#what happened to kids just going out and having fun and learning skills like teambuilding

[whatimdoing-here]

Love explaining to my kid that I'm not going to spend to 5-10x the amount of money I pay now for him to play only soccer year round and do 4 tournaments a season that will also require me to pay more.

[savrenim]

Do you have any role-playing tips? Especially for a more ~serious~ character? Cause i want my character to bond with the rest of the party, but im not rly sure where to start, especially since ive established her as kind of closed off

OH WOW OKAY

super honored that you asked

gods lemme see, I have a lot to say and some of it might be contradictory because so much of improvising and character creation and motivation is character, so this is going to be stream-of-consciousness under the cut

things that you can do that are just you—get comfortable improvising things, DnD and roleplaying in general is improv, it’s all say “yes and” and “go with the flow”

—but also get comfortable saying “yes” to yourself and not second-guessing yourself

—ie if you say something or do something don’t second-guess it, let it have happened, let it be canon. and then from there, ask yourself why.

—seriously, the most interesting thing I have ever done and best way that I’ve ever built characters is I thought I had an idea who they were, and then they said or did something during a session that made me go “oh shit, why did they do that”, and it either connected to a thing in their backstory I didn’t realize or indicated that they had a stronger feeling about something than I realized and letting the thing that I’d done be canon that then I post went back and extrapolated from allowed the character to grow and mature and develop better than if I’d been wishy-washy or had stopped myself from doing the thing that came to mind in the moment because I was worried about whether or not it was “in-character” enough

—and you can use that to reverse-engineer a character that better fits the overall party dynamic

—for example, for the department campaign I’d completely accidentally created a character who was a bit of a prissy field librarian here for linguistics and to be the arcane consultant and had never seen a death before and believed strongly in all life was utterly irreplaceable and precious for a party that was way more classic DnD and way less character-driven and VERY murderous even though we’re the good guys on a classic “save the world from demons” quest just very chill about murdering moochs, and so slowly from interactions and reactions it turned out her upbringing was a more extreme high class controlling mother and her morals developed into a way more interesting “I am privileged and detached and am trying to say that I care about not killing but tbh as an elf who’s essentially immortal and the rest of you all die in 50 years anyways it is kind of weird to care about your lives and my family thinks I’m weird and really going through a phase for doing so and it’s hard to stick to that when you all seem chill with killing people so okay I guess we’re murdering people now, gotta stop the demons” and the more I leaned into that, the more interesting it became, because as she became a more powerful arcanist I started leaning into the “the more high level spells she cast the more she started power-tripping/the power affected her brain and the less she stuck to the morals she cared so much about at first that her friends didn’t” that, like. this has been a hella interesting, hella engaging character for me. if I had gone “Seraph Maewel has never seen anyone die before and she refuses to be a part of intelligent humanoid killing so we have to make sure we only knock people out and just kill the monsters and I’m going to throw up after every single fight that we accidentally do murder people” it would have been static and boring and sure, what I initially established, but it turns out what I initially established wasn’t best for the campaign and this was an interesting, in-character transition that happened naturally because I did things as I did them aligned with what I understood about the character and then thought about afterwards how it fit with everything I’d established before and what it implied that maybe was different than I thought

—also people change it’s okay and in fact VERY fun to do character growth arcs you don’t have to feel married to your initial conception of a character

—there’s another concept that’s a little bit tied? that is pretty much IC vs OOC choices, of, like, and this is my strong opinion because I’ve been a counselor who’s been in charge of making LARPs fun for little kids for years now? but basically, on a larger scale than the tiny individual interactions, it is your *job* to come up with IC excuses and still make genuine in character decisions that serve the party and that serve the narrative

—like, for example, a while back, I played a character who actively was planning to leave the party after a year. they hadn’t told the rest of the party they wanted to leave, because it was their business, but they were in a point in their life where absolutely nothing was going to convince them to stay with this group of people, *especially* the fact that they cared about them, mostly because they wanted to Prevent An Event That Had To Do With Their Backstory From Happening To Everyone. out of character, I knew that I couldn’t just Leave The Party, so I made sure the DM knew how my character felt, knew that I wasn’t *actually* going to leave and that my character might be getting uncomfortable or look like they were making plans to leave but that I trusted the DM to do the rest, and the way that it was resolved was my character really didn’t *want* to leave their new friends and just cut it too close when they thought they had more time and the Event Happened and after it happened there was no reason to leave. but I found IC excuses to keep choosing an OOC action that served the narrative way better than going “my character really wants to leave so guess I’m going to leave.”

