Let your kid discover a new world

NEW DELHI: Calligraphy, puppetry, glass painting, theatre, clay modelling...Let that restless mind and those nimble fingers of your child discover her hidden talents at one of the many workshops in the capital this summer.

The summer workshops, which are timed carefully during school vacations at this time, are a joy for kids who are not always able to get their creative juices flowing amid the routine of classes and homework.

And they are certainly a relief for harried parents who don't want their children to while away their time during holidays.

Kapila Vats, a lawyer and mother of two boys, said each year she eagerly waits for the India Habitat Centre (IHC), a cultural hub in south Delhi, to announce their children's programme.

"Summer vacations are as much a headache for me as it is fun for the kids. After I return from work in the evenings, I find a broken vase or bleary-eyed children who have been watching TV non-stop or playing video games.

"The summer workshops in that sense are such a relief. Not only do they give the kids something constructive to do but also bring them the joy of discovering a hidden talent," Vats said.

Calligraphy, cartoon making, charcoal painting, glass painting, cookery, bookmaking, puppetry, pottery, photography...you name it and they have it at the IHC.

With sessions ranging from two days to two weeks and monitored by experts, the on IHC's activities began May 10 and will be on till June 29.

Of course, different sessions are designed for different age groups. So if the pottery workshop is for six- to ten-year- olds, the photography workshop is for the 16-plus.

The Katha publishing house is also organising a theatre workshop and an illustration workshop for children in the months of May and June.

Amrita Talwar of Katha said Arvind Gaur, head of the Delhi-based theatre group Asmita, will conduct the theatre workshop based on two stories.

"The workshop which will be for a duration of 10 days, June 4-14, will culminate with the staging of a play at the India Habitat Centre. This will give the children the confidence and the high of a public performance," Talwar said.

Talking about the illustration workshop, Talwar added: "Three professional illustrators will help the children perfect their drawings, giving them a breather from the film-based technologies."

What's more, the best illustrations will find a place in the next book published by Katha.

Then there are a number of neighbourhood art and music schools, inviting applications for short-term courses during the schools' summer vacations.

Sharmishtha Kumar, a 12-year-old, said she plans to enrol in a glass-painting workshop this time.

"Last year I learnt how to make charcoal paintings at the IHC workshop. This year I will learn glass painting and then decorate my room with my creations!" she said excitedly.

For those in love with history, the summer workshop organised by the National Museum would be the perfect choice.

"Like every year, this year too, in the month of June we will have a summer workshop for schoolchildren," R.R.S. Chauhan, director of exhibitions and public relations at the museum, told IANS.

"The children will be taken on tours of the museum and then asked to paint and make clay models of whatever they want. They will then be evaluated," he added.

A plus point of the workshop at the National Museum is that it is free of cost unlike most others in which the registration fee can vary from Rs.300 to Rs.5,000, depending on the length of the session.

"It will, however, be on a first-come-first-served basis," Chauhan said.