It is said that “Children are naturally creative. It is our job to give them the freedom, materials, and space to let their creativity blossom to its full potential.” This comes out to be the most transparent fact without the slightest hint of any second thought. GIIS, Tokyo, organized a summer camp once again in this academic year (2019-2020), filling the summer air with the fragrance of blossoming creativity. The school facilitated for various activities through different classes like cooking, dancing, theatrics, English language, art & craft, and sports. Each activity was designed with the dual objectives of fun-filled learning and unleashing the creativity of each child. The summer camp course was not only designed to facilitate the students of GIIS; it was seen to be bubbling with many students from non-GIIS schools as well.

The summer camp took place for three weeks beginning its journey in July and culminating in August 2019 at the Nishi Kasai Campus. The classes began from 10:00 a.m. and continued till 1.55 p.m. each day. The students were divided according to their age groups and the strength of each class was also duly taken care of to facilitate equal attention to each child to cater to his/her claims and requirements. More than the need, it is now the demand of the era to emphasize not only on the holistic development but also on the skill enhancement of everyone which was thoroughly kept in mind while planning for each activity.

The cooking class was based on ‘No flame, no baking’ recipes. The children actively participated in making various healthy and lip-smacking dishes like banana popsicles, healthy vegetable sandwich, cracker appetizer and many more. It was an utter delight to see the children trying their hands at making each dish and then indulging in the pleasure of enjoying them with their friends. It is unanimously agreed upon that “Art enables us to find ourselves as well as lose ourselves.” The children showed no discouragement in doing justice to it in their Art & Craft classes through various forms like coffee painting, making of wall hanging, card making, doll making, pencil holder and painting.

The courage and zeal of creativity don’t make a halt here; their contagiousness continues to spread their aura in the theatrics and English classes. The blooming campers exhibited their undaunted enthusiasm and talent by enacting a story, Broom on the Room by Julia Donaldson and giving tune to a poem in the theatrics classes. Abiding by the crucial importance of the necessity of the enhancement of vocabulary as well as speaking and listening skills, the English classes embarked on the journey, enabling the little explorers to set their sails on the vast sea of fun and knowledge. The children involved themselves in various engaging activities like making of a comic strip, sharing stories and experiences, show and tell activity and games like board race, miming, charade, hot seat, etc.

Release of the pent-up energy also played a pivotal role in the camp. The children enjoyed every move of Hip-hop, Bhangra and Bollywood music. The sports classes were aimed at teamwork and team spirit. Keeping this in mind, the children played various sports and games like dodge ball, corner dodge ball, rolling the ball under the arch, exchanging the balls, ball games, balloon train, etc.

The only inevitability of a beginning is the ending. The journey of the enriching and fun-filled summer camp ended nevertheless leaving countless memories to cherish and experiences to count upon. The camp put up a ‘Variety Show’ on the last day of the course. The parents were invited to rejoice and take pleasure in seeing their little ones perform. The performance included an English song, play, sports and games show. The art and craft done by the children were also exhibited. The summer camp of GIIS, Tokyo, 2019-2020, ended after an engaging session of three weeks, leaving behind the trails of splashes of colors and a myriad of blossoming creativity. Each activity designed and planned helped in achieving the goal of the camp with soaring colors.