new delhi swimming dancing and taekwondo are pass schoolchildren today have far more unconventional options to choose from when picking a summer workshop during vacations in the capital they can go for culinary classes animation robotics workshops indigenous art classes taught by rural artisans and even learn the rudiments of management from a crash course of the several cooking classes for children one is temptingly titled chocolate camp the fiveday camp at lajpat nagars young chefs academy comprises classes on making cookies brownies chocolate puddings and more the same academy offers another camp where children as young as five but no older than eight are taught how to make calzones icecream sandwiches and mocktails both will set you back by rs 3500 and rs 4000 respectively we try to teach children science and geometry through cooking we tell them the effect of temperature on different ingredients we try to teach shapes through cookies says jyoti jain of the academy reality shows such as masterchef have inspired these classes such shows have created interest in both parents and children we even prepare children to participate in such contests she says while art has long been one of the favourites when it comes to children pursuing hobbies in summer theres an offbeat alternative as well rural artists coming in from across the country will be holding workshops for adults and children alike organized by intach indian national trust for art and cultural heritage and a delhibased ngo called happy hands foundation the workshops will be on traditional calligraphy gond art soara tribal art molela clay relief tile making and more there will be eight such art forms in this program with fees for each intensive threehour classes spread over two days ranging from rs 1200 to rs 2500 medhavi gandhi founder of happy hands foundation says that though it is mostly adults who have shown interest so far anyone over seven years old can apply before may 16 weve called rural artisans who are state awardees from places like karnataka orissa madhya pradesh and andhra pradesh people can take their artworks back home with them after the workshop is over hobbies and fun skills apart the more academicallyminded have the option of adding to their scholarly pursuits era business school in dwarka has introduced a six weeklong mini mba for children as young as 13 the program that costs rs 9600 will have students doing case studies presentations and even assignments program convener anuj verma says that he has already received applications in excess of the available seats for the course and has had to turn away some parents trying to convince him to include their 12year olds with an mba being a sought after degree for graduates parents are keen to have their wards get a head start says verma some parents also say their child lacks confidence and perhaps a management course will help them be more social says verma who adds the inspiration for this programme came from a