fun, But Why Have It?

Summer Camp – Sounds Like Fun, But Why Have It?

 

Summer camp 1- Makkala Jagriiti

Summer holidays are an exciting time for children. That very moment the last bell of the day rings, children throwing their bags up in the air and screaming with joy… all to set off a few weeks of play, fun, and a whole lot more. This is the story of children all over the world, and the children studying in government schools supported by Makkala Jagriti, an NGO for Education, are no different.

After a tough year negotiating the transition between learning at home, returning to the classroom, and getting back to speed with the regular lessons. However, it’s tremendously important to keep children engaged with some activity to stimulate them and their development. Year after year, we organise Summer Camps so our children in various forms. This year, it was special – after a two-year-long gap, children could finally get back to summer camp in person.

Summer Camps, as we organise them, have a multitude of activities. We have them all – from arts and crafts to sports, from singing and dancing to showing movies, from outdoor games to spelling bees.

Why do we do this, though? What are the benefits of organizing summer camps in the first place? It’s important to be conscious of the advantages of such camps and the impact they have on our children:

kite making - Makkala Jagriti

Improved social skills

Summer camps promote interactions between children outside of the classroom. Beyond the limits of academic achievement, summer camps bring children together to feel a great sense of community. Children also build an appreciation for individual differences and get to celebrate diversity among themselves.

Teamwork

Team-based activities, such as sports and quizzes, and similar competitions that rely on collective thinking, encourage children to find ways to contribute and hear their peers out. There is a lot of character built within children when they acknowledge the role each team member must play. Rather than finding ways of dealing with tasks on their own, children will see the value of teamwork as a solution.

Confidence and Self-esteem

For children, painting their first piece of art, writing their first story, crafting their first mask – these foster a sense of achievement from creating something new, something they can be proud of. Summer camps allow children to find a new talent and grow within it. When they find joy in doing something new, it goes a long way in increasing their self-esteem and confidence.

Independence

Time spent at summer camp is the child’s own time – time away from school and time away from parents. This is a crucial time as children begin to build their own identities and explore their interests and strengths. Such independence leads to responsibility and encourages exploration, and educational NGOs in Bangalore, like Makkala Jagriti, provide children with a safe and vibrant environment to make decisions independently.

Summer Camp 3- Makkala Jagriti

Resilience

Resilience is an important life skill. Activities with challenges that allow children to not succeed, find ways to overcome disappointment, and figure out how to overcome these challenges build up resilience in children and teach them the value of effort and determination.

Intellectual engagement

When children are away from any academic engagement, there is a danger of being cut off from any mental stimulation, even if it is for a few weeks. To ease the transition between their academic years, children need to be involved in intellectually stimulating activities, like our vocabulary and spelling competitions.

Moving away from screens

Now, this is a big one. Playtime has gradually been replaced by screen time, and that does not bode well for children’s long-term health – immediately too, we observe risks of sluggishness. We at Makkala Jagriti design Summer Camp activities to ensure a lot of fun while being “hands-on”… “eyes-off” any screens, of course!

Being one with nature

Many of our activities are connected with nature. In fact, that’s the theme of Makkala Jagriti’s Summer Camp 2022: the Five Elements of Nature – Earth, Water, Fire, Wind, and Sky, and the activities we designed would help children get curious about nature, climate, and science in general! Being close to nature allows children to get physically active and creative, with natural materials forming the basis of any art or craft project they begin.

Finding purpose

Children feel a deeper connection with their community through Summer Camp activities like singing, dancing, or playing sports. As a result, children grow up to value community highly and may feel more inclined to impact the world around them positively. In addition, community involvement provides children with a sense of belonging, combats loneliness, and improves overall well-being. 

With so much going on at Summer Camp, boredom is no longer an excuse! Have you been to a Summer Camp as a child? What’s your favourite memory? Write to us and tell us all about it!

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How the education of one girl can impact generations ahead

Both of Mercy’s parents worked in the unorganised sector, who could not afford her school fees. She joined Makkala Jagriti Learning Centre at the age of 11, and always found the facilitators to be warm, welcoming and encouraging. Makkala Jagriti also supported her to pursue her education.

“We had a lot of freedom to explore our interests and talents. They taught us life skills and values. It was a new world for me.”

– Mercy

Through the Yuva Jagriti career guidance programme, Mercy received the right kind of insight and encouragement that led her to pursue a degree in Commerce, that too through a merit seat. Being the first girl in her family to study that far, she set an example in her community and made choices that allowed her to move beyond the circumstances that she was born into. Mercy now works in a reputed bank and is among our celebrated many who not only made a difference in their own lives but continue to do so in that of others.

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Turning a Misguided Youth into a Community Leader

Prabhu was a teenager when the old, dilapidated building in which his family lived collapsed, leaving them without a home. While they were still grappling with the situation, Prabhu lost his father, the sole earning member of the family. Unable to process his difficult circumstances, he found strength in hanging around with his friends, who often indulged in gang wars and all forms of abusive behaviour.

