Kiasu Singaporean parents are notorious for overtaxing their kids with all manner of enrichment classes.
Some even send kids as young as 3 for tuition! Clearly, it’s never too early to get a head start, whether you’re grooming your 18-month-old for that PSC scholarship or training him to become the next world famous concert pianist / Olympic swimmer / rocket scientist.
But all jokes aside, sometimes you just want to have some fun with your children, and here are 9 types of classes designed for babies under the age of two that you can go to with your babies.
Top 9 baby and toddler activities in Singapore
| Class | Age to join | Price |
| Baby ballet class at Dancing Kids | 6 months | $10 |
| Music class by Kindermusik | Newborn | $20 |
| Swimming class at Happy Fish Swim School | 4 months | $28.50 to $35.70 |
| Baby yoga at Mini Glow Yoga Club | 4 weeks | $29.50 to $32 |
| Gymnastics at My Little Gym | 4 months | from $31 |
| Baby Kung Fu at Ch’i Life Studio | 18 months | $36.8 to $45 |
| Chinese classes at Little Mandarins | 18 months | $40 |
| Genius Baby class at iGenius | 4 months | $60 |
| Right brain training at Heguru or Shichida | 6 months | $70 |
*Prices are not inclusive of materials, registration fees and deposits.
1. Baby ballet classes at Dancing Kids ($10)
Dancing Kids offers affordable dance classes at various condominium properties at East Coast. Babies from 6 months to 3 years old can join the Music and Movement class while aspiring ballerinas from 18 months to 3 years old can learn how to dance at Mummy and Me ballet classes.
Group and individual classes are available, with prices starting at $10 per lesson. Visit Dancing Kids’ Facebook page for the detailed timetable.
2. Kindermusik baby music classes ($20)
Singaporean parents are well known for forcing piano lessons on their kids, so it’s no surprise that music courses for babies like Kindermusik have proven popular. These programmes are open to kids as young as, uh, freshly out of the womb and are designed to let kids explore music, the voice, instruments and playing with sound. Trial classes cost $20 to sign up.
3. Baby swimming classes at Happy Fish Swim School (from $28.50)
For a period of time, babies floating around in inflatable pools with a float around their heads were trendy, but these days, babies learn the real thing.
At Happy Fish Swim School, babies (joined with mummies and daddies) can go for swimming classes from as young as 4 months old at indoor heated pools. They will learn gross motor skills, hand eye coordination, increase their lung capacity and balance.
Classes cost $342.40 per term for 12 weekday lessons and $428 per term for 12 weekend lessons, which comes up to between $28.50 and $35.70 per lesson.
4. Baby yoga at Mini Glow Yoga Club (from $29.50)
If you thought only adults craved inner peace, apparently you’re wrong. More and more yoga-inspired classes are targeted at tots. Yes, Baby Yoga is an actual thing.
Mini Glow Yoga Club, opened by Hom Yoga, offers Mums & Bubs yoga classes where mothers and babies from 4 weeks to 12 months can enjoy a session together. Toddlers between 18 months and 3 years old can also be dropped off for toddler yoga, which is a class that inspires the young tots to use their imagination and teaches them about nature and the environment.
A drop-in class costs $32 per session and if you sign up for the 10-class package you would pay $29.50 per class.
5. Gymnastics at My Little Gym (from $31)
No, you’re not about to see babies doing deadlifts and squats just yet. Baby gyms are more like big foam-padded play areas designed to get kids moving, playing and, hopefully, developing their psychomotor skills. My Little Gym is one example—kids can start from the age of 4 months and when they are older can move on to actual gymnastics.
Prices for My Little Gym vary according to location. According to Phil And Mama, it costs $1160 for weekly classes in one season (ten months), or $124 per month.
6. Baby Kung Fu classes at Ch’i Life Studio (from $36.80)
Remember that actor Robin Leong? He now co-owns Ch’i Life Studio, where kung fu, aikido and other sports are taught. And they offer Kung Fu Baby classes that teach movement, balance and hand-eye coordination. Yes, you heard that right. While this could mean your two year old will soon be beating you up, it might be worth it to put him in the class just to see him in a Bruce Lee costume. It costs $45 for a trial lesson and $368 for 10 sessions.
7. Chinese classes for toddlers at Little Mandarins ($40)
Bilingual education is a big deal in Singapore, and due to the rising number of English-speaking households, parents are getting scared that their kids will fall behind in the Mother Tongue subject when they’re of school-going age. There are also many expat and non-Chinese local parents who want their kids to become fluent in Mandarin.
That’s probably why there are so many Chinese enrichment classes for babies and toddlers these days. These schools try to give kids the necessary exposure to Chinese at a young age — Little Mandarins conducts classes for kids aged 18 months and onwards. Interestingly enough, they have two tracks, International and MOE. We’ll leave you to draw your own conclusions.
Each lesson costs $40. Lesson fees will be calculated from date joined till end of term excluding public holidays.
8. BabyGenius classes at iGenius (from $60)
The provocatively-named Baby Genius classes by iGenius are sure to capture the attention of kiasu parents, because who doesn’t want a kid who scores ten A1s at the O levels, right? The Baby Genius programme caters to kids between 6 and 36 months old and aims to give them a head start in language and speech development, understanding numbers, recognising colours and shapes and development of rhythm and sensory awareness. A trial class costs $60.
9. Right brain training by Heguru or Shichida (from $70 per lesson)
Recently, it has also become trendy for parents to send their babies and toddlers for right brain training from as young as 6 months old.
Heguru and Shichida are the most popular. Originating from Japan, they use super flash cards to teach instant memorisation techniques. From an outsider point of view, the flash card exercise looks pretty intense for young bubs who can’t even walk. But apparently, parents say that after attending, their children can recognise letters from as young as 1 year old.
The fees for Heguru cost $599.20 per term for 7 lessons, coming up to $85 per lesson, while Shichida costs $834 per term for 12 lessons, coming up to $70 per lesson.
Would you enrol your child in any of the above classes? Tell us which ones in the comments!
Main image credit: ucdbadboy via Flickr
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