Summer Vacation! OMG!

Summer Vacation! OMG!

(This week is only for kids.)

Some days ago, Pallavi, an HR executive and a former neighbor, sent me a message about how children were the worst-hit, not only by the Covid-19 scare, but by the lockdown, and the restrictions imposed on their movements therefore. I did not think much about it. But over the days whenever I heard the sounds of footsteps and running around, pulling and screeching of furniture and dropping of things in the flat above ours, I slowly became aware of that. In this time of social distancing those noises bring a smile to my face as I imagine the owners of those footsteps being what they are and the parents either wholly ignoring them or getting really irritated.

Now my dear friend Shalini Sinha, Principal, Study Hall School, tells me the summer vacation has officially started and the new school session would start on June 29. That means officially no more school till then (And nobody knows when children will be able to go to school in the normal course and play with their friends). So till that time, the poor kids are stuck at home.

Holidays are welcome but slowly become a drag if you don’t have much to do. Isn’t it more difficult for children who are bursting with energy when awake, not ready to sit still but once exhausted, go out like a light bulb switched off? We parents introduce them as our bundles of joy but once a child asks-What should I do, the pain in all the wrong places starts.

A decade ago, I worked on the Saturday school supplement of The New Indian Express and thoroughly enjoyed it. Internet was not so popular or easily available and everybody did not have access to online activities. That time helping my little school-going son, I had thought of a list of activities he (and all school children) could enjoy during holidays when the parents were at work. My years of observation have made that list longer, the reach perhaps wider, although they are general in nature and you may have already tried out some or even most of them. 

Now when outdoor games and sports are not possible, my list has only indoor activities. And yes, no online activity. I think with so much online school work and learning, TV and such entertainment available , they have to allow their eyes some time off the glare of the screens. Parents may already be secretly wishing to regulate their TV viewing, computer or video games. In such a case, allow them to watch specific programmes for entertainment or to gather information. The idea is to enjoy, be creative but please, please, a huge ‘no’ to creating junk.

Dear children,

(addressing the children directly, please pass it on to them)

Most of these activities do not require any major expense. Things can be smoother if you ask for support from parents or elders in the family. Maybe the list would rekindle ‘dimag ki batti’ giving you many more fresh ideas. Who knows maybe you would like doing some of these things and carry on or become experts. You may have a flair for some activity.  It is a long list and at least something can be of interest for all children. It is perfectly safe to share it with the children from the ages of four to eighteen.

Your possessions

• Empty, clear, clean your rack/trunk/cupboard/corner/room of old books, stationary, toys, clothes and shoes.
• Go through them, sort them out. Make piles of things to be discarded, repaired or given away or passed over to siblings or those who can make use of them.
• Shalini tells me most schools would supply new notebooks and books online. Cover them and put name slips on them.
• If you are the organized sort, try to make a time table for the next six weeks for all your activities.
• Check with your parents and redecorate your room/corner.
• Clear your address/scrap slam book.
• Clear, sort out, your collection of pebbles, stones, feathers, dried flowers, leaves, stamps, coins, anything.

Knowledge and learning

• Learn to play scrabble, word jumbles, crosswords, spot the difference, cancelling the numbers. These not only mean occupation in positive activities, but help improve memory, problem-solving skills, and processing speed as also extend their attention and concentration spans.
• Girls- learn boys’ games- Pokémon, car race tracks, playing catch with ball.
• Boys- offer your sister tough competition. Get your facts straight not only about dolls, jewellery but also all her other interests.
• Read about parks/ picnic/ historical spots in town. Make a list of which ones you have not seen yet.
• Summer is the right time to catch some butterflies/insects and keep them in a jar. Gather information about them and see them grow.
• Read all the story books your parents did not allow during school session.
• Read something on a specific subject/topic of interest-history, geography, astronomy, mathematics (yes, even that).
• Study at leisure the subject or lesson you hated in class and did not bother to learn, to catch up with the class.
• Write some poems, stories.
• Learn dance - classical or contemporary, it does not matter. It will be a good entertainment and exercise.
• Polish your singing, elocution.
• Learn a language –Indian or foreign, it does not matter.
• Learn about your own or other religions. Ask an elder in the family to tell you mythological stories.
• Listen to special prayers/sermon. This is Ramadan time. Pray for peace and health for the world. Everyone says God listens to children’s prayers.

