We've always loved the Olympics (both summer and winter editions), so we’ve taken a look at some cool picks for kids to get active and keep up the spirit during the Paris Olympics 2024!
Olympic fever has taken over the world again! If your kids are suddenly showing an interest in an Olympic sport themselves, then you’ve come to the right place! We’ve got a full A-Z of Olympics-inspired activities for kids in Singapore, from martial arts to water sports, athletics and soccer schools. Get ready for your kids to go for gold!
The HoneyKids A to Z guide to Olympic sports in Singapore
A is for Athletics
Sprint over to the medal-winning coaches at JS Athletics for private lessons, enrichment programmes or holiday camps in specialist sports such as track and field or long-distance running.
JS Athletics, MOE PESEB Stadium, 21 Evans Road, Singapore 259366
B is for Badminton
Whack a winning point by signing your kids up with Alpha Academy, where world-class coaches will strive to improve every player’s full potential. Classes are designed to be fun, and small coach-to-student ratios ensure optimum learning skills for all ability levels.
Alpha Academy, locations at Depot Training Centre, 130 Depot Road, Singapore 109708 and Portsdown Training Centre, 95 Portsdown Road, Singapore 139299
C is for Cycling
You’re never too young, or too old, to learn how to ride a bike! We’ve found Cycle School Singapore for putting our kids on the right track to bike-riding fun. (And we may just send a certain editor-in-chief along for lessons too…)
Cycle School Singapore, 26 Jln Membina, Singapore 161026
D is for Diving
Platform diving’s a skill that’s not only sure to impress your child’s mates at the pool, but also a pretty adventurous sport for kids ready to go beyond plain ole swimming lessons. Torpedo Dive School coaches kids as young as six but it’s recommended that kids 11 or older have gymnastics, ballet or trampolining background. Based on the performance of their students, you can bet your bottom dollar that your little minnows will be diving like the Olympic pros in no time at all.
Torpedo Dive School, various locations including Toa Payoh, Queenstown, Clementi, and Kallang
E is for Equestrian
Gallop Stable holds the bragging rights to being the largest public riding centre in Singapore, with several horses and ponies, and a pool of 10 experienced instructors. Lessons range from private lessons for juniors (four to six years old), semi-private (bring a friend!), and group lessons. Plus, experienced riders (after assessment by riding instructors) can go on trail rides, self-rides in the arena, or even lease a horse for a day!
Gallop Stable, Horsecity @ Bukit Timah, 100 Turf Club Road, Singapore 287992 and 61 Pasir Ris Green, Carpark C, Singapore 518225
F is for Fencing
An Olympic sport being taught by an actual Olympian? That’s what you’ll be getting over at Z Fencing! Kids as young as four will love training to be a real-life musketeer here, which boasts an academy with over 6000sqft of space, housing 10 electric fencing pistes, and all-important impact protection flooring! Young fencers will move through a five-level curriculum and can join either core or elite programmes, depending on their ability. En garde!
Z Fencing, locations in Toa Payoh and Thompson Road
G is for Gymnastics
Bend, stretch and flip! The Yard is where it’s all at for tumbling tots from age 18 months (where parent participation classes will give little ones the perfect building block for future gymnastic success), right up to senior classes (for talented tweens and teens age 11 plus) to accelerate skills. Whether your child’s just starting out on the road to gymnastic success, or is already an advanced back-flipping super-star, we guarantee that the state-of-the-art equipment (think custom made power spring deck floors, tumbling platforms and competition-grade bars, beams, etc) and fabulous instructors will get the very best out of your gymnastics-loving kids.
The Yard, various locations like Jurong, Dempsey, and Bukit Timah
H is for Hockey
This Olympic sport is fun, fast and toughens up the ankles. Offered year-round for all skill levels, kids will be taught by coaches registered with National Registry of Coaches (NROC) for hockey and Singapore Sports Council National Coaching accreditation. They even have a free trial class if your kid just wants to get feel for the sport first!
