HOLIDAY HOBBIES.

HOLIDAY HOBBIES.

This week, the summer holidays begin and two months of leisure lies within your reach. Often, it is spent in cozy slumber or lethargic boredom. After a week of relishing having no stress of homework and classes at school, I am pretty sure most of you will say “What to do now?”
So here are some holiday projects that you can try out at home:
1. Craft and Drawing: Always wanted to get a perfect 10 on 10 in drawing but just never could? Well, its time to ‘brush up’ on your artistic skills. Scout the net for new ideas on origami, trash craft, and how to use natural dyes for coloring your drawings. You can make use of just about anything from pencil shavings, old newspapers, broken toy parts, discarded cans, used ice cream sticks, dried leaves and petals, twigs, cardboard from your notebooks – to torn plastic bags, aluminium foil from chocolate wrapping, tetra packs and chip/biscuit packets. Start collecting all these items in a carton/box from today itself and in a week’s time, you will have enough material to begin. With a little bit of imagination and creativity, you can make magic. Make sure that what you make is usable though or you may chuck it out once you get fed up with it.
2. Computers: Tired of playing computer games? No, I guess not! Well, the computer has loads of fun besides games for the young eager mind. Ever thought of learning a software application like Word or Powerpoint? You don’t need to go for classes, you know. There is a tutor available for you in your computer called the Office Assistant. So this holiday, decide that you will master at least one computer application. It would be fun to make a power point presentation of an outing or just your photographs to show Dad and Mom. Or write your name in all the various fonts, using the drawing toolbar to enhance it and make it interesting. Oh, it is so much more fun than just playing the same game over and over again. Try it out!
CAUTION: Avoid too much TV - 1 hour a day should suffice. Choose a programme you just can’t do without and stick to your decision. Same principle should be applied to computer games, OK?
3. Cooking: Mom does make lovely dishes, doesn’t she? Well, you can too. Go into the kitchen with Mom and learn about all the spices and ingredients that go into making the various dishes. Plan a schedule with her to teach you two dishes a week. The first day you only observe what she is doing and repeat the steps orally. The next two days you try it out under her supervision. The third day, you ask her to observe and give her opinion at the end. Thus, in four days, you will have learnt one dish. Be sure to choose the dishes you like eating or you may not want to keep on practicing.
A word of advice to young boys: Cooking is fun; most of the best chefs are men! So don’t feel shy to learn cooking too.
4. Reading: If you have a local library, join one and borrow a book per week. Keep aside a fixed time every day to read the book so you can do other fun things as well. Make sure the book is suited to your age and has some challenging words (ask your parents for their meaning or use the dictionary). Imagine that you are the main character. For example, when I would read the Famous Five adventures, I always imagined that I was George since she was hot-tempered and tomboyish like me. Try to avoid comics as they have limited vocabulary and you cannot imagine the scenes like you do with a book. Some books have illustrations. If you like drawing, try to copy these into your drawing book and color them.
5. Indoor Games and Puzzles: During the year, all those game boxes gifted to you at birthdays, etc. were stored away. Get them out and display them on your study table. Choose one game to enjoy each day and play them in turns. If you need friends to come over, make a date one day before. Ask your Mom to prepare some snacks so they all enjoy the visit and will want to come again. Don’t forget to add carrom and cards to the list. For those who like it, chess can also be very stimulating.
6. Outdoor Games: I would put this activity first on my list. How about you? During the year, you have so much of homework that it is very difficult to go out to play. Evening time is outdoor playtime. I would suggest at least an hour but I know you probably play for a longer time in the holidays. Play team games like kho-kho, hide and seek, seven tiles, or ball games like football, cricket. Girls can play badminton if they find football or cricket too strenuous. Girls, don’t sit around gossiping or chatting; run to exercise those muscles and get strong.
I do hope you will enjoy yourself doing all these activities. Remember though, that too much of a good thing can be bad. So do all these things with a perfect balance of eating, sleeping and helping in the household chores as well. HAPPY HOLIDAYS!