This 4 day summer camp introduces kids to sustainability through fun activities

Summer holidays are on in full swing, and for kids, this is the best time to pick up new hobbies and concepts. RootsCamp, a four-day residential summer camp for 10- to 15-year-olds by SkillSphere, a city-based educational organisation, aims to acquaint young minds with the ideas of alternative energy and sustainable agricultural practices through a range of sports activities, group sessions and games.

"We have had many one-day workshops with schools and villages, but we wanted to provide a holistic experience this summer," says Rhea Jaya, founder and director of the organisation. The camp is situated at Forganic, a picturesque organic farm in the Amba river valley near Mumbai, equipped with tents, dormitories and activity areas. The kids will learn a host of things, from using solar energy to budgeting and farming, and participate in group activities like map reading, raft building, spending time with farm animals and learning crisis management.

Map the way
Reading maps is a basic skill, but an essential one. Kids will be introduced to concepts like direction finding by navigating the site with the help of a map as a team, which will also serve as an ice-breaker.

Get green fingers
What better way to learn farming than getting your hands dirty? Children will spend hours on the field planting, and learning about important farming techniques, kitchen gardening, and regrow their pet plants from existing fruits or vegetables.

Make solar lamps
Learning about the food-water-energy nexus helps bring kids closer to the idea of sustainable living. They will learn about wind power generation, and biogas energy with the biogas digester installed at the site, and also get to take home a self-made solar lamp.

Build a raft
With a lake as the backdrop, students will learn about the scientific principles of buoyancy and build rafts, design bridges and zip-lines in group sessions with bamboos, wooden planks, ropes and other material. What's more? A crisis management game will require students to devise a thorough plan of action to tackle hypothetical problems breaking out in different parts of the farm.

FROM: May 27 to 30
AT: Where Forganic Farm, beyond village Karchunde, Sudhagad taluka, Raigad.
CALL: 9819261423
LOG ON TO: rootscamp.in
COST: Rs 7,670