—you honestly probably do things like that anyways? in terms of, like, there is a Plot Hook so you find an IC reason to care about it. but it’s a very useful skill to develop to look at a narrative, go “what serves this narrative best?”, and then once you answer that question go “so what reason does my character have to try to do something like that or as close to that as they can?”

—right now all of the above advice kind of sounds like “yooo change your character” and the answer is also, *don’t*. balancing meta stuff is a…meta thing? just make sure that you’re having fun, and that you’re playing the character that you want to play, and that you have Strong Feelings and act in ways that give you the Feels that you want and that you’re playing for you too. compromise is compromise all around you aren’t going to get anywhere if you’re the only person who gives any leeway then it’s not fun and easy to get bitter, roleplaying is collaborative and other people should work to reach out to you too and give you hooks

—biggest and maybe most important bit: your DM is your friend. esp if they’re trying to facilitate deeper roleplaying. tell them how yooo you want to try to get closer to the rest of the team, is there any sort of challenge that they can throw at you all that will facilitate teambuilding? a little bit of “we all saved each other’s lives” or “oh fuck we got stuck in this cave in together and have to work together in ways we haven’t to survive” or “oops we all have to be undercover and are relying on each other to keep up this act” or just any situation in a story or piece of fanfiction that you would see and go “aND NOW THEY ARE A FOUND FAMILY WHO CANNOT BE TORN APART”, well, let that happen to your group.

things that you can do immediately to have reasons to care about the party as a whole:

—if you can learn their backstories, do? group bonding happens with sharing of personal backstories, and, like, OOC, everyone wants to talk about their character and stuff. if you don’t like them, a good in character reason is maybe you’re paranoid and don’t trust them and want to do some goddamn background checks on the people that you’re working with. but once you know more things about them, you have so many more reasons that you can use to go “ah yup and here’s something my character would hella care about and maybe might be the start of a bond”

—as a closed off brooding character you still can have feelings that you are just the Dramatic Person In The Corner that you don’t show them but they’re there, that is everyone’s favorite character in tv shows as they wait for said character to Crack and admit that they have Emotions

—for example maybe pick another character in the party and oh wow you love them so much, they are your tiny son, you would never show it but nOpe they are yours now and nothing touches them

—pick another character that you absolutely hate and grumble about and glare at, except they are your asshole and nobody else outside of you is allowed to pick on them and if anyone threatens them you will murder that person

—Marian Daywrym, yet another DnD character of mine, has done both; three of the four other characters in the party are 16-ish year olds and Marian is a gruff 56 year old who oops has adopted three more children because tHEY ARE CHILDREN, and then there’s Djin, space rogue, her ex co-captain of a ship that broke up when they had a huge fight a decade ago and at this point the way that she interacts with Djin is mostly being incredibly passive-aggressive and mean to his face but pretty clearly would Die for him and if anyone else tries to be mean to him she is ready to Fight, and that is how my grumpy standoffish “I’m the medic and I’m here to do my fucking job and stay the fuck alive” space mom captain, who also has a policy of “don’t bond or poke into each other’s personal business no drama on this ship we all just want to scavenge in peace” ended up being So Emotionally Attached To Everyone