Arts & Crafts

• With some old newspapers, try out origami. Those willing to take it further, may try papier mache work.
• Try to make beautiful crafts items. Now is the time to focus on quality and technique, number does not matter.
• Make cards with birthday, congratulations, get well, messages to use the year around.
• Make bookmarks.
• Improve your drawing, sketching and painting. Start painting with pencil colours and crayons, graduate to water, poster and then maybe fabric colours. The choice of surfaces is so varied that something or the other is always available.
• Painting with fingers, brush, pen, tooth brush, scrunched ball of paper,  splatter painting
• Painting on bottles, eggshells, paper napkins (Fill the dots on paper napkins with one or different colours for the next family dinner.)
• Potato stenciling (You can also try it with the other vegetables of the season like-onion, capsicum, okra (bhindi)
• Shadow drawing
• Paint an old table cloth/bed sheet/apron/curtain/t-shirt  to give it a new look.

Skills

• Learn a couple of stitches in embroidery and create something for yourself or to give as a gift. The easy ones include running stitch, stem, chain and laisy daisy, cross stitch.  Learn from your mother and grandmother. Embroider some handkerchiefs. My father’s intern vet had knitted beautiful socks for his sister’s home science class and I am talking of some decades ago. When young, my cousin Deepak used to do cross stitch so beautifully, but somewhere along the journey of growing up, he gave it up. Learn how to hem and to sew a button, the two skills that would stand by you in life.

• Learn crochet, tatting or macramé.
• Want to make some sock puppets?
• How about learning to cook something, however, simple it might be? Keep proportions small in the beginning. If it is a success, try bigger measurements and note your recipe down and make your own recipe book.
• Washing vegetables and fruits, peeling them, even chopping them are skills which are useful in everyday life.

Entertainment

• Have you already got tired of indoor board games like carom, ludo, checkers, chess, monopoly, besides ring toss, passing the parcel, musical chairs, juggling balls?
• Learn an instrument. You are spoiled for choice in this department- harmonium, sitar, tabla, mridangam, dholak, guitar, keyboard, flute or mouth organ etc. Yet if you merely enjoy drumming on pots and pans, or the dining table, learn to do it with rhythm and style.
• Help mom in brushing up her kitty games. Think of variations to the old ones and note them down for use in future.
• Have a song and dance party. (Believe me, most daddies love to show off weird moves you might be ashamed of.)
• Go through old albums/photographs. You might be surprised to see how cool and chilled out (or otherwise) your own parents/grandparents were in their time.

Family (and of course, friends)

• If your elder brother/sister is appearing for exams, check with him/her how you can be of help to them.  
• Run some errands for elders in the family.
• Spend quality time with your cousins, favourite uncle and aunts, whoever you meet during the lockdown relaxation time.
• Alternatively, rope in your cousins and stage a play for the family.
• Refresh your contacts with old friends.
• Write letters to your grandparents, uncles, aunts and teachers.
• Make the phone calls you either neglected or did not have enough time for earlier.

Physical activity

• Take up yoga, table tennis.
• Eat healthy, eat well.
• Catch up on your sleep, no harm in taking a refreshing nap in the afternoon to recharge your batteries.
• Plan a treasure hunt, hide and seek, indoor picnic or play shop with your family.
• Play with your pet, teach him/her some new tricks.

Outdoor (if you live in a house with a lawn/garden)

• Go pluck mangoes, vegetables or even flowers for the puja, with your parents’ permission.
• Wash the car, motor cycle or bicycle.
• Take out the weeds.
• Give the dog a bath.

On the balcony (if you live in a flat/apartment)

• Plant some seeds, watch them germinate and grow into plants.
• Tend to the flower pots.
• Play hopscotch.

If you live in a joint family, you are more fortunate than the others because you already have company in your house.

• Join in an activity everyone enjoys..
• Cajole them, convince them to be your company and like blotting paper soak up what all they know.  Listen to the stories of their times.

Phew! That was a long list! Even if you finally try just a few of them and enjoy even fewer, it would be time well spent and a lot of fun too. This summer is unique because of the pandemic. It will stay in our memories forever. Make it more memorable by picking up a skill or two. It would be the most constructive use of your time.

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