Maruti Hockey Academy, Sengkang Hockey Pitch, 326C Anchorvale Rd, Singapore 543326
I is for Ice Skating
The ice skating at the Winter Olympics really knocked our socks off! It’s our favourite sport, even if we’ll never be able to land six quads like Nathan Chen! That’s why we just had to include it in this list. Kids can learn to whizz around the ice at Kallang Ice World – they don’t offer any lessons so the little ones will have to learn on their own. Once they’ve mastered the art of staying upright, mini Kwans and Yuzus can choose to focus their skating skills on figure skating or speed skating.
Kallang Ice World, 5 Stadium Walk, Level 3, Singapore 397693
J is for Judo
This modern martial arts form hails from Japan! Singapore Judo Club teaches its pupils to execute swift moves in a no-nonsense way. Subduing an opponent’s the name of the game, and whether it’s grappling, tossing, or throwing, you’ll find your little ones rather keen to execute a joint lock on you!
Singapore Judo Club, 570 Havelock Road, Singapore 169640
K is for Kayaking
Make a splash over at MacRitchie Reservoir and Kallang Water Sports Centre with your kids age nine and above, where you’ll dive into a kayaking orientation programme. Those below 12 will need an adult to accompany them in a double sit-on-top kayak
Singapore Canoe Federation, MacRitchie Reservoir Paddle Lodge and Kallang Water Sports Centre
L is for Luge
Yes, we know we are stretching the rules a little bit… but who in Singapore doesn’t love, love, love The Luge over at Sentosa? Challenge the kids to a race down the four different trails for a fun day out. That’s sure to be a winner for the whole family!
Skyline Luge, 45 Siloso Beach Walk, Singapore 099003
M is for Martial Arts
Taekwondo and Judo are among the martial arts competing at the Olympics. If you have an overly energetic kid, then put their exuberance to good use at a martial arts class! We love the range of classes available at Evolve MMA, where children are trained in various martial arts that combine combat and self-defence moves in order to develop speed, strength, and balance. It’s sure to help to boost your child’s self-confidence too!
Evolve Mixed Martial Arts, locations in Far East Square, Orchard Central, Star Vista, and KINEX
N is for Netball
Netball isn’t actually an Olympic sport, but we say it should be! (Its similar sibling, basketball is, however.) For basketball lessons, FastBreak’s for kids age four to 19 years to learn the cool art of slam dunking in a structured and competitive environment. For netball fans, kids age six to ten years can join the KidzNet programme at Netball Singapore, where they’ll learn the sport using smaller netballs and shorter goalposts.
FastBreak, locations at UWCSEA East Campus and Singapore American School
Netball Singapore, 6 Stadium Boulevard, Singapore 397797
O is for Olympics
With so many sports to choose from, we thought we would give you a quick breather on all that decision making and fill you in on five fun facts about the Olympics instead!
- The Olympic Games were created in Greece in 776BC as part of a religious pagan festival in honour of Zeus.
- The five Olympic rings represent the five major regions of the world: Africa, America, Asia, Europe and Oceania.
- The USA has won more medals at the Summer Games than any other country: 2681 of them and counting!
- Up until 1994, the Olympics were held every four years. Since then, the Winter and Summer games have alternated every two years.
- Singapore has been sending athletes to the Olympics since 1948, with medal successes in weightlifting, table tennis, and swimming to date.
P is for Polo
Water polo has been rising in popularity, and with kids naturally loving the water, this is a fun sport that could be a big hit with your little ones. Pacer Water Polo Academy’s Junior Water Polo Programme focuses on ball skills, positioning, and team dynamics. There are three levels in the programme, and kids will be grouped according to age and ability.
Pacer Water Polo Academy, Toa Payoh Swimming Complex, 301 Lorong 6 Toa Payoh, Singapore 319392
Q is for Question
Our question is: “How well will Singapore do in the Summer Olympics this year?” With there not being much snow and ice around for traditional winter sports, we’re not sure we’ll be doing quite as well as we did with the Rio victories!
