Librarians & Summer Camps

Summer is almost here, and I am excited to share some ideas for summer camps! Whether you’re looking to keep your kids entertained or help them learn new skills to create a deeper connection to the community, here is the opportunity. Your summer activities can be implemented through laser-focused and personalised projects, instilling pride in customised learning. Here are some ideas that will help us librarians use this opportunity to upskill, experiment and develop some new skills.

• Act as a Book Publisher: Ask children to act as book publishers; this is an opportunity to transform book clubs into Publisher Zone. This will help students get excited about reading and discussing books with their peers, provided you have students think as book publishers or editors and discuss why a book was published or what might be the latest trends in book creation. Or have students become publishers/editors giving suggestions on how stories can have different endings or characters or plots. You can use picture books with older students too. Finally, try and get a publisher to share their wisdom with the students OR get a book distributor to share the current trends of what children are purchasing and what trends they forsee.

• Writers Club can be creative if they publish their story on a platform like Read Bloom Books. Laser focus on one particular genre, and you learn how to write it and then teach it – whether it is fantasy, memoir or mystery. Students need an audience. Otherwise, it is pointless. Here are some resources: How to write a memoir, How to write a mystery  Wikihow has answers to all your questions.

• Debate clubs: Debate clubs can help students develop critical thinking and public speaking skills, and this requires students to have access to the internet to find evidence for their topics. Be adventurous and try unconventional ideas. – Ask ChatGpt or Bing Ask for some ideas:
  Should we ban all forms of advertising?
  Should we abolish prisons for adolescents?
  Should people donate their organs?
  Should we have a universal basic income?
  Should we abolish caste reservations in India?

• Art clubs can help students get more creative and find different ways to express themselves. All students love art. Some ideas:
  Plastic bottle arts and crafts
  Eggshell art
  Bracelets and other jewellery
  DIY art
  Wet paint art therapy 
  Marble painting

• Video/Music/Movie/Story clubs: Music clubs can help students develop their musical skills and learn how to work together as a team. You could use AI tools like Sound Draw to create music or add music to their digital story. You could use Canva to create images out of text or Bing Image Creator to create images for your story plot.

• Readers Theatre can help students develop their communication skills and learn how to work together as a team. This club always works successfully. And requires very little preparation once you have the scripts in hand.

• Movie Critics: Learn how to write film reviews and become a movie critic. It is an art and a skill. Learning how to be a movie critic
  

  Image Credit:tsukitohateru.deviantart.com

  will teach us new skills and knowledge; when we teach it, it will deepen our understanding, instilling new interests and skills in children. To learn about movie critiquing, we must know a little about different film awards, movie genres, movie music, what it entails, music moods, camera shots, and more. Here is the resource

• DIY: You can DIY your learning and curiosity and become like Aristotle, who believed in learning by doing. Project-based learning (PBL) is a way of teaching that focuses on student-centred learning. Some ideas for students to consider are:
  – How to support and promote a local business.
  – Create a public service announcement (PSA) about a social issue.
  – Design a new product that solves a problem in your community.
  – Create a podcast about a topic you’re passionate about.
  – Build a website that showcases your school’s history or culture.

Always find a way to showcase students’ works and put them up on display, facing outward, open, and ready to catch the eye.

*All images are generated using Bing Image Creator using Anime style of art.