1. Tiny Tots Soccer in Kallang
Age: 18 months and up
Why I like it:
- The activity: Toddlers have a lot of energy, and soccer is a great outlet for that. My 3-year-olds always come home from soccer class ready to have a solid afternoon nap. Bliss for me !
- The venue: its indoor, which provides much-needed respite from the heat, and means the class doesn’t get cancelled on account of rain. It is a realistic soccer set up (astroturf pitch with goals etc) as opposed to another trial class I did where the kids were in a large air-conditioned room with wooden floors. The realistic set up is in-fact important towards keeping kids engaged
- The coaches: Coach Shida and Coach Shaun have been SO GOOD at creating an enviornment where the tots feel engaged, happy, and ready to try new things on the pitch.
- Level of difficulty: in my opinion, the exercises and games set up for each class are perfect for the age group
- The community: classes are accompanied, and you get to know the other parents who come regularly. There are benches outside, and it has become a norm now for us to pack fruit so that the kids can get together on the benches after class and have a “fruit party”
2. Happy fish swim school Home@Bedok
Age: 4 months onwards
Why I like it:
- The activity: excellent for little ones to become comfortable and familiar with the water. It’s also a good workout for them.
- The venue: Happy Fish at Home @ Bedok provides swimming-club-like facilities to make the experience oh-so-comfortable. It maintains a heated pool, a wonderful shower room with tubs for babies and shower cubicles for toddlers. It provides organic paraben-free soap and shampoo, as well as towels. There are dressing stations just outside the shower area with hairdryers and other things you might need. To top it off, there is complimentary hot chocolate machine for after your swim – an easy win with the kids!
- The coaches: I did a trial with Coach Adrian, and he was wonderful with my child. He set him at ease and built a rapport with him quickly. With something like swimming, you certainly need to trust your instructor, and Coach Adrian was able to earn his trust. Familiar rhymes and songs are used in instruction, and some of the swimming skills are named after familiar animals (the monkey, the crocodile, etc). The school has planned-out method with modules for your child to progress through, which is reassuring for parents like me.
- Level of difficulty: because you have to start at the ‘foundation’ level, the class is pitched perfectly to where your child is when he/she begins. When it is time to progress to the next level, he/she will only be allowed to do so with other children who are at a similar same level, which helps maintain the correct pitch-level at every stage.
- Community: class sizes tend to just nice (~5 kids), and this works well in terms of getting enough attention. It’s not really a place to form a community, because it is an accompanied class and every parent is very focused on their own child
- Other perks: as a student of the school, you can use the heated pool even when you don’t have a class. You simply need to Whatsapp the admin assistants in advance to let them know. This is a useful perk if you live in a landed house and don’t have access to a condo pool for the rest of the week.
3. Kindermusik
Age: newborn onwards
Why I like it: the children are always quite happy in this class. It’s also a great introduction to music and the way music works: instruments, notes, the idea of beats.
The activity: The class is structured very intuitively – with some focus time at the start. It is focused on the instructor, and the instructors are always quite engaging. Much of the activity involves movement, and with younger children, the parent or caregiver may even carry the child and help them move in the desired way.
The Venue: the room in i12 is actually quite small, but they never have too many kids at a time – usually 5 kids max. They have multiple studios in the city as follows:
West Studio (Rochester Mall) : (+65) 6684 8064
East Studio (Katong i12 Mall) : (+65) 6970 2697
Central Studio (United Square) : (+65) 6250 2675
North-east studio (Sengkang) : (+65) 6970 7803
The coaches: typically well-trained, with beautiful voices and a happy attitude that naturally attracts toddlers’ attention.
Level of difficulty: Easy. This is not a ‘stretch’ class in any way. It feels like entertainment for the child, and in many cases, parents and caregivers can sit back and relax.
