In an attempt to help special children engage with nature, two camps have been organised for students from institutions for special children at the Salim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History (SACON) in the middle of February.

The camps, which are a part of a set of five camps, will also include normal students from various Government aided institutions and be supported by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change under the National Nature Camping Programme (NNCP).

Up to 250 students, including 50 special children, will participate in five batches in the three-day camp between 1 – 18 February.

“The camp was initiated not as a part of nature education, which is very essential, but also to help students engage with nature, which is imperative in the current scenario,” said P. Pramod, Principal Scientist at SACON and Course Director NNCP, Coimbatore.

The students will participate in a number of activities including special games, observing sessions, nature walks, bird-watching, special lectures and star-watching using telescopes.
“The children will be taken on a walk on the special trekking trail inside SACON, where they can observe nature, birds and trees,” Pramod told Covai Post.

In case of visually challenged children, the children would be made to feel plants and trees with their hands in order to get a better understanding.

According to another organiser, games will be conducted for children on camouflage and the importance of mixing with natural environment. “The students will be asked to collect different coloured match sticks that are thrown on the ground. While contrast colours will be easily picked up, those that match the soil colour would be left unnoticed. The same happens in the wild, animals use their skin tone to hide,” he said.

Further, the students will also have a special session called ‘sounds of nature’ at different time intervals to understand the various sounds in the forest.