From hip hop star to author: Students can be anything they want to be during the school holidays

Kimberly Lim
The New Paper
Sunday, Nov 20, 2016

If you are still looking for ways to keep your active children occupied over the next several weeks, take a leaf out of other parents' books.

Parents are opting for less academic-related enrichment classes, sending their kids to learn speech and drama or even coding, says Flying Cape's co-founder and director Jamie Tan.

The 37-year-old says: "Parents are becoming increasingly engaged in their children's development.

"Some of them are still very academic-focused, going for classes which indirectly help with their child's school performance."

Flying Cape is a tuition and enrichment booking platform and parents can either make their bookings online or at the events themselves.

Miss Magdelene Loh, 38, also co-founder and director of Flying Cape, says: "There has been a realisation that academics is not enough. The need to become well-rounded is becoming more important."

A straight-A student would hit a glass ceiling without traits like communication skills, she adds.

MORE PROGRESSIVE

Miss Loh also says the majority of Singaporean parents are becoming more progressive and aware of shifting education trends, and choose to send their children to enrichment classes.

"Singapore has always been a tuition hub, but parents are starting to realise that academics is not everything," she says.

"Bringing up a holistic child has become more popular and parents are keen on giving their kids more exposure to help them become more all-rounded."

Yoga, tales and games for tots

Fancy story-telling and playing games during yoga classes?

The tiny tots get them.

OhmSantih Yoga offers classes for children from ages three to 13.

The classes are categorised into three age groups: three to six, six to nine and nine to 13.

The class for the youngest group integrates storytelling with yoga poses.

OhmSantih Yoga founder War War Lwin Tun, 33, explains that this is just one of the many ways she helps her young participants focus and have even more fun during classes.

The teachers there also play a game called Yogi Says, with has the same rules as Simon Says.

BREATHING

Besides learning how to do yoga poses, the kids also learn breathing techniques which help to manage stress and anger.

The classes are conducted in a nurturing and non-competitive environment to boost the children's self-esteem and confidence, and to help them channel and express their emotions in a healthy manner.

The Kids' Yoga Course, which costs $360 per participant, comprises 10 lessons of an hour each with a maximum of six children.

For more details, go to www.ohmsantih.com

Become a hip-hop star

Advent Music has beatboxing classes to help your child realise his or her dream of becoming the next hip-hop sensation.

Beatboxing is an art that would require one to manipulate his or her voice, vocal cords and body.

The only instrument involved is your own body.

WARM UP

Beginners can learn the basic sounds to help them warm up to beatboxing before advancing to more complicated and challenging sound effects.

No musical background is required for this class.

Since the classes are on a one-on-one basis, it can be catered to suit your child and the goals can be customised as well.

The lessons will be conducted in the students' homes and cost $60 per session.

For more details, go to advent-music.com

Build a fort and shoot

Head down to Kaboodle Kids to build your own house, castle, ball track, fort, anything.

The indoor playground provides a space with non-toxic, soft, mold-resistant, foam blocks for kids to build anything they want.

This self-directed playtime promotes designing, brainstorming, experimenting and risk-taking.

SHOOTOUT

If you are a fan of Nerf guns, Nerf Shootouts are held on Wednesdays and Sundays from now till Dec 14 as a school holiday special.

Participants get to make forts while playing with Nerf guns for the shootout to make the game play even more exciting.

Become a member and get a 10-visit membership for $220, which entitles your child to unlimited creative play every day, inclusive of weekends and public holidays.

For more details, go to www.kaboodlekids.com.sg

Become an author

Let your children live their fantasy by making their own gamebook.

My Interactive Adventure e-Book by Joyous Learning trains aspiring young authors in making their own choose-your-own-adventure gamebook.

The workshop blends creative writing with gameplay design, where children can develop their own game world and create parallel adventure paths for their protagonists.

It also covers story plot development, as well as web design and construction.

At the end of the course, your children would have their very own published e-book that their friends and family members can view.

Held over three days, each class of eight participants is 2.5-hour long and the entire course costs $270.

It is suitable for children aged nine to 11 and they need their own laptop.

For more details, go to www.joyouslearning.com.sg