Given lockdowns, border closures and what-on-earth’s-going-on feelings this year, these school holidays will hopefully be memorable for kids across the nation.
Whilst visits to the beach, movies and theme parks will be mandatory, there are also activities worth considering when it comes to building your kids’ future skill sets.
In other words, worthy pursuits which also happen to be super fun things to do. Specific skills will be highly in demand in a fast-paced, demanding technology-driven age. When they’re older your kids will thank you for sparking their interest in something amazing, and you’ll feel pretty stoked they’re doing something other than lazing around! It’s a win win!
Here are some predicted key skills kids will need and how you can encourage them.
Technological skills – drone coding
Being technologically clued up won’t just be necessary in our everyday lives, it will be the core feature of many future jobs. We’ll see a massive increase in the use of drones, robots and other automation, which in turn will see a huge rise in related tech jobs.
This summer Code Camp, Australia’s leading learn-to-code holiday and online camp for kids aged 9-13 is offering a new program – Drone Camp – where kids learn to fly and code a drone.
From learning the fundamentals of drone technology and safety, to discovering how drones can spot sharks, fight bushfires and rescue koalas, Drone Camp combines STEM learning, teamwork and social awareness.
Critical thinking and complex problem solving – escape rooms
Several years ago, escape rooms for adults took off, and now they’re also big for kids. Basically, an escape room is a game in which a team of players discover clues, solve puzzles, and accomplish tasks in one or more rooms to accomplish a goal in a limited amount of time. Often the goal is to escape from the site of the game.
Doing an escape room is great for critical thinking and complex problem solving for kids – incredibly important skills they’ll need in the new age as issues arise and evolve at a rapid pace.
Most states have escape rooms for kids. In Sydney check out Expedition Sydney whilst places such as Virtual Room Melbourne combine the mystery of an escape room with a virtual reality experience.
Resilience and risk taking – tree climbing/ninja courses
In a fast-paced future, kids who can work though hard situations, develop courage and learn how to take an educated risk, will cope much better with all the things life and work will be throwing at them. A simple and seriously fun intro to this is a tree climbing course such as Tree Top Challenge in Currumbin, Queensland. Most states have these courses which encourage kids to get over a fear of heights and navigate obstacles safely, without falling.
Ninja courses, such as The Grid at Latitude in Perth, also encourage kids to jump and leap knowing they might fall, and then urge them to get up and try again. Mastery of these physical pursuits also gives kids a great sense of accomplishment.
Social and societal awareness – volunteering
Being sensitive and empathetic to the needs of others and the issues affecting society will be vitally important. Many companies will have an ethical focus and will seek out employees who can champion their vision and are able to see ‘the bigger picture’.
Organisations such as The Wesley Mission have information on organised volunteering activities for kids. Also, many kids initially get into volunteering by assisting their parents. See if your community has a clean-up group which you could participate in along with your kids or a community garden.