—but there’s actually another potentially interesting route to go, depending on what kind of Brooding, Closed Off character you are that isn’t “oops secretly now I love and would die for everyone”? which is basically…find someone in the party that you decide that your character maybe admires in some way? of, like, maybe they have an Ideal of they’re going to be a Hero Of Justice and you had that ideal as a kid and it only brought you suffering and pain and you never reached it and so fell off that path and that’s one of the reasons that you’re closed off and it’s Painful watching this person with such hope in their eyes try and you don’t know if you want them to succeed where you couldn’t because they deserve to succeed or if that’ll hurt more too, and that gives you reason to be emotionally invested in their storyline and find yourself taking them under your wing and also for everyone else to go “hey are you okay want to open up?” and for you to maybe feel vulnerable enough to talk about your backstory, looking at someone who reminds you of a less broken you. or not even ideals that you had, ones that are “wow are you really the sort of person that I wish I could have been?” or hey, maybe you’re the idealistic one, then is there anyone in the party that is essentially a “wow I resent you so much for starting from a similar point that I did and falling off the path and/or am fascinated because am I looking at what’s in my future, I need to figure out what makes you tick even though it’s like looking at a train wreck in slow motion of whether or not it’s going to happen to me”

—those are all the thing that come to mind to me right now but if you want me to Tell Me About Your Character And Your Party And Your Game I am always down to listen to people talk about their DnD characters (midterms season is coming up so I might be on and off of here but I swear if you ping me I won’t be ignoring you, just answering when I can)

[sharmaine-agood]

A week before ECQ, our team had a teambuilding in Baguio. One of the places we went to was Burnham Park, and there, my teammates taught me how to bike or should I say tried to teach me how to bike. As I thought of my experience, I saw similar patterns with learning how to bike and with how God deals with us. I deduced two things:

1. My teammates tried to teach me how to bike for 4 hours straight but to my utter disappointment, I did not make any significant progress at all. I, alone, am to blame. Most, if not all, of the people who have given me an advice about biking have told me that when you’re learning how to bike; falling, losing your balance and incurring bruises and scratches are inevitable. You have to go through them in order to truly learn at all. And I didn’t like that. I wanted to learn without incurring any sort of bruise or scratch. I don’t like pain. So I was very careful not to make a mistake. And in so doing, I did not make any significant progress at all. I think God’s process is a lot like that. To be candidly honest, I think His process is often annoying, painful and hard to understand—but it is an absolutely necessary pre-requisite to growth. Younger me thought that when you pray all the time and did everything right, life would be smooth sailing. I tried to always give my best at work because I wanted everything to go well. I guarded my heart because I didn’t want to experience any “unnecessary” heart break. I did everything I thought was right to make sure these parts of my life were smooth sailing and frills free, but they did not go the way I was hoping they would. I had my heart broken, I experienced failure, my first ever boss did her best Miranda Priestly impersonation on me. I had my hope dashed. I cried, pried my hands open and cried some more. However, as I look back, I think God allowed me to go through the painful process because there were some things I can only truly learn through pain. And you know what? I wouldn’t want it any other way. When I survey all that has happened in my life, I have never said or even had the urge to say “God, I wish You just gave me what I wanted. I wish my life went the way I wanted it to because my plan was better.” This brings me to my second point.

2. God’s process may be painful but it will always produce something beautiful. We will always come out better, stronger and closer to the kind of person God wants us to be. He does not waste the pain. The day after my workmates tried to teach me how to bike, I decided to go back to Burnham park to try my luck. I thought maybe my brain has learned how to bike overnight (In my defense, this works with learning instruments). But to no one’s surprise, I still couldn’t bike. So I thought, I’ll try to rent a four wheeler because then I could get the thrill of riding a bike without the biking skills. But lo and behold, I learned that it wasn’t the same. It wasn’t much fun. Kids would bump my “car”. 10 year olds would zoom past me with a mountain bike. Some 7 year olds harassed me with their horn because this tita couldn’t move any faster. And I realized, if I never go through the process, I will stay stuck riding a boring kid friendly four wheeler. I wanted better and I wanted to be better. This is precisely what God wants for us too. He doesn’t want us to remain stagnant. He wants us to be ever-growing, going from glory to glory, and able to reach higher heights. And sometimes, God has to get us go through the uphill struggle in order for us to enjoy the mountain top. Most of the valuable lessons I learned, I learned in my seasons of struggle. I would never truly learn that it was God and not me who is in control if everything went smoothly as I planned. I would never realize the hope of my True Love if lesser loves did not break my heart. I would never know that God was all I truly need if the other things in my life did not fall away.

