Maldives National Day today. And youngsters visiting Cocoon can regale themselves in indigenous vibe as their Pupa kids club is built entirely to look like a traditional Maldivian village.
Best of the Maldives: Biggest Pirate Ship – Kandima
Talk Like A Pirate Day! Maybe one of the best celebrations on the calendar of esoteric days. The remote tropical patches of sand that are the Maldives are something out of a Robert Lewis Stevenson novel. And there is no bigger pirate treasure for active apprentice pirates than Kandima’s towering galleon at its “Kandiland” kids club. The clipper ship complex comes complete with sun-screen netting, water cannons as well as a rabbit warren of climbing walls and slides.
Shiver me timbers!
Best of the Maldives: Sprinkler – Dhigali
Splashes of colour adorn the Dhigali kids club where they can literally run through the sprinkler.
Best of the Maldives: Ball Crawl – Hideaway Beach
For a bit more protection in scaling those heights, Hideaway Beach’s Tender Hearts Kids Club has a superb ball crawl with netting surround and, of course, a pool of colourful balls below.
Best of the Maldives: Kids Climbing Wall – Canareef
I love pint sized versions of things. One of my favourite websites is Minimus.biz (at one point I was going to open up a European branch of Minimus). The Maldives itself is pretty much made up of pint-sized versions of islands. And, since the outset, I’ve always felt that the appeal of the destination for families with children was always unsung.
I was especially enchanted by Canareef’s mini climbing wall for the smallest tykes t the kids club. Too often the “big” kids get all the cool, adventure toys, while the little ones are stuck with colouring books. This wall is just right for the tiniest alpinists. And at over a meter high (!), they can boast having scaled the highest point on the island.
Best of the Maldives: Lego Room – Soneva Fushi
Double day today – Chinese New Year and international Lego Day! Time to head to Soneva Fushi’s special Lego Room at its “The Den” kids club (more like kids “country club”). Suitably equipped to build the Lego construction below to mark the occasion.
Best of the Maldives: Kids Mocktail Making Class – Soneva Fushi
Soneva Fushi’s world-class Den kids club features not just kiddie “cocktails”, but a class to let them ply their mixological mocktail mastery…
“The children attend a session at Ess, where they creativity is tested. The bar staff attempt to inspire the children showing them different ways to produce delicious mocktails, before the children are let loose to create they very own, including naming their cocktail. Each cocktail is scored and each child receives a certificate for all their creativity.”
A toast to children everywhere today on International Children’s Day!
Best of the Maldives: Raft Building Class – Soneva Fushi
After coconut cups and tree houses, the next most iconic part of the deserted island fable is…the log raft. Now, not many Maldives guests would really want to escape their tropical paradise, but to live out the Swiss Family Robinson fantasy to the fullest, Soneva Fushi offers raft making as an activity in their The Den kids club…
- “The children take part in a small auction to win different items that they will use to build a raft, this can range from wood, barrels, tyres, all sorts of items that would otherwise be thrown. They then have to build a raft and that will float, and then a race will take place.”
Raft-making is more than a Castaway knock-off. It was a common “team building” challenge on corporate offsites that I’ve attended for years. It combines a very measurable objective (staying afloat) with mild consequences for failure (getting wet). An activity that The Professor from Gilligan’s Island would have benefitted from in his youth. As the old joke goes, “The Professor could make a nuclear reactor out of two coconuts, but couldn’t fix a hole in a boat.”
I’ve introduced a new tag “Swiss Family Robinson” for those desert-island chic features which evoke this classic film. Admittedly, the category is dominated by Soneva.
Best of the Maldives: Kids Bathroom – JA Manafaru
Maldives kids clubs are packed with miniature versions of the amenities their grown-up parents enjoy during their stay. One of the focal points of luxury in the resort villas are the lavish bathrooms. And JA Manafaru is no less accommodating to its kids club patrons with a restroom designed with their pint-sized scale in mind. A great example of knowing your customer and optimising the customer experience. I bet the kids feel like great big boys and girls when they use the Manafaru loo (and I felt like the Jolly Green Giant).
Best of the Maldives: Kids Fountain – NIYAMA
The Maldives is all about fun in the water. Tranquil, inviting sea and dazzling infinity pools. But the most basic form of aquatic frolics for kids is running through the “sprinkler”. NIYAMA Kids Club fountain lets the little ones cavort in their own posh version with it play fountain.