School’s out, but the learning needn’t stop

Half term is a chance to teach children the skills they might not learn in class, says Anna Tyzack

Twenty hours. This, according to TED speaker Josh Kaufman, is all it takes to become proficient at a new skill – which makes half term an ideal time to take up something new.

“Forget 10,000 hours; people get good at things with just a little bit of focused and deliberate practice,” says Kaufman, who became good at the ukulele in just 20 hours.

The benefit of intensive learning over a week or two is clear: “Children really recognise an improvement by the end,” says Simon Yeo of Ninja Kids (ninja-kids.co.uk), which runs marital arts camps in London. “They try the same challenges multiple times until they succeed, and when they do, they walk away with heads held higher,” he says.

And the resources required to learn a new skill match those required in the modern workplace: adaptability, communication, presentation and inner confidence.

“We call it invisible learning,” says Walter Kerr of Oppidan Education (oppidaneducation.com), which runs workshops for children. “They’re focusing on things they’re not learning at school and picking up new social skills and confidence.”

He adds that if you can provide a positive educational experience outside school, you’ll make their school life better. For Kaufman, the biggest question is not whether to learn a new skill, but which one to choose. “It’s working out what lights you up,” he says.

Here are some ideas to inspire you.

COOK A MEAL

If children learn the basics of cooking and preparing meals, they are likely to be more adventurous in what they eat, says Ruth Chubb, founder of the Three Bears Cookery Club in Derbyshire. This half term, she’s running twohour cookery workshops for budding chefs on Feb 17 and 20 (£15, threebearscookeryclub.com), while at Abbey School in Reading, eight- to 14-year-olds will spend the week learning to cook a variety of sweet and savoury dishes (£199.20, supercamps.co.uk). For those with deep pockets, Raymond Blanc is hosting a half-day Young Chef ’s Academy for youngsters aged 10 to 16 years on Feb 18 (£185 per person) at Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons in Oxfordshire (belmond.com), plus an adult and child cookery day on Feb 22 for seven to 12 years (£555 per adult and child).

SEW A HEM

Sewing has fallen off the curriculum at school, yet it’s a sustainable and incredibly useful skill that might also inspire a career in fashion (or surgery). The Village Haberdashery in north London is running half-term classes (£40 per session including materials) where children can learn to sew hair accessories and pencil cases and screen-print cushions (thevillagehaberdashery.co.uk), while the Fashion School in Chelsea has a range of classes for children and teens, from a four-day dressmaking course to pattern cutting, pyjama making and a dolls’ clothes workshop (thefashionschool-uk.com).

PERFORM CPR

First aid is an essential life skill that can also bump up your teen’s CV. St John Ambulance runs regular first aid courses for 12 and overs – if your child is under 16 you will need to go along with them. The course covers emergency life support procedures for babies, children and adults, including CPR and dealing with bleeding (sja. org.uk). Meanwhile, Daisy First Aid, founded by former police officer Jenni Dunman, is running courses for families and teenagers in Northampton, Tyneside, Bromley, Elstree, Croydon and Dulwich during this half term (daisyfirstaid.com).

LEARN AN INSTRUMENT

In five days, your child could be playing a new musical instrument in a concert. The Strings Club is running half-term camps for children from reception age to year six in Islington (ukulele), Leamington Spa (ukulele), Tooting (violin), and Harborne, Birmingham (violin). Each camp includes expert tuition and interactive workshops and ends with a grand

‘They try the same challenges multiple times and, when they succeed, walk away with heads held high’

concert (thestringsclub.org). For older children keen on a career in music, the Roundhouse, in Camden, is running drop-in sessions throughout half term for those aged 11 to 25 looking to explore DJing, music production, and podcasting (roundhouse.org.uk).

SPEAK A FOREIGN LANGUAGE

A French camp sounds a little swotty but, according to former lawyer Caroline Eugenie, who founded Et Patati Patata language school in Hammersmith, learning a second language encourages cognitive, physical and emotional development and builds self-esteem. At her weeklong, half-term French school, four- to 15-year-olds are immersed in French for 30 hours of counting, reading, acting, singing and football (£400, epatatipatata.com). The Little Language Academy in Gerrards Cross is running a two-day French camp where children aged three to 10 take part in baking, forest school and kung fu with a French twist (Feb 19 and 20, from £42 per day, thelittlelanguageacademy.co.uk).

PROTECT YOURSELF

Martial arts require agility, coordination, determination and strength, and promote anti-bullying skills and courage, according to Simon Yeo, the jiu jitsu and ninjutsu black belt who runs Ninja Kids half-term camps in south-west London (£35 per session, ninja-kids.co.uk). “Children are encouraged to be brave and take risks,” he says. Outside London, Fighting Fitness Judo Camp in Pyrford, Surrey, combines technical instruction with games and other sporting activities (£185 for five days, fightingfitnessjudo.com), while Blaze Martial Arts near Windsor is running a three-day high-energy martial arts camp (£35 per day or £70 for three, blazemartialarts.com).

