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Creative summer options for active children

ParentsWorld April 2019 | Cover Story

To provide millennial parents options beyond signing up their progeny for normative summer activities, ParentsWorld presents some enjoyable, creative, off-the-beaten track indoor and outdoor activities for children in the summer holidays – K. P. Mailini, Mini. P & Cynthia John The eight-week summer holidays, which begin this month in India for most schools, evoke contrasting emotions in parents and children. While children are ecstatic about the break from stressful school routines, parents especially in nuclear households, tend to worry about keeping children busy and out of harm’s way during the long vacation period. Though in post-liberalisation India, a host of professionally organised summer camps and activities are available, these camps are mostly of 10-15 days’ duration and pose the omnipresent danger of life-threatening injury to boisterous young children. Moreover, there is rising disenchantment with hurtling children from one summer class to another to learn languages, music, theatre and similar hitherto trendy extra-curricular activities. Latter day literature on child development extols the virtues of boredom (see box p.12) and recommends participation in community improvement rather than self-improvement, activities for children. Therefore, to provide millennial parents options beyond signing up their progeny for normative summer activities, ParentsWorld presents some enjoyable, creative, off-the-beaten track indoor and outdoor activities for children in the summer holidays. Paddle boarding This newly emergent surface water sport is becoming popular among urbanites the world over. It involves an oversized surfboard or paddleboard which a rider propels in a sea, river and/or lake. The rider can opt to stand or kneel on the board while paddling. “Paddle boarding is an adventure water sport which children love. Through Paddle for Future, I want to popularise this sport which strengthens arms and upper body muscles among children and youth, while simultaneously highlighting the importance of conserving water bodies,” says Kumaran Mahalingam, geologist and founder of the Chennai-based Paddle for Future (estb.2016). An accomplished stand-up paddler and environment conservation educator, Kumaran has earned three entries in the Limca Book of Records between 2014 and 2016 for various feats in stand-up paddling. Kumaran, who has “taught people from six to 85 years of age”, is conducting paddle boarding summer camps on River Kollidam near Chidambaram, Tamil Nadu. Dates: April 15-end May. Contact: +91-99710 91541, +91-95782 12910. Plogging Invented in Sweden, plogging combines the popular sport of running for health (jogging) and picking up litter (Swedish: plocka upp). In 2016, Swedish environmentalist Erik Ahlstrom became aware of rising piles of litter, particularly plastic waste, on Stockholm’s roadsides. Responding to this phenomenon, he began organising groups of people to bag plastic waste and trash while jogging. Since then, this eco-friendly workout which combines jogging with clearing non-biodegradable plastic waste, has become popular worldwide with plogging clubs and groups mushrooming in urban habitats. In India too, some environment groups have begun organising plogging runs. For instance, Indiahikes, Bangalore, organises Green Trails in the Himalayas where trekkers have to clean-up plastic bags increasingly littered in hiking trails and picnic spots en route. The summer holidays offer a

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