MEET the new “million- dollar babies”.

As the June school holidays approach, companies are proffering new lifestyle courses for children – and their enthusiastic parents – that cost a pretty penny.

But there’s an incentive for parents to splurge: Unlike the usual, cliched speech and drama classes or piano lessons, companies are coming up with innovative ways to keep kids busy in June.

The new school of programmes include rather adult-like activities – yoga, scuba diving, music classes for children who love jazz and the blues. You name it, you can find it. But for a price.

Take The People’s Association (PA), which is conducting a five-day soccer clinic that costs a whopping $498.

The difference with this camp – called Live, Train & Play The United Way! and which starts on June 1 – is that it appeals to pint-sized pundits by adopting the Manchester United name. British coaches will teach kids to “train and play like the Manchester United first- team squad”.

“Parents understand that the course offers a very special lifetime experience for their children,” said Ms Jacinta Lim, director of PA’s lifeskills and lifestyle division. Half of the 60 slots have been filled.

Ms Theresa Madlangbayan, 42, has signed up her seven-year-old son, Robert, for the A1clinic. She said she is spending about $1,500 on June holiday programmes for her son, including $600 on a two-week Chinese-language workshop and the rest on gymnastics and art-and-craft classes.

“My husband and I believe that such programmes are good for our son. We want him to have the opportunity to socialise with other kids and to learn,” she said.

Madam Myint Yi, 52, feels the same way. She has spent about $3,600 on hot-yoga classes over the past three years for her 12-year-old daughter, Madeline Lu.
Madeline first attended an adults’ yoga class at Bikram Yoga City Hall with her mum, and ended up liking it.

Madam Yi said: “I was willing to spend on classes for Madeline because I thought it would be good for her health. She was always falling sick. Now, she’s stronger and even her concentration has improved. I think that yoga is something that Madeline will do for the rest of her life.”

Bikram Yoga City Hall is considering starting a kids-only class, while the True Yoga chain started running kids’ classes in 2005.

Despite a $350 price tag for 10 classes, True has seen attendance double by 75 per cent since its introduction.

Deputy head Paulin Straughan of the National University of Singapore’s sociology department said the evolution – and cost – of these lifestyle-oriented classes is not surprising as “now, more parents are willing to spend on aesthetics”.

It is a whole new playing field, even for music lessons. For a hefty $800, young musicians who wish to improve their performance and improvisation skills can sign up for LaSalle’s jazz-music intensive camp, designed for young blues lovers.
And, brick and block play no longer means stacking Legos together.

Canadian-based applied-technology company Children’s Technology Workshop (CT Workshop) organises robotics camps to teach children how to use Lego bricks to improve hand-eye coordination, and to learn building skills and simple science concepts. A one-week camp can cost up to $450. Almost 50 kids have signed up for the upcoming holiday camps so far.

Still, there are those who worry that parents are packing too much into their kids’ schedules, even as various companies respond to the demand.

Mr Nicholas Gabriel Lim, executive director of psychological-services provider iGROW, said that, while programmes outside the school curriculum are good for children, it is important for parents to give their children “space to relax”.

He said: “Kids need time and space to play around with their friends and neighbours. It’s good for their social development. If parents impose a social environment on them, it may not be desirable.”

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