Our Favourite CNY Camps
Still wondering what to do with the kids when they’re off for Chinese New Year? Give yourself a break while they have some fun at a local camp. Whether you have a budding scientist in the family or someone with a flair for the arts, you’ll find something to keep them entertained in our round-up.
Sports, Outdoors & Other Activities
CANCELLED Ark Eden
It’s so important for kids to get outdoors and in touch with nature, and the CNY camps at Ark Eden allow for just that, rain or shine! Set on a hillside in Mui Wo, the camps offer a new theme each day, like a run-around day celebrating the Year of the Rat with festive play, games and challenges at the “Rat Race” camp. “Bamboozled!” has an overnight option so they can create CNY memories of the bamboo variety, including bamboo bug hotels, bamboo forest hide and seek, ending with tented camping and CNY-themed pizza under the lunar sky.
Dates: 23 and 24, 27-31 January 2020
Ages: 5 – 11 years
Location: Mui Wo, Lantau Island (drop off/pick up available at Central ferry pier 6 or Mui Wo ferry pier)
Book: $670 – $750 per day, 2988 5355 or info@arkedenonlantau.org
Find more inspiration for natural outdoor play for kids in this post!
ActiveKids
A great choice for kids who are interested in a little bit of everything, ActiveKids’ CNY camps offer something for ages 3 to 17, from the arts to science. In Science Adventures they’ll get a chance to build their own unique walking robot, The Chess Academy offers a great brain workout, they’ll learn different art and craft techniques in ArtCrafters, Mission Runway lets them design their own CNY costume, and in the Stormy Chefs camp they’ll get their hands dirty making new year treats like lucky steamed sponge cake and fat choi dumplings!
Dates: 20 January – 1 February 2020
Ages: 3 – 17 years
Location: Kennedy Town
Book: $1250 – $2950 for 2-day camp (morning and afternoon sessions); 3480 4199 or info@activekidshk.com
Minisport
Multiple sports including football, tennis and rugby provide active fun at the various camps Minisport is hosting, plus activities like Chinese New Year-themed games and treasure hunts. Choose camps in the wide open space of Victoria Park, Tseung Kwan O’s Velodrome Park, KGV Memorial Park with its semi-shaded football pitch, or West Island School, where the good times take place on the school’s roof, a semi-shaded astro-turf venue surrounded by greenery and sea views.
Dates: 29 – 31 January 2020
Ages: 2.5 – 9 years (2.5 – 3.5 years must be accompanied and may be required to be assisted)
Location: Victoria Park, Pok Fu Lam, Tseung Kwan O, Sai Ying Pun
Book: $900 – $7140 per child (morning and afternoon sessions); 6183 7084 (WhatsApp) or info@minisport.hk
Bebegarten Education Centre
Little ones can celebrate Chinese New Year by getting creative in the kitchen, exploring STEM engineering skills, and expressing themselves through the performing arts at Bebegarten’s CNY Curiosity Camp. Children are invited to take part in an engaging space complete with an art room, performing arts room, large indoor playground and six wonderfully spacious classrooms. There’ll be much to explore, either in the morning or afternoon, for a half day of fun morning or afternoon workshops in Bebegarten’s unique child-initiated style.
Dates: 29 – 31 January 2020
Ages: 3 – 6 years
Location: Wong Chuk Hang
Book: $3200 for 3-day camp (9am – 12pm or 1pm – 4pm); 3487 2255 or info@bebegarten.com
YWCA
Even your fussiest child will find something they like at YWCA’s Chinese New Year camps, with more offerings than ever. Do they want to learn the lion dance? How about kung fu? Maybe they love inventing things, dabbling in Chinese cookery, or have always wanted to have a go at fencing? Camps and classes will take place in different venues, and with no shortage of choice, they’ll be occupied until school starts up again.
Dates: 22 January – 4 February 2020
Ages: 3 – 17 years
Location: Various
Book: from $300 per session (morning and afternoon sessions), 3476 1340 or clle@ywca.org.hk
S.T.E.M. and Coding
Cobo Academy
Coding, robotics, AI, VR and more is available for any preschooler or teen you may have bored at home during Chinese New Year. The educational and fun camps introduce young ones to block-based coding and shows the more skilled set how to build their own interactive and responsive website. If they’d like to hone their skills after the holiday, the camps are designed to connect with regular courses at Cobo Academy.
