How far did you hit the golf ball?” Gilbard Honey-Jones principal of the British School of Kuala Lumpur, chats with little students who return from golf practice after classes. He says all children are encouraged to get involved in activities outside the classroom environment.

Honey-Jones is proud of BSKL’s impressive array of extracurricular activities—the students can choose everything from golf to board games and 3D graphics to role-playing in Spanish. But tennis has become the most popular extracurricular activity in BSKL he says, with nearly half of BSKL’s students engaging in the sport.

The spacious tennis courts teem with enthusiastic schoolchildren in their navy blue sports attire. Some chase around with their friends, while others rummage in lunch boxes for afternoon snacks. But one call from the tennis instructors and children gather quickly to listen to them. Tennis is practised with the help of different exercises, which make the sport fun for everyone. Even three-year-olds can have a go at tennis. Sports teacher Jason Scivetti, alongside a few other instructors, guide the group during tennis practice. “Once more, great job!” he cheers to the giggling children who are clearly enjoying themselves.

This engaging sport is also taught at Monster Tennis, an indoor mini-tennis school set up two years ago and run by Khoo Chin Bee, a former Malaysian national tennis champion. It provides tennis classes to children as young as two-and-a-half to eight-years-old. “Our fun-filled programme enhances children’s social interaction, self esteem, physical skills, and decision making—it sustains a young player’s interest and gives them the desire to play tennis for life,” Khoo says. Children learn in small groups of no more than four, divided based on age and skill level, so that results can be achieved in the shortest time possible. 

Another newcomer, already proving itself to be highly popular, is Koru Sports Academy which specialises in indoor football (soccer), swimming and karate for children as young as two. “Our most enjoyable and fastest growing areas of coaching are the younger age groups for football —the pre-schoolers and under seven-year-olds,” instructor Paul Williams explains. “This is an amazing age in which to get these kids started, they have so much enthusiasm and willingness to learn and participate; they are like a blank page waiting to be filled in.” Which is why the instructors take this responsibility seriously, and according to Williams: “It makes this age group so incredibly exciting for the coaches. To watch the children grow with the sport is only the tip of the iceberg: their social interaction in groups evolves as does their physical abilities, balance, coordination and strength. Their level of participation and enjoyment of the game also flourishes.” 

In a cosy little house near Ampang Jaya, cheerful children in white outfits are practising the Korean martial art of taekwondo—a frequent activity at Kidz Cabin, one of KL’s most  interesting pre-schools, which doubles up as a language, music and art centre. Zarida Kamal, Kidz Cabin’s US-educated principal, says she believes in children’s holistic development: “In addition to martial arts, our outdoor activities include creeping, crawling, marching, and jumping on the trampoline among other things; they strengthen children’s hands and torso, which will help them enormously later on in the classroom.” She adds the activities also improve the children’s left and right brain coordination.

At Kidz Cabin, the children,  from ages two to six, are exposed to a wide range of learning methods which do not restrict their creativity. In the classroom, the focus is on hands-on learning: the children do science experiments as well as more artsy activities like cutting, pasting and painting. The year at Kidz Cabin traditionally culminates in a concert or a play—this year the children will star in a musical which tells a story about an underwater world. “The musical teaches children about saving the marine creatures  and emphasises the importance of conservation work and the beauty of underwater life. All children participate in this performance.” 

Little stage divas can also express themselves at Blubricks—a  performing arts institution that has several outlets in and around Kuala Lumpur. Children learn through play in their specialist programmes which offer an array of theatre activities, role plays and drama games. “Children are an endless mix of energy and talent. Drama provides an outlet for emotions, thoughts and dreams, where children can be creative without being restricted,” says drama coach Abigail Barragry, a veteran in performing arts, who has performed, taught, and learned in some of the world’s most prestigious drama and theatre institutions. She now shares her passion for theatre in Kuala Lumpur.

Music based activities never lose their popularity. Jee Fei Khor from the Harp Academy, a KL based music school, says learning music is very beneficial for students and is specially important for their coordination skills. “On our pedal harp courses, also known as the concert harp designed primarily for classical music, students learn to manage 47 strings and seven pedals which gives students very good eyes, hand, and leg coordination,” says Khor. Playing the harp also improves their memory, as you always have to think in advance about finger placement on the strings and the pedal changes, Khor adds. Moreover, students learn how to listen carefully to each other during the ensemble playing, and as a result, have better interactive skills.” 

Other popular music centres include Allegro Music, a junior choir and string ensemble for students and Bentley Music Academy offering music appreciation for babies, toddlers and preschoolers. 

For children curious about building and how things work, look no further than Children’s Technology Workshop. It runs unique creative technology programs that spark and

encourage children’s interest in technology and creativity. It does so in a very interesting and diverse way; offering the kids hands-on projects and activities in subjects such as engineering, animation and robotics—all done with Lego bricks. The children can also produce an animation movie based on their creations. Working in collaboration with 11 schools in the Klang Valley area, the workshop has become hugely popular among schoolchildren. “The workshop allows the kids to go crazy with their imagination and think outside the box,” Marketing and Communications Executive Sharlini Mannar Naidu explains.

Take the program: ‘Mission to Mars’ in which a team of astronauts is trapped on the red planet. Children can ‘Blast off to their rescue’ or try something like ‘Expedition Egypt’ where they have to use 21st century technology to discover the Pharaoh’s treasure. So let your future Michael Schumacher get an opportunity to test their skills on an F1 race track, or your budding Donatella Versace wannabes let loose by designing fashion creations which they can later present on a catwalk; all made out of Lego, of course.

SO WHAT ARE YOU WAITING for? There is an endless pot pourri of options out there for children to try. So even if tennis or chess would not be your child’s cup of tea, you can be sure to find something that suits the needs and wishes of your little one.

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