R is for Rugby
Whether your kids age three and up have been ruck and rolling with their Torpedo Dive School, or are new to the game, there’s a session for all over at Centaurs. Choose from Mini Rugby for the smaller scrummers, and continue into the Contact Rugby lessons for the older kids. Aspiring rugby fans will learn cool new skills including passing, catching, running, evasion, tackling, scrums, rucking and mauling.
Centaurs Group, Centaurs Sports Park, 200 Turf Club Road, Singapore 287994
S is for Soccer
Whether you call it soccer or football, you’re sure to see a great spectacle when it comes to watching national teams battle it out on the pitch! If your kids aren’t already soccer-mad, the various matches are bound to inspire them to take up a soccer lesson or two. JSSL has encouraging professional coaches that train future football stars to their full potential on top of inspiring a lifelong passion for the game. We love that girls are welcome too. Goal!
JSSL FC, various locations throughout Singapore
T is for Table Tennis
Table tennis is a bit of a national sport here. And, kids as young as five can start at the ‘Learn-to-Play’ programme by Singapore Table Tennis Association. The sessions are designed for beginners to pick up some basic rules, and of course some ping pong skills over 10 weeks. ‘Continue-to-Play’ is the next step, where things will get a bit faster!
Singapore Table Tennis Association (STTA), locations in Hougang, Yishun, and Clementi
U is for Usain Bolt
The electric runner with the cheeky green is known as the fastest man in the world. Does your kid want to be as fast as Bolt? Get them into the ActiveSG Athletics Club programmes, where they’ll work on their running, speed, coordination and confidence! Who knows, they’ll be representing Singapore at the Olympics in the future?
ActiveSG Athletics Club, various locations including Bedok Stadium, Clementi Stadium, and Woodlands Stadium
V is for Volleyball
According to the interwebs, volleyball is one of the most practised sports in the world. That’s probably true, with the number of kids playing it at the beaches on weekends. JRT Volleyball Academy, which has been around since 2006, offers a junior programme for those 11 and under called VolleyKidz. They currently have slots until September 2024, so sign up quick if the little ones are eager to start spiking!
JRT Volleyball Academy, 600 Upper Thomson Rd, #01-153, Singapore 574421
W is for Wrestling
Sport wrestling is a fun activity for kids to develop… Not only their playground cred, but also coordination, agility, mental strength, social skills and fitness. Kids age between seven and 13 years are welcome to train for possible future Olympic glory!
Wrestling Federation of Singapore, 3 Bedok North Street 2, (old) Bedok Sports Hall, Singapore 469643
X is for X-Factor
As the winner of Singapore’s first Olympics gold for the 100-metre butterfly, Joseph Schooling has got bucketloads of X-Factor that makes him a superstar in and out of the pool. We also love his amazing attitude that’ll absolutely inspire a whole new generation of kids to follow their sporting dreams. “I hope this paves a new road for sports in Singapore,” Schooling has told the press. “I hope it shows that people from the smallest countries in the world can do extraordinary things.” Want to get your kids into swimming? Don’t miss our essential guide to swimming schools in Singapore.
Y is for Yachting
Yachting/sailing: the same thing (ish)… Sailing is a massive event at the Olympics, and we say it’s never too early to get give your kids water confidence with some sailing and yachting lessons. Take to the waves over at The SAF Yacht Club’s Get Kids Afloat Programme, where small sea dogs between seven and 15 years old can take an introductory sailing course. Kids will take part in theory as well as practical lessons, and will pick up new skills including rigging of crafts, capsize drills and more.
The SAF Yacht Club, 43 Admiralty Road West, Singapore 759962
Z is for Zzzzz
Phew! We don’t know about you, but all that talk of sport, and watching all the amazing feats of the Olympians has worn us right out. Time for a nap…
Enjoy the Olympics, kids!