SHARPEN THE MIND

Self-motivation can be learnt, according to Walter Kerr and Henry Faber, the co-founders of mentoring organisation Oppidan Education (oppidaneducation.com). This half term they’re running a workshop series for children aged eight to 13 in London to help them understand how their brains work and develop pro-social skills, positive self-belief, cognitive creativity and flexibility of mind. “If they learn these things now, they won’t sleepwalk through school,” points out Kerr. Workshops by sport stars and Cambridge academics focus on time management practice, debating, interview practice, podcast making and a Dragon’s Den. The company also offers one-to-one mentoring and summer residential courses in Henley and Hertfordshire (oppidancamps.com).

SURVIVE IN THE WILDERNESS

If your children are anything like mine, they will be obsessed with Bear Grylls and the idea of surviving on bugs in the wild. There are plenty of opportunities for brave young survivalists this half term; Bear Grylls Survival Academy, where children learn the basics to survive in the wild, is open to those eight and over staying at Park Dean resorts (£12 for one session or £40 for four, parkdeanresorts.co.uk). Wild Thyme & Embers is hosting holiday bushcraft clubs at Milton Country Park and Wandlebury Nature Reserve in Cambridgeshire (£38 per day, wildthymeandembers.co.uk). In Staffordshire, Trueways Survival is running a two-day Young Survivalist course for children aged seven and over with an adult (Feb 29, £195, truewayssurvival.com).

WIN AT CHESS

Playing chess is thought to improve children’s concentration, memory, creative thinking and problem-solving abilities – and incidentally make them better at maths. Chess Entries for All is running a three-day holiday chess course with a chess master in Esher, Surrey, for players aged six to 15 years of any ability (£30 per day, chessentriesforall.com). Wallace Chess is hosting four-day chess camps in Pimlico and Swiss Cottage for four- to 16-year-olds (£230, wallace-chess. class4kids.co.uk). The children will solve chess puzzles, listen to short lectures, learn about end games, strategies and tactics and explore clocks and notations.

RIDE A BIKE

Half term is the perfect time to ditch the stabilisers and learn to ride independently. Pop Cycle is running beginner courses across London (£150 for four sessions, popcycletraining.com), as is Betteshanger Park in Kent (£17.50 per session, betteshanger-park. co.uk), while Pop Cycle and Watford Cycle Hub (watfordcyclehub.org.uk) are also running improver courses to teach more advanced riders to follow safely, negotiate obstacles and commute safely. Meanwhile, Cycle Experience in Berkshire (cycleexperience.com) and Better by Bike in Bristol (betterbybike.info) are running the Bikeability training programme for older children.

GET UP ON STAGE

Alas, the National Youth Theatre’s celebrated start-up course for 11- to 14-year-olds is already sold out for this half term (hurry and book it up for May half term instead, nyt.org.uk). Likewise, Globe Theatre’s As You Like It and A Midsummer Night’s Dream workshops for five- to 12-year-olds, where children will learn about the characters through participation and play, are sold out so look for future dates, too (shakespearesglobe.com). Sylvia Young Theatre School still has some places on its half-term camp. Young actors aged seven to 18 will work on audition techniques, singing, street dance, and drama (£250, syts. co.uk). Perform, which runs camps across the country for children aged from four, is running three- to five-day courses culminating in a show on the final day (from £225, perform.org.uk).

MASTER A NEW SPORT

If your child can’t yet swim, a halfterm crash course is a great use of time. Better Leisure Centres (better. org.uk) and Virgin Active gyms both run beginner and improver courses.

SOW SEEDS

It’s not the best time of year to plant out your own garden, but all four RHS gardens are running Whatever the Weather half-term gardening clubs, with forest school sessions, tomato planting, and making weather wheels and wind socks (rhs.org.uk). Dobbies Garden Centres are also running free workshops for children aged four to 10 at 67 branches across the country. Young gardeners will learn basic gardening skills and take part in games and activities (dobbies.com).

Better Leisure Centres are also running week-long gymnastics and tennis camps for five- to 16-year-olds, while a five-day Paul Delgado tennis camp for six- to 12-year-olds is being held at The Royal Masonic School for Girls in Hertfordshire (£204, supercamps.co.uk) and Power League is hosting week-long football camps across the country, with FA-accredited coaches, for children aged five to 14 (from £10 per day, powerleague.co.uk).

LEARN TO CODE

Everyone should learn to program, as it teaches you how to think, Steve Jobs once reasoned. Code Kids courses teach children aged seven and over key programming and engineering concepts through Lego robotics, stop-motion animation,

Minecraft coding and augmented/ virtual reality. No prior coding is necessary; the course takes place in Blackheath, Sevenoaks, Canterbury, and Wimbledon (from £49.50 per day, codekids.org.uk). Meanwhile, in north-west London, Code Today is running three half days to five full days for those aged seven to 17 (from £170, codetoday.co.uk).

DESIGN A BUILDING

Children are natural builders, which is why family workshops at the Royal Institute of British Architects (Riba) in Marylebone have proved a hit. This half term there is a Space Base workshop, where children aged six to 10 will research, design and build a place to live on the moon, plus a Home of Architecture workshop, where they will be asked to design a new Riba building. Both have sold out, but plan ahead for future events, including creative architecture workshops for secondary school children (architecture.com).