I guess my main take away is to trust God and to trust His process. The process may be painful, hard to understand and long drawn out, but ultimately, His purposes are always beautiful and good. And so when you think you’re in a dark place, know that God isn’t burying you – He is planting you!

[officialbuddingstar-blog]

A sweltering summer season is upon us which means summer vacations are just around the corner. That means it’s time for parents to start the search for best summer camps happening across Tricity region that will help their kids channelize their time and productivity.

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Summer camps and extra-curricular activities gives kids’ exposure, build self-confidence and esteem, a safe environment and a place to build social skills and make new friends. Kids are challenged and encouraged to grow every day in such camps. In a way, they get to reinvent themselves at camp.

And Tricity (Chandigarh, Panchkula and Mohali) region is best stop when it comes to enhance education or vocation of the child for their holistic development. Here’s the most comprehensive summer camp list for the season happening across Tricity region:

Sporty Beans Summer Camp

Place: First Steps school, Sector 26, Chandigarh

Date: 29 May to 17 June

Age group: 3 years to 10 years

Sporty beans Chandigarh is glad to announce its high energy, Fun filled, Sporty summer camp in association with First Steps school Chandigarh and will be offering activities in the Summer Camp such as- Multi sport program (Covering 9 ball based sports), Kids kick boxing, Kids Zumba, Storytelling, Art & craft & many more… here

For further information please click here

2.     Dream Factory-Robotics & Science Toys Summer Camp

Place: Dream Factory Studio, YMCA Building, Sector-11 C, Chandigarh

Date: 5 June to 16 June

Age Group: 6 Years to 16 years

Dream Factory is back with an exciting workshop totally dedicated to young Einsteins who believe in learning through experiments. The sessions are age appropriate and aim to teach kids that ‘practicality is everything’. The kid will be designing his own robot in this first ever workshop conducted in Tricity.

For Further information please click here

3.     Kidzilla Summer Camp    

Place: SCO-65, 66 First Floor, Above Reliance Fresh, Phase-10, Mohali

Date: 1 June to 15 June

Age Group: 3+ years

At the Kidzilla Summer Camp, there are various interesting events for kids. The camp will cover art classes, Dance, Yoga, Tatto Making, Movie day and grand Farewell Party. Limited Seats…!!

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For Further information please click here

4.     ISKCON Chandigarh- Summer Camp

Place: Hare Krishna Dham, Sector 36-B, Chandigarh

Date: 4 June to 17 June

Age Group: Students from Class 2nd to Class 10th (Boys till Class 6th only)

ISKCON Chandigarh- Summer Camp will give children the opportunity to be natural happy self.. Away from the academic world without pressures & expectations. Here they will learn, sing, dance & experience “magical” joy. These activities are designed to make children think and transform from passive leaners to active problem solvers.

For further information please click here

5.     STEM Summer Camp

Place: Shemrock School, Sector 69, Mohali

Date: 29 May to 14 June

Age Group: 5+ years

STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Maths) is the biggest science and technology summer camp in the Tricity region. It will include 3D Printing, Spheromodelling, 3D Printing Pen, V. R. and much more. Kids will learn about these technologies and will have hands on experience on designing and creating objects. These activities will help children to develop their imaginative skills and find answers to concepts that arouse their curiosity.

For further information please click here

6.     Ideal Child Summer Camp

Place: TIC Centre 1, Sector 33 Chandigarh

Date: 29 May to 24 June

Age Group: Explorers: 4 – 7 yrs, Discoverers: 8 – 12 yrs

A Summer of Fun is what your children can expect at the Ideal Child Summer Camp. The activities have been designed with a goal to ensure that children enjoy their time off in a productive yet fun manner. The themes covered are Freestyle Dance | Puppets and Crafts | Communication Skills, Personality Development | Intellectual Games | Theatre Skills, Fun Games & Non-fire cooking | Teambuilding & Leadership. Different time slots for Explorers & Discoverers.

