Mom! I am bored.”

Ah, these dreaded words!

A week into summer vacations and children begin a chorus of complaints: “I am bored”; “There’s nothing to do”; “There is no excitement in our lives”. The days are too long, too dull or too hot and the grumbling goes on and on. Children wait for summer holidays with a great deal of anticipation but once summer break starts they are restless and unhappy.

Summer camps can be a great way to allow children to learn and keep busy

Most mothers don’t know what to do and how to fill the long summer days with enough activities and excitement to keep their children occupied and out of trouble. Containing energetic and bored children cooped up indoors for 10 weeks is like an open invitation to insanity and trouble.

Interestingly, it is not just the kids who do not know how to manage their overflowing energy and idle hands and minds during summer break. Parents too do not want children underfoot 24/7.

Mothers with full-time jobs want to see their children occupied with healthy activity and responsibly supervised so that they can work with a relaxed mind and not keep wondering if the house has been blown up in their absence or the kids have gotten themselves into a ‘Home Alone situation’. Another worry is what the children might watch on television or access on the internet when they are at home all day long.

One answer to their dilemma is sending the kids off to summer camps which offer a wide variety of activities and learning opportunities. Many elite schools and institutions in big cities offer extensive summer activities such as art and crafts, hiking and camping, coding and computer programming, swimming, cooking, music and dance, sports, academics and martial arts lessons under trained and professional teachers. The downside is the exorbitant fee that they charge.

Some parents believe that it is pure extravagance to spend so much money on children’s summer activities. After all, they say, most summer camps are about children dabbling in arts, paints and colours which can easily be done at home for just a fraction of the cost.

What these parents overlook is that summer camps provide an opportunity for kids to meet new people of their age, some nice and some annoying and they will learn to interact with them. After all people-skills, building relationships and friendships are one of the most important life-skills and something every child should be well-versed in.

For many parents, however, summer camps are more about keeping their children busy — and out of trouble. Saba, a mother of two boys aged 11 and 13, says that she has no other way to keep her two hyperactive kids out of trouble. “They will set the houseplants on fire, drive the car without permission and endanger themselves or make the domestic staff run away with their crazy pranks. Summer camps are expensive but the only solution when it comes to dealing with bored kids.”

Farwa, a caregiver to a large family, is desperately looking for a summer camp for her three children aged below 12 years for a different reason. “Sending children to a summer camp is the only way I can get my household chores done and have some peace and quiet for a few hours. After staying up half the night with my baby, I need rest which I cannot get with all my kids at home,” she says.

Other parents like Mrs Rashid feels the summer holidays are a great time to allow children to explore activities they normally wouldn’t. “It is almost criminal to waste the time children have during summer vacations,” she says who wants her children to hone their creative and artistic abilities during the summer — something she feels cannot be done during regular school days.

“There are so many new things they can learn and experience,” Mrs Rashid says. School books and good grades are fine, but for today’s competitive world, children need to learn new skills to be confident and have a well-rounded personality.”

Some parents believe that summer camps bring organisation and discipline in their children’s life during the holidays. “I feel very frustrated when my children have breakfast at lunch time and demand a late lunch in the early evening,” one mother laughs.

She further adds:“Routines disintegrate very quickly with bored kids. They sleep away the morning and come alive at night like things out of a horror movie. When they have a new activity to look forward to, it is amazing how punctual and responsible they can become.”

While many mothers want to send their children to summer camps, they agree that means of transportation and high fees charged by institutions are major deterrents especially when there is more than one child to be sent. Although more and more schools, organisations — and even fast food restaurants — are offering summer activities for kids, many remain out of reach of even upper-class income groups.

While parents have their reasons to opt for summer camps, children have their own reasons. Fourteen-year-old Mariam is very enthusiastic about joining a summer camp. “Its a great solution to summer boredom and we can learn new skills in a span of a few weeks,” she says. “I would love to take self-defence classes, cooking/baking classes and a course offering religious lectures for young girls. I feel these activities are important for body, mind and soul and very different from our usual school curriculum.”

Her 10-year-old brother chanted, “Robotics, robotics, robotics,” when asked about his preference, making it quite clear where his area of interest lies. “A lot of fun and a good way to spend time.”

Zainab’s brother is one of many of his generation interested in robotics. The increasing demand and interest for robotics and other science-related courses has seen many Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics (STEAM) camps crop up recently.

In many major cities of the country, a number of organisations such as Pakistan Science Club, LearnOBots and RoboMinors offer short courses during summer holidays in the domains of STEAM. During these courses, children learn to build and operate robots, learn basics of coding, conduct science experiments and engage in many fun-filled activities with DIY educational kits.

Dr Mansoor Shaukat, founder and CEO of RoboMinors feels that such camps will have a groundbreaking impact on the next generation: “In future, the socioeconomic progress of mankind will be enshrined in innovation and technological development. In pursuit of a better tomorrow, the leading nations of the world are modelling their high school education towards integration of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) [and Pakistan should be no exception].”

According to Dr Shaukat students learn invaluable skills that “set them apart from their peers and they also develop good communication, collaboration, reasoning, problem-solving, critical thinking and cognitive skills.”

Some children want to make the most of the free time available at hand. Zainab, an A-level student, wants to spend the summers taking as many classes as possible. “I would love to learn to play a new sport and go for hiking, rock climbing, swimming, etc,” she says.

“I am also planning to learn to drive, attend a make-up course and learn basics of a new language. It is more fun to join a summer camp if all friends go together so I am going to convince my friends to join the same courses,” Zainab adds with a laugh.

While 17-year-old Anum “would love to join a summer camp that offers outdoor activities like rock-climbing, hiking, kayaking and camping,” she laments that she won’t get permission from her parents to join a mixed-gender camp as there are limited options for segregated summer camps for girls.

However, all children are not so enthusiastic about the idea of joining a summer camp. Hania says that she prefers to have fun activities with her cousins, siblings and the people she knows. Joining a summer camp with strangers does not appeal to her at all.

After taking her gruelling Matric exams, Amina has no plans of doing anything during her summer break other than relaxing or going on a trip with her family. “Summer camps are very expensive and I don’t want to do anything if my heart is not in it. I just want to relax and spend time with my family at home.”

Boys between the ages of eight and 15 would prefer courses in swimming, robotics, coding or computer games. “It’s too hot for any outdoor activity and I prefer to travel with my family which is more educational than any summer course,” says 15-year-old Hammad.

However, for those children who just want a bit of fun in their summer holidays, there are a number of camps which offer coaching in languages, swimming, cooking, sports, arts and crafts and other fun filled activities.

Summer camps can be very exciting and enjoyable experience for the children but it is best to explore a bit, research and ask others for testimonials before you enrol your kids in one. The most important thing is to make sure that your children are enthusiastic about the activities you choose for them, and not to burden or overload them during holidays as it would defeat the whole purpose if your child is not happy about going to summer camp.

Published in Dawn, EOS, May 21st, 2017