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Kids in Indonesia are currently enjoying their school holiday, but even if you can’t take your children on a vacation, there is no reason to let them veg out in front of the TV. There are plenty of fun, educational activities they can do over these next few weeks to keep their minds active and their hands off PlayStation controllers:

Get in touch with the great outdoors at the Outward Bound Power Teen Camp and Expedition (July 3-9).

This personal development program for teenagers focuses on building confidence, teamwork and leadership skills through physical activities in the great outdoors.

“Nature is our classroom. Challenges and adventures are the learning medium. Experience is the teacher,” said Wendy Kusumowidagdo, Outward Bound Indonesia’s spokeswoman.

During the camp, Wendy said, teenagers will go on a canoe expedition to Lake Jatiluhur, climb a 900-meter-high mountain, get to know local villagers and stay in their homes, build a traditional water craft, try a 10-meter-high rope course challenge, play games that involve teamwork, camp out in the wilderness, cook their own food, build their own tent and much more.

“Our professional facilitators will keep an eye on the children. So in terms of safety, they will be in good hands,” she said.

Outward Bound Indonesia
Jl. Kemanggisan Utama III No. 14
West Jakarta
Tel: 021 5481529
E-mail: info@outwardbondindo.org
www.outwardboundindo.org

Inspire your little artist with Tiny Thumbs.

Children with an interest in art or the desire to discover their inner Picasso can sign up for Tiny Thumbs, a class held at the LINGGARseni art studio and gallery in Kemang. Mia Maria, a mother of two and the class’s teacher, said this was her second year working with Tiny Thumbs. After a successful run last summer, she decided to offer the class, which is designed for kids aged between 3 and 9, once again.

“The idea is to provide little children with a basic knowledge of art and to teach them creativity through concepts,” Mia said. “Art is more than just painting and sculpture. It can be comics, architecture, photography, murals and much more.”

While most art classes for children focus on coloring and gluing things together, Mia said that kids, even if they are still young, are already able to do much more.

She encourages them to think up and create their own art projects and teaches them about artists from around the world. Kids in her class also learn about basic color concepts and develop their own stories for making comics.

For this year’s class, Mia has joined forces with Kutakatik Art and Craft, run by two sisters who also offer a variety of classes and courses for children.

“They are very cheerful and balance out my rather serious views and methods of teaching,” Mia said with a smile.

Tiny Thumbs
LINGGARseni
Jl. Kemang Timur No. 36
Kemang
Tel: 021 7179 0008

Get your budding master chef into the kitchen with I Want to Cook.

After seeing Indonesian children getting inspired by the TV show “Junior MasterChef,” cooking instructor Rina Poerwadi decided to offer cooking classes for children and teenagers during the school holiday. But to her, a cooking class should be more than just teaching little ones how to whip up a quick meal.

“The idea behind teaching teens to cook is to help them look after themselves and to give them the idea that, if you cook for yourself, you can control the quality of the food you prepare and all the ingredients you use,” Rina said.

Rina has been teaching mothers how to prepare healthy meals for their families, and she said many of the moms had asked her if she could teach their children.

According to Rina, it is never too early to start leading a healthy life, which, of course, includes proper food.

“All my classes are hands-on,” she said. “Everyone get their own stoves, cookware and aprons. I teach them how to understand a recipe.

“If they understand how the various ingredients work together and why they need to be included, then they can elaborate on all kinds of foods. They can say if a dish tastes good or not and understand why.”

She added that the participants in her classes normally left inspired and with the urge to practice at home. “I hope they will get support to continue cooking at home,” she said.

Although she is only offering it during the holidays, Rina hopes to make her cooking class for children a regular one.

“I also plan to go to schools to teach cooking for children as an after-class activity,” she said. “I hope this will help younger people to understand more about healthy eating practices, which will hopefully reduce obesity among children.”

I Want to Cook: Introductory cooking class
Tel: 0813 8578 5701

Head to the planetarium.

If your child dreams of being an astronaut, a trip to the planetarium can be a great way to fire up his or her imagination. At the Jakarta Planetarium and Observatory, located at Taman Ismail Marzuki in Cikini, Central Jakarta, kids can learn about the universe by gazing at the stars.

Construction on the planetarium started in 1964, and it was inaugurated four years later by Jakarta Governor Ali Sadikin. Besides stargazing, there are also displays of photos from outer space and information on astronomy in the exhibition hall.

Visitors can also watch nine different 60-minute films (in Indonesian) at Theater Bintang covering subjects from our solar system to binary stars. The digital dome theater, which features 320 reclining seats, received a new projector in 2010, leading to an increase in visitor numbers.

Jakarta Planetarium and Observatory
Taman Ismail Marzuki
Jl. Cikini Raya No. 73, Central Jakarta
Tel: 021 2305146