For further information please click here

7.     Kids and Expressions Summer Camp

Place: House No 1025, sector 43-B, Chandigarh

Date: 29 May to 24 June (3 Batches)

Age Group: 3 Years to 10 Years

Kids and Expressions have designed a special Camp activities for different age groups. For age group 3-5 Years activities like Story Telling, Dance, Clay modelling, Pottery, Splash Pool, Arts and Cheps Day out will be there. And For the age group 6-10 years: Theatre, Dance, Canvas Painting, Pottery, Splash Pool, Art & Shading, Fast Phonics and Cheps Day out will be the highlights.

For Further information please click here

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8.     Handprints Summer Camp

Place: # 2572, SECTOR 22-C, CHANDIGARH

Date: 22 May to 30 June

Age Group: 3+ Years

Handprints has planned weekly theme based programs/activities which are as follows: Week 1: Go Green, Week 2: My body, Week 3: World tour, Week 4: Adventure Land, Week 5: Architecture, Week 6: Art & craft & many more weekly attractions. All these activities will help children develop the healthy emotional and social skills necessary to grow into strong, considerate, and competent adults.

For further information please click here

9.     Magic Carpet Summer Camp

Place: # 1160, Sector 36-C, Chandigarh

Date: 22 May to 31 May

Age Group: 3+ years

Magic Carpet have something special for children this year. Lots of fun and learning activities are included in the summer camp like dance, painting, craft activities like fairy gardening and name plate making and much more, Creative cooking which will include yummy puddings and sandwich craft. Read aloud sessions and storytelling sessions are an integral part of the magic carpet kids club.

For further information please click here

10. SARANG SUMMER CULTURAL-WORKSHOP for CHILDREN

Place: SARANG LOK, Sector 65, phase XI, Main Road, Mohali

Date: 1 June to 20 June

Age Group: 3+ years

The camp will hold activities/programs like Dances, Literature and Culture Dances: Bhangra- Gidha, Kathak, Contemporary Literature: Creative writing, Poetry, Story-telling & quiz, Theatre, Music, Fine Arts Theatre: Acting, Drama Music: Light Music and Group songs, Fine Arts: Drawing, Painting, Arts & Crafts which will be divided in two phases.

For Further information please click here

11. Learn Golf this Summer

Place: Sector 6, Near Punjab Governor House, Chandigarh & Forest Hill Golf

Date: 1 June- 5 June

Age Group: 7 years to 18 years

They have something special for children this year. There’s an exclusive camp for kids that features Flexible timings and customizable packages. Kids can make your own group or take Individual Lessons. Golf Equipment will be provided to beginners.

For further information please click here

12.  Jas K Shan Dance Dacha Summer Camp

Place: The British School Building, Jas K Shan Dance Dacha Studio, Sector-44 B, Chandigarh

Date: 1 June to 16 June

Age Group: 3 years to 14 years

Jas K Shan Dance Dacha is ready for 7th summer camp after great success of DACHA AVIATORS last year. The activities are designed with a focus on developing and delivering the best in-class learning methodologies to bring about experiential learning and self-expression in kids. The program includes: 1. GROUP KIDS Jr #MINI MANAGERS (3+ to 6years) 2. GROUP KIDS Senior (Self-defence & #Kung Fu PANDA Training Camp (7 to 14years).

For further information please click here

13. Kids Summer Camp

Place: Sherwood Convent School, Phase IV, Mohali

Date: 29 May to 14 June

Age Group: 3+ years

Kids Summer Camp has a long list of interesting activities. The activities include STEM education (Science, Technology, Engineering, Maths) + 3d printing, dance, judo and art-craft basics, Hands on experience on 3d printer, vr, spheromodel, 3d pen, Western dance style practices, group dance, contemporary, Judo, karate, special martial arts techniques, Origami technique, modern art and craft and much more exciting things.

For further information please click here

14. Kiran’s Summer Camp

Place: # 654, Sector- 8 B, Chandigarh

Date: 29 May to 16 June

Age Group: 6 Year to 12 Years

Kiran’s Camp encourages creativity with freedom of expression through mediums like arts, dance and aero modelling. Their summer workshops include Learning magic tricks, Maths trick and Brain Gym workshop which will enhance the mental capability of a kid.