Prabhu was a shy yet playful boy when he joined the Yuva Jagriti centre at the age of 15. He expressed, “I feel I am at crossroads, not sure which road to take”. Following our support and guidance, he decided to pursue an internship at Makkala Jagriti. He was entrusted to work with children from Shelter Homes. Today, Prabhu is a sought-after Creative Facilitator and Coordinator at Makkala Jagriti, managing three Community Centres. A silent yet sound performer, he brings in diverse and highly creative ways to engage children and help them learn and grow.

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From a 10th Std. dropout to a World Taekwondo Champion

Murali lived in Bengaluru with his brother, while his parents lived in a village in Tamil Nadu. After his 10th grade, he lost the interest and inclination to study further. When he joined Yuva Jagriti, he started learning Taekwondo at our centre, which helped him become calmer and more focused. He also showed immense capacity to work with children, especially in the areas of sports and creativity, and this landed him an opportunity to work with Makkala Jagriti. Alongside his work, he pursued Taekwondo and competed at the District, State and National levels. He won a number of Gold Medals.

Today, Murali is an accomplished Taekwondo instructor, teaching at many schools in Bengaluru. He brought great accolades to the Nation when he won two bronze medals at the World Taekwondo Championship in Korea in September 2017.

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Breaking the language barrier for migrant children

Barnalli, a seventh grade student at Government Primary School, Somasundrapalya, is a child of migrant parents from Assam. Unable to speak the local language, Kannada, she found it difficult to adjust to school and struggled to mingle with other children.

“When you are new to a place and don’t know anyone, it is hard to fit in. She didn’t have any friends in school.”

– Barnalli’s mother

Makkala Jagriti’s language development program came to her rescue.

“Although I was in a higher grade, the HDLC facilitator taught me Kannada right from the basics. The different activities and sessions helped me grasp the language easily and quickly. Over time, Kannada moved from being just a new language to my favorite subject. Learning Kannada helped me enjoy school a lot more. I became a class leader and also started representing the school in inter-school competitions!”

– Barnalli

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Equipping parents to become positive influencers

Manoj, a 12-year-old boy, hails from a family of garment workers who had migrated from Andhra Pradesh. On moving to Bengaluru in 2018, he joined the Government Primary School in Ulsoor. The drastic change in his environment and culture left him feeling withdrawn and fearful. He refused to speak or participate in any school activity. Over time, he confided in our HDLC facilitator about feeling neglected by his parents in such difficult circumstances.

Manoj’s mother was invited to participate in Makkala Jagriti’s parents’ workshop. The two-day residential workshop allowed her to reflect on her own mindset, biases and relationship with her son. At the end of it, she made a conscious decision to work on rebuilding and restoring her relationship with Manoj. At school, our facilitator noticed that this had a direct impact on his performance. He became more participative and improved in his academics. Manoj later shared with the facilitator that his relationship had become more harmonious and positive with his mother.

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Nammoora Anganwadi

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“When we started our intervention, we saw that the environment at the Anganwadi was not safe or conducive for children. Although the community could contribute to the Anganwadi’s development, there was a major gap between the community, local leaders and Anganwadi teachers.”

– Gouri, Coordinator

Through community celebrations and fun events, we involved community members in the Anganwadi activities. As their participation grew, their understanding about the significance of early learning and development also increased and they readily contributed to the centre’s development.

“Community involvement in Anganwadi is so important. Inspired by Makkala Jagriti’s work, we saw the community, parents and Bala Vikas Samithi members come together and show greater ownership towards the Anganwadi.”

– Subramanya Swamy, Doddabanahalli Gram Panchayat Member

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A Library with Toys!

In an effort to ensure that every household in the Anganwadi community had access to child-friendly learning materials, we started a novel initiative called ‘Toy Library’, which allowed parents to borrow toys and learning resources for their children.

“The Toy Library has been very useful for children. Whatever we teach at Anganwadi, they can continue learning at home independently. Parents also feel more equipped to engage their children at home. No wonder, within just two months of its launch, over 100 toys were borrowed from our Anganwadi.”

– Bhavya, Anganwadi teacher

The Toy Library concept was welcomed by the community and the time spent on learning at home increased!

“My child always preplans what he’d like to take home from the Toy Library. He has also become very responsible in maintaining the toys because he knows he must return them! In the past 3 months, we have borrowed 20 times already.”

– Shwetha, Parent, Vijayanagara Anganwadi, Doddaballapur

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Empowered Teachers Create Better Learners

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“Through Anganwadi trainings, I have changed in a positive way and gained confidence about myself – especially in terms of catering to all domains of early learning. I have even started making learning materials by myself to teach children”.

– Nirmala, Anganwadi teacher, Rojipura

We train teachers and helpers on experiential learning methods that can be practiced at their centres. We also organise Mothers’ Meetings and regular mentoring visits to provide on-the-job support and guidance to teachers. Anganwadi helpers are empowered to become co-teachers and have an important role in the children’s learning process, thereby not confining them to just cooking and cleaning.

“I was used to just cooking and cleaning in the Anganwadi and did not do much else. However, after I attended the ECCE trainings, I realized I had a lot of potential and could engage and teach the children just like a teacher. Now, when the teacher is absent, I engage children in preschool learning activities.”

– Rukmini, Helper, Jyothinagar Anganwadi

From giving little time to learning, to prioritizing pre-school learning and spending more quality time with children, Anganwadi teachers and helpers have come a long way.