The smell of poster colours, sharpened pencils, crayons and glue once signalled the arrival of summer vacations. For thousands of children, holidays meant attending drawing classes, making paper flowers, painting landscapes, moulding clay and proudly bringing home handmade creations. Today, that vibrant culture is slowly fading, replaced by screens, coaching classes and packed schedules. Across Nagpur, children enrolling in summer drawing and arts-and-crafts classes seem to have declined over the years. Art teachers say the shift has become more noticeable after the pandemic, with children spending more time on mobile phones and tablets than with sketchbooks and paintbrushes. Children used to buy drawing books, art and crafts paper, fevicol, colourful crafts papers, colours, sketchpens and other stationary, excited to learn new things. Teachers used to teach drawings through alphabets and numbers. The letter A was embellished with designs to transform into a joker, B was turned into a rabbit, C was turned into a bird, and the list goes on. It was fun to learn many new creative things from art and craft, where one made a frog, other a flower and many more silly things which made everyone share laughs together.

 

However, it now seems like a long gone memory. “Ten years ago, our batches would be full within days of announcing summer classes. Today, we have to encourage parents to enroll their children,” said Anjali Deshmukh, a drawing teacher. “Children are creative by nature, but they are getting fewer opportunities to explore that creativity.” she added. Parents admit that changing priorities have contributed to the decline. While hobbies were once considered an essential part of vacations, academic coaching and skill-based courses now dominate children’s schedules. “My daughter wanted to join a drawing class, but her vacation was already filled with tuition and coding sessions,” said Priya Raut, a parent. Children who once experienced the joy acknowledge how different vacations have become now. “I used to love colouring and made crafts during my summer vacation.

 

My mother used to send me to a drawing class, but now I mostly see children play games on phone or attending coaching classes,” said Vaidehi Wakodkar. “I would love to join a drawing and art class even if I get the opportunity now,” Wakodkar added. Art educators believe the loss goes beyond learning to draw. According to Rajesh Kulkarni, an arts and crafts teacher, art classes teach patience, observation, discipline and confidence. “Not every child will become an artist, but every child benefits from art. It helps them think differently, solve problems creatively and express emotions without words,” stated Kulkarni . Even during school hours, there was a scheduled period for drawing, and art and crafts, to help them concentrate and indulge in creative thinking. But now everything is online and even drawing and colouring apps are available online. Online apps can never give the feeling of joy and excitement which one a book and crayons did. The growing dependence on digital entertainment has also changed the way children engage with creativity. Instead of creating something from scratch, many now spend hours consuming online content, this limits imagination and reduces opportunities for hands-on learning.

 

Despite the decline, several artists and community organisations continue to organise affordable workshops during vacations, hoping to revive children’s interest in drawing, painting, sketching and craft. Teachers believe parents also have a crucial role to play by encouraging children to spend at least a part of their holidays away from screens. Summer vacations were once remembered through colourful paintings hanging on walls, drawings shown to parents, handmade greeting cards gifted to grandparents and craft projects proudly displayed at home. Those simple creations carried memories that lasted long after the holidays ended. As vacations become increasingly structured and digital, the joy of creating with one’s own hands may soon become a forgotten chapter of childhood. Whether the smell of paint and paper returns to define summer once again will depend on the choices parents, schools and society make today. n