For Further information please click here

15. Kids Summer Camp 2017

Place: Bollywood Heights 2, Sector-20, Panchkula

Date: 29 May to 14 June

Age Group: 3+ years

Kids Summer Camp is the summer technology experience your children should not miss. 15 days of excitement and fun learning things.

The activities include STEM education (Science, Technology, Engineering, Maths) + 3d printing, dance, judo and art-craft basics, Hands on experience on 3d printer, vr, spheromodel, 3d pen, Western dance style practices, group dance, contemporary, Judo, karate, special martial arts techniques, Origami technique, modern art and craft and much more exciting things.

For further information please click here

16. Rockstar Academy Summer Camp

Place: The British School, Sector-70 & ST.Xavier’s School, Sector-71, Mohali

Date: 23 May to 4 June

Age Group: 4 years to 16 years

Rockstar Academy presents Art & Craft, Dance (Hip-Hop, Western & Bhangra) and Painting camp. The academy is on a mission to infuse creativity and arts everywhere. Summer Camp will be held at two locations. You can watch all that your child has learnt at the workshop at the live stage performance.

For Further information please click here

17. Mandim Art House Summer Camp in association with Pidilite

Place: # 2157, Sector- 20 B (Near Parshvanath Flats), Panchkula

Date: 31 May- 24 June (two Batches)

Age Group: 3 Years to 12 Years

Mandim Art House presents Summer Camp for Tricity Kids in Association with PIDILITE (providing Certificates). More than 20 Summer Camp Activities like, Painting on Canvas / Art & Crafts / Pottery / Clay Modelling / Dance / Story Telling / Puppet Show / Cooking / Tattoo Making / Hair Bidding / Fun with Science, etc. Flexible Timings & Batches.

For Further information please click here

18. The Nurtuary Summer Camp

Place: Opp Tricity Homes, Peer Muchalla, Adjoining Sector-20, Panchkula

Date: 22 May- 7 June

Age Group: 2 Years to 12 Years

The camp is back with super exciting activities for Kiddie Club (2-6 Years) & Pre-Teens Club (6-12 Years) such as Fun Craft, Dance, Yoga, Storytelling, Water Play, Life skills, Fun games, Story creation & narration, Theatre, Self-expression and many more. So enrol your kid in this fantastic summer camp

For Further information please click here

19. Kompanions Summer Camp

Place: Shanti Path, Sector 37, Chandigarh

Date: 22 May onwards

Age Group: 3 Years to 12 Years

Get Enroll in Kompanions Summer Camp for the Brain Training. Lots of fun and learning at this innovative summer camps would be there! 3D learning, virtual reality tours, digital games and physical activities will be conducted for kids.

For Further information please click here

20. Kiddie Cove Summer Camp

Place: # 204, Heritage-II, Chandigarh Enclave, Zirakpur

Date: 2 June to 12 June

Age Group: 2 Years to 8 Years

a Creative camp which is offering activities like Art & Craft, dance & aerobics, Handwriting improvement, Yoga & meditation.

For Further information please click here

21. Dance Pe Chance- Summer Camp

Place: Plot No-24, Industrial Area, Phase-1, Near Elante Mall, Chandigarh & SCO-34, sect 71, Mohali

Date: 1 June to 17 June

Age Group: 8 Years+

Dance Pe Chance is an all-rounder camp that packs in loads of dance as well as arts & craft, Handwriting improvement, Calligraphy writing, Personality Grooming classes, acting skills, expressions & camera looks. Acting skills will be taught by well-known Director from Industry and Theatre Director. You can watch all that your child has learnt at the workshop at the live stage performance. Summer Camp will be held at two locations @Chandigarh & Mohali

For further information please click here & also here as there are two locations where this summer camp will be held.

If you know of more interesting and fun summer camps or want to know them, write to us at budingstar@gmail.com or visit http://budingstar.com/kids-shops-activty-centres/summer-camps