(This blog is submitted by Mr. George Mathew, who is the CEO of a new-age preschool chain based at Trivandrum called “The Wonder Years Preschool”. The author is a researcher on child development and can be contacted at george.mathew@thewonderyears.co.in. For more details, please visit http://www.thewonderyears.co.in)

Summer is just around the corner and that brings with it a big dilemma for parents with school going children – what to do with their free-spirited, active wards during the vacation time that spans 2 months? It is a dilemma that has no easy answers in today’s world.

For one, children nowadays are too worldly wise. They are too connected and know exactly what they want and do not want. What’s more, they are not afraid to speak their minds about it!

In the days of yore, (that is, when most of us reading this article were young) we used to wake up really early (as against schools days), rush out onto the fields or grounds surrounding our homes and spend the whole day playing to our heart’s content, many times skipping meals or just hogging on the hot snacks that one the mothers would bring out for us.

Ah… those were the days!

Secondly, many of us now live in crowded, concrete jungles where children have limited options. Even in the rare cases where they do have some space to play, elders of the locality will object to it due to various reasons like “The ball keeps getting hit into our compound”, or “They will break my window”, or “Kids scratched my brand new car”, or variations of all of the above.

One cannot blame them, for we live in communities where houses literally stick to each other or in flats where space is at a premium.

Thirdly, children have too many reasons nowadays NOT to play outside, what with all the distractions in the form of cartoon shows, movies, gaming consoles, internet, mobile devices, etc. These distractions bring with it a plethora of problems and issues associated with early child development (but that is a topic for a separate discussion).

So, this is where the concept of Summer Camps comes into focus. What are Summer Camps? Well, they are short-term “courses” run by schools, preschools, activity centers, sports clubs, etc., that aim to keep children engaged in productive activities thereby supposedly impacting children in a positive way.

Now, the effects of Summer Camps on children have been studied in detail and have been found to be net positive for children. Some of the benefits include:
– Making true friends
– Reconnecting with nature
– Developing life-long skills
– Spending their day being physically active
– Having free time for unstructured play
– Experiencing success and becoming more confident
– Learning social skills
– Learning independence
– Unplugging from technology
– Gaining resilience

So, if Summer Camps are so beneficial and fun, why is it that year in, year out,we keep hearing stories of how boring summer time was or what a waste of time it was, even from children who attended Summer Camps around the city?

Well, most often than not, it has everything to do with what is offered at these Summer Camps. If we look around, we will find that most Summer Camps are about music classes, dance classes, yoga classes, karate classes, skating classes, etc. Notice the pattern here?

Well, they are all some variation of “classes”. In our insatiable zest for “teaching” our children, we do not even leave them to themselves during vacation time. We heap another set of classes on their heads!!

The net effect is that children get thoroughly bored in the very first week of their Summer Camp!

What children need are not “classes”,but rather the opportunity to try new things, to experiment, to come up with ideas and to generally have fun. What our children need are real Summer Camps where children get to have lots of fun, where they get to make new friends, where they can participate in team activities, where they can go for trekking trips, where they can have a real, overnight camping experience.

The sad thing is many people do not realize the importance of free and unstructured play. Most see play as a “waste of time”. But in reality, it is the opposite. It will be through these experiences that children will develop a more outgoing and holistic personality. They will learn and pickup social skills that they might not get elsewhere.

So parents, what will be your choice for vacation activities for your children this year? Summer Fun or Slumber Zzzzzzz…?

(This blog is submitted by Mr. George Mathew, who is the CEO of a new-age preschool chain based at Trivandrum called “The Wonder Years Preschool”. The author is a researcher on child development and can be contacted at george.mathew@thewonderyears.co.in. For more details, please visit http://www.thewonderyears.co.in)