Cool for kids

School and kindergarten summer holidays can be anything but one long vacation for parents whose work or circumstances prevent them escaping Hong Kong until the new term begins.

Keeping young children entertained and stimulated can be a struggle without structured activities to fill their days. Luckily, there are many fun local programmes available that also aim to help youngsters develop.

Parents seeking to keep their children's academic progress up during the holidays can check out Jolly Kingdom, which offers summer courses aimed at three to 12 year olds.

"Our English courses are designed to enhance oral communication skills and the interest in learning English," says Dr Jeff Cheng, programme director at Jolly Kingdom English Learning Centre. "In our phonics programme, we ensure that a joint synthetic and analytic approach is adopted to optimise children's learning results."

The organisation also has broader options available. "Travelling Around the World" aims to spur young students' interest in other countries and cultures, while "Living Art" is intended to foster participants' creativity.

Jolly Kingdom's summer courses run from mid-July to the end of August and cost HK$748 to HK$980 per month of four lessons, with a 15 per cent discount for first-timers.

Mums and dads who want a greater change of pace in their children's education during the summer could consider enrolling them at the Brandon Learning Centre.