Childhood has eighteen summers to offer, and The DI ensured the Summer of 2023 will always hold a special place when our children reflect. The ambitious plan of the 2-day summer camp took on a 1-day avatar to accommodate as many children as possible.
Thanks to parents who ensured that their children reached on time on the morning of Sunday, 4th of June, the day’s activities could start on time. Thirty-four participants came in, dressed for the active day ahead, wearing shorts, sports shoes, carrying bags with swimwear and donning a cap. While many children regular to the DI children’s camps were missed since they were travelling, we saw many new faces who now are a part of our DI Kids camps.
Once registrations were over, four teams were quickly formed – blue, green, purple and yellow. Captains (Ansh, Nevaeh, Dylan, Nitya) and vice captains (Harshita, Suhana, Ari, Urvish) were made responsible for managing their teams. Uncle Les addressed the children making them aware of what to expect and why – Expect to be challenged to do more than we are used to, to try different things, to motivate others, to learn leadership skills, team building skills, to strategize, to innovate – all invaluable intangibles. And to remember, “Safety First”.
Warm-up games of passing the electricity set the tone for the day – a day filled with electrifying fun and activities.
The magnificent flaming Gulmohar tree generously covered the DI lawn with its cool shadow and became the place where most of the outdoor activities were conducted. Some quick races of ‘passing the ball’, ‘in & out’ and ‘filling the bottle’ game gave way to the more challenging activities.
‘Adventure Zone’ had by now set up for the next activities. The four teams went to different game zones – ‘Web climb’, ‘Monkey crawl’ and ‘Steam Engine’. Each of these challenged those who are not into out-door adventure sports, who think they cannot do it. The teams came together and cheered on their team mates to achieve new heights as they battled and overcame their feelings of limitations. As each member touched the bamboo on the top of the net they climbed up, their teammates cheered. It was a delight to see Darsh and Aarna conquer their fear and touch the top bamboo. Devaansh kept trying till he completed the Monkey Crawl. The determination to keep trying, egged on by the cheering of the teams taught us many life lessons.
‘Steam Engine’ required teams to co-ordinate and have the team lead give clear instructions as they attempted to co-ordinate their march across to the finish line with sticks tied to their feet, just like a steam engine.
A much-needed hydration break followed – cool Tang and assorted cream biscuits awaited all.
The organising team wondered if we should continue with indoor activities instead of pool games, but the charged-up kids demanded pool games. The change into swimwear was quick and the four teams vied to win the pool games planned. Quick games of diving and collecting bottle caps and swimming to collect balls thrown into the pool had the teams cheering. The blue waters looked deliciously inviting in the summer heat.
As the children changed back, tables were set up for lunch at Indoors@DI. Delicious Veg Hakka Chow and chilli chicken or veg manchurian side dishes were followed by a cool drink. Ice Cream as dessert was polished off equally fast.
The children moved upstairs to a relaxing and creative session of Origami. The juniors made colourful butterflies and the seniors made green frogs. Some children like Aryan wanted to make both. The butterflies were tied up to make gorgeous mobiles and the teams gathered to cheer on their frogs as they raced to the finish line. Ishika’s frog won the race in 6 jumps, closely followed by Ari and Parth whose frogs finished in 7 jumps each.
Have you ever built, loaded and fired a Roman Catapult with 6 sticks, some string and rubber slings? The teams did. Early that morning, Leonardo and Lorenzo had gone to the club to set up the adventure activities including the ‘Roman Catapult’.
All the teams could be seen working together trying to figure out this project. As the older children worked on this, each team was asked to send 4 members from their teams to take part in the ‘Scavenger Hunt’, a great favourite organised by Nushrat. Children were very innovative in their scavenger hunts bringing a chair as an item used in a beach, a bangle as something round etc. Little Sierra and Devyansh took charge of their teams as they competed to complete the hunt.
Once the catapults were ready to be fired, balls flew and the team with their ball going furthest won.
Another round of hydration followed with cool tetrapacks of Maaza.
The teams headed up to a musical session of Karaoke with Christabel. This was a fun session for the kids who sang their favourite songs in teams. From ‘Johnny Johnny’ to ‘Hotel California’, a huge range in the songs were selected for the musical session. We had new singing talent discovered as kids came forward to sing into the mic. Amaira, Aniket, Devyaansh Kothari, Darsh, Shree and many more kids joyfully sang as the points were being tallied.
The day was not about winning or losing, but about making new friends, learning life lessons and having a fun time together. New friendships had been formed and new skills discovered.
The 4 teams were close in their points tally with the Purple team winning. A beautiful rainbow cake by Saldanha Bakery was cut and snack boxes with Pizza and donuts were given out to children along with a cool drink.
A vote of thanks to the Library team of Leslie, Debjani, Christabel, Nushrat, Roshan led by Rajashree and supported by Betty, Leonardo, Lorenzo. Behind the scenes, thanks to Michael Rao, Tanya Robonson and the office staff for the arrangements and to Librarian Craig Thomson for all the support.
As the eventful day came to an end, children shared what they liked the best-
Navya declared she loved the lunch and the Catapult game, and everything else she added.
Ishika – ‘I loved all the Outdoor activities’.
Urvish – ‘For me the swimming games were the best, actually I liked everything.’
Devyaansh Kothari – ‘I loved the Scavenger Hunt’.
Jayden - ‘I loved making the catapult’.
Some parents sent in their views too:
Thanks to team Di for organising such a great summer camp.
Thanks to each one of you for organising DI summer camp packed with fun and frolic. Sree had a great time.
Devyansh had a fantastic time. Thank you for the awesome camp!
Sophie had a great time, thank you for organising the awesome camp!]
Ari has had an absolute amazing time today. Thanks to family LDG and all who helped organise this. Kudos ???
Thank you so much team DI. Urvish had a great day
Thanks so much for a wonderful camp organised today . Vivana had a great time
Thankyou for the wonderful time for the kids....:-)
Thanks so much for a wonderful camp, girls had a great time.
Thank you for a wonderful camp! Darsh had a great time!
Parth had an amazing time at the summer camp. Thank you for organizing the event.
Thank you so much for the wonderful camp. Aryan had an amazing time.
Good morning...Ishikha loved everything about the camp. From food to outdoor/indoor activities...Ice-cream...maazas and much more...She was like you get to learn so much from Uncle Les...Thank you for the wonderful camp
Thank you to the captain and his team for having such fun innovative games... Lovely food and then ice creams... Looking forward for more of such programs.... Let parents also join...
A big thank u to the organisers for yesterdays camp. Lovely to see the kids enjoying a wonderful interactive day of fun and learning.
After the success of the Summer Camp, there were some talks – of another day-long camp – perhaps during the Monsoons. Keep looking at the space for alerts.
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