Dates: 22 – 24 or 29 – 31 January 2019
Ages: 4 – 16 years
Location: Wan Chai
Book: $3330 – $3450 for 3-day camp (morning and afternoon sessions); 3905 1111 or hi@coboacademy.com
The Genius Workshop
Has your kid ever made a motorised Chinese lantern or watched lion dancing, robotic-style? Now they can, as each of the camps at The Genius Workshop infuse Chinese New Year tradition with STEM concepts. Junior STEM fans (ages 4.5 to 7) can construct their own wish launchers and zodiac karts along with the lantern, and older kids aged 7 to 14 will learn about game coding and build a CNY robotics parade for their robotic lion to dance in. Save a bit by choosing more than one class in a bundle deal.
Dates: 22 – 31 January 2020
Ages: 4.5 – 14 years
Locations: Happy Valley, Taikoo, Prince Edward, Hung Hom
Book: Junior Day Camp (9am – 10.30am *11am – 12.30pm in Hung Hom) – $450 (1 topic) $850 (2 topics), $1250 (3 topics); Senior Day Camp (1.30pm – 4.00pm) – $700 (1 topic) $1330 (2 topics), $1930 (3 topics); 6211 1968 (WhatsApp) or info@g-workshop.com
Innovation Academy
New year, new skills! Innovation Academy introduces kids to various real world technologies and digital skills over the holiday period at their exciting camps. Kids 10 years and up will learn HTML, CSS and JavaScript to create their own chatbots and smart car at the innovative “Build with Artificial Intelligence” camp. They’ll also get the chance to showcase their smarts and creativity, even making some new friends in the process.
Dates: 27 – 31 January 2020
Ages: 10 and up
Locations: Sheung Wan
Book: $3500 for 5-day camp (9am – 12pm); 2310 0637 or info@innovationacademy.hk
First Code Academy
If they need to get acquainted with STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) or further their skills, there’s a variety of entertaining workshops and camps at First Code Academy. Aimed at beginner to advanced levels, “Juniors” (ages 4–5) get to crack Cubetto, a Montessori-inspired coding toy, and “Explorers” (ages 9-11) will conceive their own virtual reality world by building and animating 3D spaces.
Dates: 29-31 January 2020
Ages: 4 – 14 years
Location: Sheung Wan, Yau Ma Tei, Fortress Hill
Book: $2318-$3623 for 3-day camp (morning and afternoon sessions), 2772 2108 or hello@firstcodeacademy.com
Creative Coding
Creative Coding is hosting three camps in Hong Kong, perfect for parents from Discovery Bay and Kowloon Bay. The younger set get three fun days of STEAM Code Club (Ipad/tablet required) delving into CNY science experiments, circuitry projects and robotic dancing lions using Lego and arts and crafts. Older kids will love creating CNY-themed MODS like fire- breathing dragons and super rats to bring luck to their 2020 Minecraft world (laptop and Minecraft Java edition required).
Dates: 29 – 31 January 2020
Ages: 6 – 14 years
Location: Discovery Bay, Kowloon Bay
Book: $1888 for 3-day camp *10% for enrolling in both sessions (9.30am – 12.30pm and 2 – 5pm Discovery Bay or 9.30am – 12.30pm and 1.30pm – 4.30pm Kowloon Bay); 2707 6578 or info@creativecoding.hk
Language
Southside Mandarin
Don’t keep them cooped up in a classroom for Chinese-language learning, send them to an enjoyable language camp! Southside Mandarin teaches children Mandarin Chinese at half day and full day (for children 4+) camps during CNY, without the dull textbooks. Children will be immersed in a complete Putonghua environment to learn the language alongside fun Chinese cultural activities like cooking sweet dumplings, Chinese calligraphy, wushu and more.
Dates: 29 January – 2 February 2020
Ages: 2.5 – 12 years
Location: Wong Chuk Hang
Book: $600 for half day (9.15am – 11.45am) or $1000 for full day (9.15am – 3.15pm) camp; 3427 9619 or info@southsidemandarin.com
Avendale International Kindergarten
For the kid in your life who expresses themselves best through song and dance, what better way to learn Mandarin Chinese than through a Chinese Music and Performance camp? In this immersive language camp for ages 3 to 6, Mandarin will be taught through traditional Chinese song and dance. Each day children will enjoy different songs and dances while building their vocabulary. Hen hao!
Dates: 20 – 24 January 2020
Ages: 3 – 6 years
Location: Hung Hom
Book: $480 per day (minimum 2 days enrollment) or $450 a day for 5 days (1pm – 4pm); 3461 3173 or enquiry@avendale.school
Mini Mandarins
Help them maintain their Mandarin language skills, with some play thrown in, at these Mandarin immersion CNY camps. Chinese New Year-themed activities are in store, along with arts and crafts, music and storytelling. It’s a great opportunity to learn more about Chinese culture, and maybe even pick up a few cooking tips via some “mini chef” role play.
