My Big Break: Awesome Summer Activities in Manila

When the temperatures rise and the wind gets dry, you know summer is just right around the corner. For kids, as Bugs Bunny would say, it’s the time for “no more classes, no more books, no more teacher’s dirty looks!” Here’s what’s in store for your energetic bundles of joy in Manila this vacay season. 

Learning

Arguably the most popular go-to in the world (and rightly so) for those much-needed physical, cognitive and social skills—which they imbibe as they play—for children 0 to 5, Gymboree has been providing fun and knowledgeable age-appropriate programs. During this school break, let your kiddos enjoy their Summer and Kinder Camp; Play & Learn; Music; Art; Learning Lab; Science, Fitness and Yoga Fun—all conveniently located at Rockwell, Shangri-La Plaza, Serendra, Trinoma, and Eastwood Mall, among others.

The Bridge School in BF Northwest, BF Parañaque is a godsend for parents in the south who want a more progressive school with a great student-teacher ratio. The hot months’ program includes photography, dance (MTV Party-style), scrapbooking, jewelry-making and art, etc. 

Creative Beginners Center for Learning and Development in Greenmeadows will hold Preschool Readiness Classes for kids of two age brackets—2 to 3.5, and 3.6 to 4.11. They will also feature Art Classes inspired by the colorful art and literature of Eric Carle. 

Toddlers Unlimited at the Festival Supermall Alabang and ALPAP 1 Building in Makati provides summer learning programs for children aged 1 to 5. With the theme “Summer Story Fun,” different age groups will love singing and dancing to their favorite rhymes; learn family values through classic stories; and enjoy exploring the world of poems, rhymes, fairy tales, and classics through their imaginative storytelling program.

Imagine That! Creative Play Space is a learning environment where kids can discover their creativity. Located in Salcedo Village, Makati, the center offers a safe, spacious, and adorably stimulating environment where your kids can run around and learn, while you shop at the nearby Salcedo Market. They have various supplemental classes like art, reading, music, cooking, and movement from toddlers to kids aged 7 years old.

Music and Theater

Located in New Manila, the Philippine Educational Theater Association (PETA) offers a unique children’s theater program that features a comprehensive approach in teaching children the basics of acting. Their Basic Integrated Theater Arts Workshop (BITAW) teaches acting, visual arts, creative writing, music, and dance through various games and activities that will be showcased at the end of the program, with their very own culminating activity at the PETA Theater. 

Creative young musicians and music lovers are provided with a unique and exciting environment at the Yamaha School of Music. All year round, they offer daily piano, voice, guitar and violin programs through individual classes for kids 4 years and up. Head to the Yupangco Building along Sen. Gil Puyat Avenue, Robinson’s Galleria, and SM North Edsa.

the Center for Pop will be offering children’s preparatory singing lessons for kids aged 4 to 6, in two-hour sessions held twice or thrice a week. They also have Starborne, a training package composed of 20 premium lessons in voice and theater performance for children 6 years old and above. Center for Pop is conveniently located in as much as 17 sites, including SM Megamall, SM North Edsa, Pasig, Makati, Las Piñas, Cavite, and Laguna.

Trumpets Workshop at the Shangri-La Plaza Mall will offer a wide array of creative arts classes. For kids 4 to 6, they offer a Children’s Theater workshop, while those aged 7 and above can enroll in the Children’s Musical Theater workshop, street dance lessons, modeling classes, public speaking and hosting classes. 

Dance

For 17 years now, Sofia Zobel Elizalde’s Steps Dance Studio on Pasong Tamo Extension, Makati has been providing students with quality ballet training (Royal Academy of Dance syllabus) through various seasoned choreographers and dance instructors. Their much-awaited summer programs include Modern (Graham/Horton techniques), Pointe Work, and Advanced Ballet, among others. At the end of the workshop, your kids will showcase their production at the CCP Main Theater.

The home of the country’s premier classical ballet company, Lisa Macuja-Elizalde’s Ballet Manila at 1915 Donada St., Pasay City, offers classical ballet technique taught in five levels: Baby Ballet, Level 1A, Level 1B, Level 2 (which includes a Beginner Pointe class) and Level 3 (with a Variation and Pointe Class and Pas de Deux or Partnering Class), and Boys’ Beginners and Advanced Classes. 

