As observed, throughout the world and in all cultures, children love to play and in playing they learn instinctively. Especially through recreations and fun gaming activities they become free from concepts of winning and losing and become more sensitized towards themselves and others they come in contact with. They develop holistically, engaging their bodies, minds, emotions and get closer towards their deeper self.

‘Rainbow Dreams’ – an 8-day All India children’s camp was organized by Sri Aurobindo Society, Puducherry from October 15 to 22, 2018 for 30 children between the ages of 8 to 12 from all over India.

The main objective of the camp was to provide children a playful environment, enriched with love and care, where they could enjoy exploring their inner potential. Through various activities such as visits to the Ashram, parks and beaches, chanting of Sanskrit shlokas, paper craft, creative storytelling, dance, educational games, t-shirt painting, making dream-catchers, etc., they could engage their bodies, minds, emotions to the fullest and got closer towards their deeper selves.

The camp also provided children several opportunities to enjoy learning independently as well as together as a group. The schedule was designed in such a way wherein they could also learn other necessary values such as taking care of materials and friends, cleaning up the place they used for any activity, using appropriate amount of everything, working together harmoniously, etc.

The children enjoyed their free time making beautiful handicrafts with different waste materials which helped them to explore their creative faculties. A session on concentration with candles helped them expand their attention span and silence within themselves. There was also a session on Fun with Maths which helped them experience the joy of learning mathematics. A health awareness session made them aware of their different parts of body and how to take care of them. They spent two full days amidst the farm and forested environment of Matrikunj and Reziere Farms, where they learnt about different plants and their leaves, conscious organic farming, how to maintain the fertility of soil, etc. There they also loved playing around with friends, dogs, creepers and tractor ride.

The camp was coordinated by Kiran, Sushanto & Rathi at Sri Aurobindo Society and the sessions were facilitated by Puja, Sunanda ben, Shivakumar , Surabhi, Kiran, Sushanto, Dilip Mehtani, Vishnu Arya, Dr Arati, Krishna and Dorota.