Dates: 24 January – 4 February 2020
Ages: 2.5 – 10 years
Locations: Central, Causeway Bay
Book: 2320 1128 or info@minimandarins.com
Mulberry House
We haven’t forgotten about the littlest ones! Here’s a CNY Mandarin immersion camp just for toddlers, where Chinese painting, paper cutting and traditional costume dress-up are some of the learning tools. Traditional elements like lion dancing, fireworks and lanterns will also be explored, and taste buds will be tempted with dumpling cooking. Preschool and primary camps for kids aged 3.5 to 12 featuring all of the above is also available, so no one feels left out.
Dates: 20 January – 8 February 2020
Ages: 2 – 12 years
Locations: Central, Wong Chuk Hang
Book: $600-1500 per session (morning and afternoon sessions); 5598 0508 or hello@mulberryhouseasia.com
Creative Arts
Faust International Youth Theatre
Summer or winter, Faust International Youth Theatre know how to entertain children of various ages with their lively camps. During Chinese New Year, they’ll do so via 3-day theatre and writing camps under the theme “A Sky Full of Stars”. Children will get in touch with their inner artist in the unique star-themed holiday programmes, with beloved titles such as How To Catch A Star, The Little Prince and Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator.
Dates: 29 – 31 January 2020
Ages: 4 –13 years
Location: Sheung Wan
Book: $1790 for 3-day camp (10am – 12.30pm or 2.00pm to 4.30pm); 2547 9114 or info@faustworld.com
Little Picasso
Celebrate the Year of the Rat via the Chinese traditional folk art of chien chih – paper cutting. Children as young as 3 years of age can join two or three-day camps and learn both simple and sophisticated paper cutting through different techniques, such as the “cut apart” and “layered paper”. Mums and dads will love the handmade paper flowers the kids lovingly made to hang at home, and the fact that all art materials and smocks are included in the cost.
Dates: 29 – 31 January 2020
Ages: 3 and up
Location: Wong Chuk Hang
Book: $900 for 2-day or $1200 for 3-day camp for ages 3 to 5 (10am – 11.30am); $1200 for 2-day or $1600 for 3-day camp for ages 6+ (12.30pm – 2.30pm); 5220 7720 or contact@littlepicasso.hk
Banana Art Club
Unleash their artistic sides through assorted mediums, and maybe you’ll discover your son or daughter is really good with clay, or perhaps is a calligraphy master in the making? CNY Art Workshops are offered until February 28 at Banana Art Club’s Causeway Bay location and in Discovery Bay, kids can take part in three days of artsy amusement from January 29 to 31. Mixed media, painting, arts and crafts, manga and cartoon, sketching and plenty more are available, so pick a flexible time slot and let them paint/draw/create away.
Dates: 13 January – 28 February 2020 (Causeway Bay) or 29 – 31 January 2020 (Discovery Bay)
Ages: 4 –16 years
Location: Causeway Bay and Discovery Bay
Book: $410 for 2-hour or $610 for 3-hour session (9.30am – 11.30am or 10.30 – 12.30pm or 9.30am – 12.30pm Causeway Bay); $1500 for 3 sessions (2.30pm – 4.30pm Discovery Bay); 6020 5476 (WhatsApp) or bananaartclub@gmail.com
Twinkle Dance Company
There’s more to getting stage-ready than learning lines – we musn’t forget hair and make-up! The “Craft & Onstage Makeup Workshops” feature a 1-hour crafts workshop followed by a 1-hour onstage makeup and dance workshop. Kids can also partake in Masks for Disguise, Temporary Colour-in Tattoo, Rhinestone Rings, Flower Crowns, and Friendship Bracelet workshops combined with lessons in onstage make-up. Everyone gets to bring home a cool craft box and makeup, and some merry memories too.
Dates: 24 – 31 January 2020
Ages: 3 – 7+ years
Locations: Causeway Bay, Central, Wong Chuk Hang
Book: $700 per workshop (morning and afternoon sessions); 6608 6689 or info@twinkledance.com
Complete Deelite
A camp where you get to eat what you make, and bring home the leftovers! This cake shop/baking school has something sweet in store for young bakers this lunar new year. Keeping in theme with Year of the Rat, kids will be able to roll up their sleeves and make some Mouse Cake Pops, Mouse Cupcakes and a Giant Rice Krispie Mouse Cake.
Dates: 29 – 31 January 2020
Ages: 6 and up
Location: Central
Book: $550 per child or $500 per child for 2–3 workshops (10.30am – 12.30pm); 3167 7022 or classes@completedeelite.com
Find more fun things to do with kids during the holidays here!
