Most of us treasure memories of summer holidays spent at our grandparents’ homes, days filled with warmth, freedom, and strong family connections. Times have changed. Today, for most working parents, especially those with single children, summer holidays are accompanied by a different concern — how to keep their children engaged, active and socially connected. Left alone, children gravitate towards screens and gadgets even as they complain of being lonely and bored. This school-free period has become a massive challenge for urban families. Increasingly, communities are stepping in to fill these gaps. Across Bengaluru, summer camps, many organised within apartment complexes, are spaces where children connect, collaborate and grow together. Towards the goal of holistic development When Madhuri Lakshman, an architect residing in south Bengaluru, was looking for a summer camp for her two sons, aged seven and four, she didn’t want the run-of-the-mill sporting activities. Instead, she was drawn to programmes offering holistic development. “The point is for them to be physically active and learn different facets of sport. In the apartment complex where we live, they get to learn swimming, but at the summer programme we’ve enrolled them in, they learn a lot more such as endurance and reflexes as well,” Madhuri explained. Her stance reflects a broader trend, with parents moving beyond the conventionally popular cricket and badminton to multi-sport ability camps, pickleball, gymnastics and even shooting. For Aditi Ghosh, from Jayanagar, whose nine-year-old son plays football four mornings a week and table tennis on five evenings, sports camps offer more than just building skills. “Table tennis is known to improve concentration and focus,” she said. “I’ve been wanting to enrol him, and summer camp gives him the time. They should play various sports until they are about 15-16 as each sport develops different muscle groups and contributes to overall strength, stamina, stability and flexibility,” she said. Organisers of summer camps have adapted quickly to the changing needs. Structured programmes blend fitness and movement, sport and recovery and focus on teamwork and bonding. “We offer three modules: an endurance programme for children age six to 14, a multi-sport ability camp for younger children, and a learn-to-swim module for both children and adults,” said Vibhinna Fitness Club founder, Chethan A. The endurance camp follows a “prepare, apply, relax” framework — yoga or taekwondo in the preparation phase, cricket or football in the application phase, and swimming in the relaxation phase. The multi-sport programme begins with drills focused on speed, agility, flexibility and endurance before moving into sport-specific training, followed by yoga or pranayama. The buzz around pickleball and gymnasticsNewer sports like pickleball are gaining traction, especially with first-time players and families, who are beginning to play together. “More girls are taking up pickleball,” said Mehul Shah, the founder of PYKLN Sports, noting that girls outnumber boys in the younger batches compared to sports like football or cricket. Interest is also rising in sports like gymnastics, squash and shooting. Arjun Halappa, former India hockey team captain and joint director of Lakshyan Academy of Sports, pointed out that enrolment is rising across disciplines. Describing gymnastics as “the mother of all sports” the Olympian noted that many girls are opting for it. The influence of media visibility and women’s professional leagues is also boosting enrolment of girls in sports. Parents now see cricket “as an alternate profession,” with women “being paid on par with men,” said Irfan Sait, founder of the Karnataka Institute of Cricket (KIOC). Connected communities where kids learn together Beyond the structured coaching of summer sports camps, there is a growing support system for children closer to home. In many apartment communities, residents are organising summer camps to help children build social skills. Children get to play antique games such as Chowka Bara (played with tamarind seeds), Snake and Ladder, Hopscotch and Thief and Police at the summer camp organised at Phoenix One Bangalore West apartment complex in Rajajinagar by Padmini Sudhir. They also learn to cook without fire along with their friends at the camp. These activities focus on helping improve children’s abilities to plan, organise, make friends and get along with peers, she said. The camp at Malleswaram’s Mantri Greens focuses on teaching children the basics of Origami, vegetable carving and pottery clay modelling. Activities at Shapoorji Pallonji Parkwest Apartment’s summer camp include skating, swimming, chess, arts, dance and yoga, blending fitness, creativity and fun. The camp’s aim is to foster strong community bonding and active participation. Chairman of the sports committee, Shashikant Joshi, highlighted the role of these activities in building a connected community. Summer camps provide children opportunities to interact, share, listen, and communicate — supporting social skill development. Without such activities, parents may resort to letting kids watch TV, said NT Prasad, a resident of Godrej Park Retreat, who runs a start-up. Interestingly, summer camps are evolving into something larger than seasonal activities. They are becoming platforms for community building where children develop skills, friendships, and confidence. In a time when individual routines often dominate daily life, these collective efforts are quietly restoring a sense of belonging. With inputs from Kaushal V Kumar and Jia Khosla VOICE BOX My parents thought I’d spend the whole summer glued to a screen because of the heat. But at GoRally, a Pickleball centre in Indiranagar, the rallies are so fast you forget how hot the weather is. It feels like a real-life video game — the ‘pop’ of the paddle is far more satisfying than pressing buttons, and you’re actually moving instead of sitting still. And there’s always the bonus of a brownie at the café Sumer Patodia | 11 I don’t miss school. I go to CDC Kids summer camp. I’ve made a lot of friends in my summer camp. I love playing and colouring, and fireless cooking is my new passion Veda Arora | 3 (As told by her mother) Summer camp made me wake up early. I didn’t really like it, but playing with friends was a great experience Sajjad Raza Shirazi | 7
