What is plan for kids this summer in Mumbai

There comes a time every year when even the most forbearing mother looks at her highly strung and extremely energetic offspring, and says “What the hell am I going to do with you?” The smart answer, Mumbai moms are fast realising, lies in summer workshops that introduce kids to different activities and help them discover new aspects to their personalities. While your child dabbles in dance or drama, you can take a few hours off and sneak in a quick nap because before you know it—she’s gonna be back. Here’s a round-up of the most promising summer workshops in the city this year:


The Artist
Along with wet wipes and a bottle of water, crayons are part of the “absolute essentials” kit that no mother dares move out of her house without because she knows that all else failing, drawing is the one thing that can calm even the most errant young child. Our pick of all the art camps for children being run this season is the ten-session program by @KidzArt because it goes beyond just colouring with crayons to cover different art forms and techniques—including water colour painting, clay modelling and collages—through such education-oriented themes as the World Explorer.
Ages: Between 4 and 12.
Dates and timings: Until Saturday, June 2. Timings vary according to the venue.
Fees: Rs 2,750 per child.
Visit kidzartindia.com or call 98217 84999 for venues and further details.

The Craftsperson
Craft has always been treated like the poor cousin of its more glamorous brother, art. Well-known sculptor Arzaan Khambatta is hoping to change that this summer with his workshop where he will teach kids how make a spaceship out of spare machine parts.
Ages: 5 and above.
Dates and timings: From Tuesday, April 24 to Friday, April 27 (4.30pm to 6.30pm); from Friday, April 27 to Sunday, April 29 (10.30am to 12.30pm); and Wednesday, May 2 to Friday, May 4 (4.30pm to 6.30pm).
Fees: Rs10,000 per child.
Arzan Khambatta Summer Workshop, No.3, T. K. Industrial Estate, Sitaram Road, near Sewri Bus Depot. Call Khushnuma Khambatta on 98213 32742 to register. 

The Performer
Sanjna Kapoor and her team at her recently formed theatre company Junoon believe that theatre is essentially “Arts at Play”, which is the umbrella name for the series of workshops they are conducting this summer. The workshops include those with such unusual names as “Stones & Stories” (where kids will learn the stories behind different stones from around the world) and “Gadbad Ghotala” (that will familiarise them with popular Hindi children’s poetry). Equally worthy is the National Centre for the Performing Arts’ Summer Fiesta that comprises a selection of 20 programs. Ranging from improv comedy to writing, they aim to imbibe participants with a sense of confidence.
Ages: Junoon Arts at Play: 6 and above. NCPA Summer Fiesta: between 6 and 14.
Dates and timings: Junoon Arts at Play: until Sunday, June 10. NCPA Summer Fiesta: from Wednesday, May 2 to Monday, May 21.
Fees: Junoon Arts at Play: an average of Rs3,000 per workshop. NCPA Summer Fiesta: Rs4,200 per child for each workshop.
Visit junoontheatre.org for the complete list of Arts at Play workshops and venues. Log on to bookmyshow.com to register for NCPA Summer Fiesta.

The Creator
The Pomegranate Workshop is one of the few places that offers summer activities for adolescents. Their workshops, designed for children up to age of 20, include those where participants can learn how to shoot a film, write a comic strip, and create an advertisement.
Ages: Between 8 and 20.
Dates: From Monday, April 23 to Saturday, June 9.
Fees: An average of Rs4,000 per workshop.
Venues across the city. Visit tpw.in for the list of workshops, dates, timings, fees and venues. To register, call 98670 53339. 

The Dancer
For over two decades now, choreographer Shiamak Davar has been making kids dance to his tune, at his Summer Funk workshops. Summer Funk 2012 offers five types of dance classes: jazz, salsa, jive, contemporary, and shabop (hip hop and street funk). Hundreds of batches are run with the precision of assembly line productions and at the end of the summer, they each put up a performance for their family and friends.
Ages: Between 4 and 18.
Fees: Rs3,900 for a course of 15 sessions.
Batches across several venues in Mumbai. Visit the Facebook page for the full schedule. Call 2353 7930 to register.

The Reader
Khar bookstore Treasure Books’s workshop hopes to make children develop the habit of reading through such activities as reading aloud, word games for vocabulary building, and paper craft sessions. The best part: at the end of the workshop, the participants get to take back home the ten books they have finished reading.
Ages: 2 and a half to 6.
Dates: Monday, April 30 to Friday, May 11. Timings vary according to age group.
Fees: Rs2,300 per child.
Worli, Parel, Bandra, Khar, Vikhroli and Powai. Visit treasurebooks.in for details. Call 2605 5964 to register.

The Writer
Kala Ghoda arts studio the Artisans’ Centre has launched WordCraft, a creative writing workshop that will be conducted by Uma Ramakrishna, a language teacher with over 30 years of experience. Ramakrishna promises to make creative writing an “interactive” process for kids in all her five modules: stories, feelings, experiences, poetry and people. Children can sign up for as many modules as they like.
Ages: Between 9 and 12.
Dates and timings: From Monday, April 30 to Friday, June, 1, from 11am to 1.15 pm. Classes held on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. The last date for registration is Friday, April 27.
Fees: Rs3,000 per module.
Artisans’ Centre, 52/56 V.B. Gandhi Marg, Kala Ghoda, near Rhythm House. Call 98676 94029 to register.

The Sportsman
The Sports Gurukul Summer Sports Camp is among the city’s biggest sports camps for children, with nine venues across Mumbai including Holy Family School in Andheri, the Kandivali Recreation Centre, and their own centre in Santa Cruz. The Gurukul offers ten-session long camps for basketball, cricket, football, gymnastics, lawn tennis, table tennis, chess and swimming.
Ages: 3 and above.
Dates: From Friday, May 4 to Wednesday, May 23.
Fees: Rs650 and above per sport.
Download the venue-wise schedule from thesportsgurukul.com. Call 98203 76677 to register.

The Polymath
If you’re of the opinion that free-play is the best way for a child to spend his or her summer, then you might want to try a host of “all activity” camps. Our picks include Jumping Genius (98207 51811) that has centres in Tardeo, Prabhadevi, Mahim, Sion, Bandra and Juhu and organises field trips and pool parties; Ami Vora’s summer camp (93210 27363) that is run out of the Little Palms School in Grant Road and teaches children about different countries and cultures; and FasTracKids (2661 2004) that is based in Santa Cruz and offers aeromodelling among its list of workshops.
 
In addition to being a writer for Firstpost.com, evangelist for Socialfootprint.in and would-be-novelist, Sharan Saikumar spends a lot of time thinking about why Ireland has no snakes.