Kids winter camps fill the post-holiday gap as parents head back to work

With the holidays over and another week before school starts back up, local businesses are offering interesting ways to keep kids busy while parents head back to work.

Fitset Ninja, an obstacle course gym, is expecting more than 60 kids each day over the first week of January.

Bradley Mayhew, a camp leader with Fitset Ninja, said it's a good way for kids to shake off the cabin fever that can accompany the winter break.

"This is a fantastic place to get rid of some of that wintertime energy that they have when they're cooped up at home," Mayhew said. "We had one parent actually thank us repeatedly because for the first time over winter break, their kid actually slept through the night."

Mayhew said the camps are less structured than the regular classes offered by the gym, making them a good fit for all kids – regardless of experience.

"Our winter camps is more just having fun and burning off a bunch of energy and learning things along the way," he said.

"You get to run the entire gym and learn all of the skills in a single day, and it's a ton of fun," Mayhew said.

For more information on Fitset Ninja or to join a camp, click here.

While some ninjas are working on their physical skills, others will be putting their minds to the test.

Code Ninjas coding centres offers classes that put a scientific spin on kid-friendly activites. Programs include coding, 3D design, game building, video editing and graphic design.

"We're teaching kids, but in a fun manner," said Denise Hole from Code Ninjas. "They don't always realize that they're learning."

Hole said programs help spark interest and build skills in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Kids also learn how to be smarter, more active technology users, she added.

"We're teaching them critical thinking, we're teaching them logic," she said. "They're learning about sequencing in terms of breaking down a big problem into smaller parts, and then finding those answers.

"And they're also learning grit, they're learning to push through things that are hard, right? And that's a skill that becomes harder and harder as we get older."

For more information on programs or to find a location, you can visit the Code Ninja website here.

As of Saturday, Code Ninjas and Fitset Ninja both had spaces available for the upcoming week.

With files from CTV News Edmonton's Evan Kenny