All work and no play makes jack a dull boy. The school hours and academic routines tend to get mundane for all young ones. Get them going in the evening hours - after school and before bed - by signing them up for some exciting extracurricular activities. Let the adrenaline rush roll in while they experience their personal interests in sports, arts, music or language.
We bring you a little guide on extracurricular activities you can sign your child up for:
Sports - Your young one is always full of energy and running around the house, and you wish they could sit down and be calm for a moment. Well, we know what you are looking for. It’s high time that you put the little monster’s energy into something more productive and creative. In Dubai, there are many different sports academies: Cricket, Football, Tennis, Swimming, Karate, Gymnastic, Surfing, Reebok Junior Run Club and Fencing you can send your child to.
Sudheer, Managing Director of Pacific Sports Club said, “At Pacific Sports Club, we train and advise sports persons. We focus on continuous growth and help to grow, shine and win. Our club has the facilities of badminton, basketball, cricket, football, swimming and table tennis. We offer twice a week programs to our students. The monthly fee is Dhs 500 for weekdays, Dhs 600 for weekends and if a student chooses one weekend and one weekday, then Dhs 550. The duration of a class is two hours but we are flexible. If a student is performing well and a coach wants to train them for more hours; there is no additional charge. Call 052-6276999
Art, Dance, Music & Theatre - If you think your kid has an innate creative imagination and has an artistic slant. you should be signing them up for classes of art, dance, music and drama. The kids would kick their heels off at these classes becoming better abstract thinkers and more flexible in their thought processes. You would be spoilt for choice with experts in the UAE offering different forms of classes in art, dance, music and theatre.
Ritwika Chaudhuri, Co-founder of The Palette Art Training and Consultancy said, “We offer various art classes such as simple sketching to landscape, still life, figure drawing, portrait in all mediums, graphite, charcoal, water colour, pastels, tempera, acrylic, oil, mixed media, we teach fine jewellery designing, clay, terracotta and beaded jewellery, silk painting, sculpting, calligraphy for children 8 years and above.
Courses offered: Wizards of arts and sculpting & clay modelling (material included)
Age Group: 8 years plus
Term: 10 session
Price: Dhs 100 per session
Class strength: Min 5 students
Call 04-5539477
Cooking & Baking - Do your children like to help you in the kitchen? Are they always curious about how you cook than what you cook? It is a good reason to sign them up for fun and innovative cooking classes in Dubai and who knows, they may be taking care of the dinner table very soon.
Genevieve Nouhchaia, Marketing Manager of Top Chef Cooking Studio said, “We think it’s important for kids to learn what they are eating and putting in their plates, it develops their senses & palates. We believe that also helps fussy eaters as they are involved in the cooking of their own meals. There is still a long road of teaching them to discover fresh produce and go away from the pizzas, burgers and fries and all these easy eats! It’s all about having fun too!”
Courses by Top Chef Cooking Studio
Mini Chef classes for kids 6-12 years- 1.5 hours at Dhs165/child
Budding Chef classes for teens 13-17 years - 1.5 hours at Dhs 200/teen
Mom, Dad & Me classes for Parent & Child - 1.5 hours at Dhs 420 /class (it’s for 1 parent & 1 child)
Call 04-3855781
Language - Learning languages beyond English and your own has benefits beyond having conversations with different nationalities in the UAE or ordering a cup of tea when abroad. Learning additional languages increases critical thinking skills, creativity and flexibility of the mind in young children. The children who learn additional languages outscore their peers (who do not learn) in verbal and mathematics standardised tests. Hence, learning a language is a cognitive activity and not a linguistic one.