Exploration beyond the classroom

HOLIDAY camps are beneficial for children of all ages. As safe places away from home, these camps allow children to come out of their shell, build self-esteem, find their own identities alongside their peers and explore and discover new things.

With the school holidays just around the corner, countless child education and development centres will be hosting specialised programmes to keep children entertained.

As parents, you may be spoilt for choice with the options available, but there is always something to suit your child’s personality.

Stepping out of his comfort zones

Centres that offer outdoor learning strive to educate youth on self-discipline, physical fitness, craftsmanship and compassion.

Designed to promote independence, such programmes allow children to explore the world away from the familiar home setting.

Courses at these centres focus on adventure activities such as camping, jungle trekking, swimming, hiking and kayaking that can open children’s minds to the wonders of the outdoors.

Being one with nature

Nature conservation camps expose your children to fun activities while educating them on issues related to the environment such as global warming and the effects of deforestation, industrialisation and illegal activities on the flora and fauna in Malaysia’s lush tropical rainforests.

For example, when visiting a wildlife conservation centre, children will be taught about the importance of protecting wildlife, threats faced by animals on the endangered species list, significance of rehabilitation, need for relocation and how the world would be affected should such animals go extinct.

In a direct manner, children are made aware of how conservation organisations advocate for the rights of these animals while sheltering and rehabilitating those that fall victim to man-made activities.

Hence, the next generation is taught how to conserve and take care of the environment and nature’s well-being.

Refining his craft

For children with an affinity for the arts, art camps are places where they can hone their skills under the guidance of professionals and experts, share ideas with other camp participants and practise their craft. Besides that, they can gain new techniques and ideas to use in future passion projects.

Art camps can also help to develop your child’s discipline, resilience, patience and attitude in the face of difficulty, be it when they are trying to complete an art project or play a piece of music perfectly.

The lessons learnt can be applied in their lives after the holidays, influencing them to push through their academic endeavours in the same way.

Establishing lifelong lessons

With the rising prevalence of obesity in Malaysia, it is important to ensure that the younger generation does not go down the same route of sedentary living and unhealthy lifestyles.

Sports camps are a good avenue for parents to get their kids out and about while instilling values of sportsmanship, community and teamwork.

Lifelong friendships can be forged through shared toils and troubles as each child strives to achieve his best in a sport he is passionate about with the help of his teammates.

A child’s sense of discipline and responsibility can be honed through sticking to schedules and caring for his own belongings for the duration of the camp.

For budding inventors and scientists

The digital age has blessed us with new technologies and machines that have made our lives easier in terms of carrying out daily tasks.

However, this also means that the younger generation needs to be tech-savvy to keep this chain of advancement going.

Enrolling your child in a sciencefocused camp is a good way to equip him with basic knowledge on science, technology, engineering and mathematics subjects.

As individual camps tend to explore different areas of these subjects in depth, it can expose your child to more advanced scientific aspects such as robotics, biotechnology and physics.