The Hindu Heritage Camp was conducted on September 25th of 2005 in Chattanooga Gujarathi Samaj Temple under guidance of Dineshji, Hemanthji, Shekharji and Radhikaji. About 27 children from age group 4 to 14 attended the camp.
The Camp started at 9:00 am with brief introduction of participants and parents.
The participants were divided into 2 groups based on their age. There was 15 mins warm up session and surya namaskar with mantra. The children were involved in indoor games for 90 mins with great enthusiasm and fun. There was 20 mins shloka chanting with gesture’s for age group 4-8. The age group 9-14 were divided into 4 groups and asked to give their creative and innovative ideas to improve the Balagokulam magazine.
The afternoon session was started with deep relaxation technique for all the participants for 20 mins. Later for age group 4-8 there was a dewali painting activity. After this kids were divided into five groups and were asked to pick up any story from the ancient Hindu stories and come up with a short skit. The kids were guided by an elder member for this activity and they were given 45 minutes to rehearse the skit.
The parents were excited to see the kids engaged in the skits. Parents enjoyed the kids performing the skits, shlokas and the games they had learnt. The parents were given a feedback form about how the kids felt the camp. The organizing team was excited (same as the parents) about the response from kids.
The parents expressed the need of more such camps and for longer durations. The camp ended with presenting shields and certificates for the participants. There was great support from parents for the whole camp activities.