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The Edison Bal-Balika Mandal held its second annual Bal-Balika Summer Day Camp during the week of August 18 – 22, 2008. This year’s theme was Culture: Learn It, Love It, Live It. Children from the ages of 4 – 12 (Pre K – 8th Grade) attended the camp. An impressive total of 154 children (106 boys and 48 girls) registered for the camp. The children were dropped off at the mandir at 8:00AM and were picked up in the evening at 6:00PM every day.
The Day Camp was centered on the children learning about our culture through different classes. In the morning the children had a session with P. Santo and Karyakars in which the balaks learned about various topics such as Importance of Mandirs, Respect, Prayer, and Need of a Guru. Later on in the day the balaks had Cultural Classes with topics including Hindu Festival, Hindu Rituals, Vegetarianism, and Child Heroes.
Throughout the day the children participated in various activities including Exercise, Cultural Class, Teambuilding Activities, Art and Crafts, Cooking, Sports and Competitions. During exercise the children learned the basic steps of yoga and pranayam, as well as cardio fitness and other basic exercises. Teambuilding activities allowed the balaks to work as a team and learn the importance of it as well as getting to know each other better. During arts and crafts the balaks got to do various hands on activities such as making a picture frame, using modeling clay, straw painting, making their own stress ball, making their own ice cream sundae, and designing their own hats. The balikas were also learning how to make different food items during arts and crafts and cooking time. At sports time the children got to interact with each other and play different sports which included basketball, kickball, flag football, volleyball, ultimate frisbee, and dodge ball. At the end of the day balaks participated in individual as well as group competitions. Competitions included water balloon drop, scavenger hunt, skits, and a talent show. In all these activities the children had learned to work together and show their skills. The activities were geared towards the children learning while having fun at the same time.
As an outing, during one of the five days the children gathered at a local park for a sports day. The Sports Day was themed as BAPS Olympics, due to the actual Olympic season. The first half of the day the balaks participated in team sports and the second half all the balaks competed in the BAPS Olympics. The Olympics included soccer goal, foul-line shootout, 100 meter sprint, relay race, home-run derby, and an obstacle course. The balaks competed with their age group and the winners of each competition were awarded 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place medals.
Overall the Summer Day Camp 2008 was a huge success. Many parents were really happy that their children were gaining knowledge of their Hindu culture as well as having fun. Many parents wanted to have more days of this camp and were glad that their children did not waste their last few weeks of summer sitting at home.
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