Fun Gopa Kuteeram Summer Camp in Houston
By Sri Swamiji’s grace, a fantastic week-long Gopa Kuteeram summer camp was conducted in Houston at Sri Aishwarya Srinivasa Perumal Temple/Namadwaar Houston, themed as “Krishna’s Leela Land.” 22 kids in the age group 5-12 participated in the camp, including three American children for whom it was their first introduction to Hindu dharma and Sri Krishna leelas.
Every morning, children chanted the Mahamantra and learned to do it as Mahamantra meditation. Over the course of the week, they also learned about who Krishna is, where He is, how we can connect with Him, and how we can remember Him. They also learned a little about how a prayer can be done for it to be most effective.
Activities at the camp included:
– Story-telling sessions where the children listened to numerous stories of Krishna leelas and played games based on the stories.
– Learning to sing two English Madhurageethams of Sri Swamiji’s – “Where are you Krishna?” and “O My Parrot”.
– A creative writing session where they first did creative thinking, listening and writing exercises, and then wrote a story based on their own creative imagination of a Krishna leela, while putting themselves into the story. At the end of the camp, all their stories were compiled and published as a short story collection called “What if I was in Krishna’s story…”
– Canvas painting, clay modeling, bracelet-making.
– A fun outdoor cricket workshop.
– Special Yoga session.
– A fun field trip day with a visit to Houston’s state-of-the-art Eternal Gandhi Museum followed by a picnic lunch and water play at a splash pad park.
– An Ayurveda session by a Vaidya from Vande Wellness, a local Ayurvedic services center, which introduced the kids to the health benefits of everyday spices.
– An enjoyable Culinary Arts sessions where the kids assembled various dishes in groups and totally enjoyed making as well as eating them.
On the final day of camp, all the parents came by to taste their children’s culinary creations, play a Krishna Leela quiz against the kids (and lose to them!), and listen to each of their children share about various activities they did at the camp and also narrate various Krishna leelas.
Several volunteers including GOD volunteers, high school youth, and many community members with special skills and interests, came together to make this camp a great success.
Kids on field trip wearing GK camp t-shirts that say “Learn Krishna, Learn Yourself.”
More pictures from the camp: https://www.facebook.com/media/set?vanity=godhouston&set=a.1094909766001383
