Once the decision on where to send your child to school is over, the next piece of the puzzle is finding extracurricular activities (ECA’s) for the kids, after school is finished. This is a subject of great debate, as some parents do not want their children to be overburdened by dashing from school to extra language or sports programs. On the other hand, there is no doubt that extra-curricular activities provide opportunities to acquire new skills and abilities they might not have at school, or to strengthen skills already in place.
ECA’s also offer kids chances to boost their confidence by interacting socially with other kids not in their regular daily school classes and meet new friends at other schools. Having a group of friends outside of their usual comfort, and, in some circumstances, discomfort zone, can help them expand their social networks and friendship circles. Above all, they offer an important space to have fun and relax away from the pressures of schoolwork.
Mid Terms Camps
All kids love a holiday camp mainly because they spend most of the year going from home to school, and we need them to break free once in a while. School holidays can also be a tough time to manage for working parents who don’t want their kids stuck at home with helpers or constantly indulging in screen time. Many parents often confess they feel guilty because they are not able to entertain their kids during school holidays because of time and money restraints. Any parent who has had to entertain kids during a long summer holiday can confirm this is a challenge. School holidays offer the perfect opportunity for kids to break free in an environment that is supervised.
A sport and activity holiday camp or drop-in day camp offers the peace of mind that kids are busy, active, and happily engaged in an area of their interest. Although here at BKK Kids, we are in favor of kids being allowed to be bored sometimes (it forces them to get creative and use their imagination), if you want to keep the kids active and in some kind of routine, camps are the perfect solution. Many camps allow parents to drop them off before work and collect them after and many camps offer overnight residential opportunities to push kids out of their comfort zone by trying new things.
ECA and Camp Providers
So, where do you find a list of all the outside-of-school ECA and camp providers without spending hours researching? We have an easy-to-use list of recommended providers on our website HERE organized into individual categories from sport to drama, nature camps to cooking, if you can’t find something here then it doesn’t exist. Our extensive list of camp and ECA providers are recommended by parents whose kids have had positive experiences and in some cases, the camps may even be hosted in their own school by an outside provider. Annually we update and publish an Activities and Camp guide that can be downloaded as a free PDF HERE and publish seasonal blogs where we gather the best mid-term camps throughout Bangkok, Chiang Mai, and Phuket.