For your little tykes who enjoy modern dance, ballet, hip-hop, enroll them at the ACTS Dance and Arts Academy at the GA Tower in Mandaluyong. They also offer Basic Coordination classes for children aged 2 and up.

Culinary Arts

Head down to the Alabang Commissary of Marta’s Cakes for an unforgettable pastry experience for your little ones. For P250, kids can tour the Commissary and create their own cupcakes and cookies with their decorating kit. 

Celebrating its 13th year, Tiny Kitchen in Scout Tobias, Barangay Laging Handa, Quezon City. Instructed by founder and children’s books writer Vicky Veloso-Barrera, the courses include Tiny Kitchen 1 for kids aged 4 to 6, Tiny Kitchen for those 7 to 13, and Tiny Kitchen Teens, for ages 13 to 19. Students are given the option to create their own schedules.

Located at the Liberty Building on Arnaiz Avenue, Legazpi Village Makati, The Maya Kitchen offers children a special culinary workshop where your kids will surely enjoy cooking up chicken fingers, mac and cheese, spaghetti, French toast, and fruit kebabs, sugar cookies, marshmallow and candy brownies, among other scrumptious recipes.

Awesome Activities

Enter the world of ceramic art with Color Me Mine, a unique playground that enables you and your children’s imaginations to run wild. Feel free to choose your own piece—a bowl, vase, or figurine—and colors from a collection of non-toxic, lead-free, vibrant paints, and create your little masterpiece, that doubles as home décor. Color Me Mine is located at Hobbes and Landes branches in Greenbelt 5, Powerplant Mall in Rockwell, and Bonifacio High Street at The Fort.

With a new branch at the Commerce Mall in Alabang Town Center, Bambi Mañosa-Tanjutco’s Creative Kids Studio workshop gives children the proper confidence and training to create art masterpieces, and even delves into acrylic and oil painting for their mini masters.

The Philippine Center for Creative Imaging will be holding a photography workshop for children aged 10 to 15. Aspiring photographers will learn the basics from instructor Tino Ley, a longtime member of the Camera Club of the Philippines.

Teach your kids the values of hard work, teamwork, self-confidence, and friendship through the McDonald’s Kiddie Crew, a workshop featuring a values formation lecture, training, and art class for kids aged 6 to 12 years old. Interested participants can log onto mcdonalds.com.ph for the list of participating McDonald’s branches nationwide.

Sports and Fitness

Start them young in the water (while they learn a life-saving technique) with Bert Lozada’s Swim School, which offers a Baby & Me program, ten 30-minute sessions that will teach you and your child learn the basics of swimming and water safety through structured activities, games, and songs. Swim Snappers is a class that teaches diving, floating, submerging, breathing, and moving forward, for bigger kids who are ready to swim without a parent or caregiver. 

Aqualogic Swim Co., founded by former captain of DLSU Women’s Varsity Swimming Team, Ria Mackay, is the only licensed Total Immersion Swim School in the Philippines. Many parents swear by Ria’s Aqualogic lessons, which are conducted at the Galleria de Magallanes Clubhouse, The Village Sports Club in BF Parañaque, Makati Shangri-La Hotel and Colegio de San Agustin in Dasmariñas Village, Makati.

The Olympians Taekwondo Training Center (OTTC), headed by Filipino Tae Kwon Do Ambassador and action star, Monsour del Rosario, offers beginner classes for kids ages 4 and up. Located on the 2nd Floor Amber Place, 19 Bayani Road, Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City.

Heads up, future Azkals, the Manila Soccer Academy, located at the Manila Polo Club along McKinley Road in Forbes Park has grown to become an organization whose vision is to engage kids in fun training, while instilling in them the values of fair play, sportsmanship, and teamwork. With an intensive 8-week summer program for beginners and advanced players, the school is also excited for its upcoming 5-day training program with four coaches from Old Trafford of the Manchester United Soccer School.

Have as much fun indoors this summer at ACTIVE FUN, an amazing play environment for your children. Their Cool Summer Fun! Program features unlimited play, mascot and magic show, various games and prizes, raffle, giveaways, and snacks that your kids will surely love. Visit them in Ortigas, SM North Edsa, and Westgate, Alabang.