“Children have different needs for space from one another, as well as from me. While my husband and I always try to be available to participate in their activities, putting our kids in charge of managing their own outdoor activities gives them a very convenient way to destress. This eases much tension at home – and our children are usually calmer, happier and have better appetites when they return from the outdoor activities.
To me, being an Active Parent is being actively involved in the children's lives, particularly in facilitating them to get outdoors as often as they like. With four children and never-ending chores, it is near impossible to take the children out far often. Since we can't do so often, we decided to bring the outdoors to them. We invested in a ground floor unit with direct access to the swimming pool and an open space in front of our unit, where they can cycle, play badminton, catching, hide-and-seek and rollerblade, etc. So, all we have to do was to get them all the necessary gears, store them where they can access the gears and teach the children how to wash their own swimwear!
My eldest son was the first to sign up for the ActiveSG Canoe Academy - Kid-in-a-Kayak programme, and it has prompted my number two to ask eagerly to join the same programme. Such motivation comes from within – something I always prefer as a parent. She is now training with the same coaches as her brother and I look forward to my other two kids joining the same team!”
May Zhang is a mother of four children, and two of them are enrolled in the ActiveSG Canoe Academy - Kid-in-a-Kayak programme. She enjoys swimming in her free time and participates in body sculpting fitness programme at Hougang Sport Centre.