The city of Chennai had loads of camps. But this was one where children could interact with nature in an eco-friendly environment and the main purpose of this camp was for the kids to have fun with nature and art.
This summer workshop was held in the Kalakshetra campus organised by the Aseema Trust from May 4 to 9 for children aged 8 to twelve years.
On the first day of the camp Sukant anna, the director of the camp grouped the kids into five different groups. Two activities were held each day and and at the of each day a short film was shown.
Cloth weaving was an interesting activity, where one was given a wooden frame to weave thread into and then that kids were told to go look for leaves, flowers and anything else that was attractive that also could be added to the frame.
The story of kadhi followed our learning to use a spinning wheel to make thread was another.
Clay work was attractive and everyone participated enthusiastically, especially during the session where wheel pottery was taught.
Then it was paper making where old paper was recycled by first making it into a pulp and then adding water to it and then a wooden frame was used to give it the shape. After that it was left for drying and then it was time for leaf printing!
Paint was put on a leaf on both side using a roller and then was pressed onto a paper to make an impression.
Kalamkari was a much awaited event. The kids learnt the proper methods to make the pictures. One can say it is a pretty complicated process. It was taught by a kalamkari artist Prabhakaran sir.
And then it was pot painting and kolam.
The films which were shown were interesting, touching and educational. On the last day there was a small party where all the kids brought varieties of food from their homes and shared amongst everybody.
On the last day, it was an exibhition of the art works by the kids made during the camp and the parents of the participants looked at each piece with awe.
Then came a surprise a theatre show – Kadal bootham – in Tamil by artiste Velu Saravanan and his group. Some kids enjoyed and some people lets just say were scared of for reasons.
On the whole the camp was fun and informative.