What are winter camps?

During the December holidays, winter camps help children learn a new skill, develop a new sport, enrich their language and communication abilities, and engage with other children in their age group. No matter if they have joined our Sports camps or Language camps, there's something for any child, no matter what interests them. All these enrich their holiday experience while school is out!

Qualified and highly experienced educators designed our programmes. They ensure that the programmes are age-appropriate and creativity-powered. Our educators ensure that children's interests are catered to, nurturing their creativity and curiously. Rejecting purely textbook-based or stringent curriculums, we often allow the children to lead what they would like to learn, incorporating fun and games, arts and crafts into the programmes.

Other than winter camps, ESF Sports & Language offer clinics and courses during term time and seasonal camps whenever the children are on holiday throughout the year!

The theme this year was Winter Wonderland. The children got to experience language learning through baking gingerbread cookies, decorating Christmas trees, and singing Christmas songs. On the Sports-side, we piloted several new programmes this Winter, such as gymnastics and lacrosse, and incorporated winter elements into our favourite classes such as basketball and swimming.

Let's take a look at some of our top picks!

8. Football

The kids at ESF Lions Football Camp this winter were the epitome of teamwork as they practised essential football drills all the while building collaborative concepts on the field. Holdings hands, they displayed trust in their teammates guarding their turf during one of the competitive games.

Other mini-games included one-to-one ball retrievals, dribbling in different directions, defensive skills, passing at distance, and techniques to play in a variety of different positions and formations on the pitch.

Joining ESF Lions help your child build fundamental football-related skills and provide a challenging experience that will improve their physical health and fitness.

7. Lower Kindergarten English

At Kindergarten-level, the children got hands-on in baking their own gingerbread cookies. Not only was baking a fun home economics endeavour, but it also encouraged creativity, teamwork, and expression. The children were encouraged to speak entirely in English and express themselves freely through edible art.

This workshop was a wonderful winter-themed programme for children to get better prepared for another challenging term ahead in January and got them back into the back to school spirit.

Our teachers also got hands-on in teaching the children how to use the icing syringe, guiding them through the steps sometimes on a one-on-one basis.

6. Lacrosse

A completely new sport available at ESF Sports, lacrosse is a fast-paced historic game dating back to the 17th Century that focuses on hand-eye coordination, quick reactions, combined with team play. Lacrosse players use a stick with a net to toss the ball across a large field. It is considered one of the fastest-growing sports around the world!

With a huge focus on teamwork, players strategies, train, and score together, building friendships on the field and off. In this photo, young lacrosse players gathered around, training to hold the ball together using all four lacrosse sticks, collaborating to synchronise to each others' pace.

Lacrosse returns in Term 2!

5. Minecraft Coding

Minecraft is an emerging gaming platform that is also an education platform. It doubles up as a teaching tool for kids to learn coding in a fun and engaging way.

While lego is a simple building blocks game that we are all very familiar with, Minecraft is the digital version that explores the elements, electricity, logic gates, architecture, and more scientific concepts. These all train the children to think logically - which is essential when learning to code.

In this photo, the children exchanged their thoughts, provoking an interesting discussion on how best to code using the Minecraft console.

This programme is hosted in collaboration with BSD Education and returns in Term 2.

4. Dance

A new programme by ESF Sports, Dance features a wide range of different dance genres that help children dip their toes. The children learn as a group fundamental dance moves in contemporary dance and jazz-funk, introducing them to rhythm, groove, and beat so they can discover their own choreography.

Learning dance as a group helps the children learn to synchronise with their classmates through their body language and communicate effectively by flowing with the music through dance. It is an unconventional sport that encourages creativity and expression while keeping fit.

3. Spanish

You wouldn't expect this photo to come from a Spanish class! And that is true because ESF Language & Learning is the only education provider that combined the Spanish language programme with an arts programme, exclusively for holiday camps.

Travel back in time through the richness of Hispanic culture, music, and colours as they learn about Spanish art history, Spanish cultures, and new Spanish vocabulary! Each day, students built their understanding of the language through artistically expressing a different component of the culture.

Taught by a native speaker, students were encouraged to communicate entirely through Spanish throughout the class. They will not only develop their reading, writing, speaking, and listening skills in Spanish, but will also develop a love for art and broaden their knowledge of different art techniques.

2. Swimming

No matter if your child was swimming with HK Hurricanes or with ESF Sharks at our many facilities across Hong Kong, the festive spirit jumped into the pool with them.

Our coaches wore Christmas hats to fill the waters with holiday cheer all the while teaching the children important swimming protocols and marking their performances. We understand the importance of feedback and we personalise teaching swimming skills by ensuring every child gets one-on-one feedback on their performance. That way, they know how to improve with every lap they swim.

Besides, the pool is always warm, so you need not fret about the elements.

It is one of our most popular camps and clinics across our locations!

1. Drama Stars

The highlight this holiday season was Drama Stars as our little actors and actresses put on their best Christmas costumes and performed outstandingly in Jingle Jangle and Party With The Trolls.

They celebrated the festive spirit in this creative Christmas camp. Combining music, art, and drama, students learned songs, created their own costumes, and prepared a mini video performance!

Join this extraordinary drama programme again in Term 2 when Drama Stars return with Roald Dahl stories to engage your child through performing arts.

By Iva Liu