If this all sounds great to your kids but less than ideal to you, there's still time to sign your student up - no matter what the age - for some kind of class this summer. Whether it's one day or two weeks' worth, Flanders is packed with summer workshops - from fashion to flying.
If your trendsetter speaks even a little Dutch, Antwerp's Fashion Museum hosts a variety of weekday one- to two-day workshops that are sure to bring out creative flair. Take a step back in time to the 1960s craze, the paper dress. The museum's current exhibit Paper Fashion comes to life in these workshops for ages six to 17, which include a museum visit and designing your own paper dress or t-shirt. For the more serious designers, an early August class involves both designing your own creations and modelling them in a professional photo shoot.
Sweltering heat pouring down on a sun-drenched village, the sound of methodical drum beats pounding in the distance, brilliant masks and towering fauna. Ages four and up can explore the beautiful continent of Africa in a variety of classes at the Royal Museum for Central Africa in Tervuren. Workshops are divided between primary education - museum exploration, artefacts and percussion; and secondary education - traditional and contemporary music, agricultural economies and ethnographic discussions. The workshops are between 90 minutes and half a day and are held in French and Dutch. These summer programmes are so popular, August is already sold out - but July still has places left, so sign up now.
If your little one has her head in the clouds, nurture the creativity at Turtlewings, a unique design studio that allows children to be the primary inspirational voices for a variety of artistic and design projects. Three week-long programmes this summer are all taught in English. Children age three to nine can sign up for "One Perfect Picture", where they will learning drawing, painting and printing techniques from 29 June to 3 July.
Children ages six to 12, meanwhile, have two courses from which to choose. "Design Your Own Room", from from 6-10 July, inspires and guides kids to come up with their dream room, and even helps with a budget and blueprint so some of these ideas can become reality (parents willing). From 24-28 August is "Letters", wherein kids find out more than they ever thought possible about letters - you know, like the ones in the alphabet. Where they came from, along with early printing techniques. Turtlewings is also open every Saturday at 10.00 for a two-hour exploration workshop with rotating topics and activities for kids from four to nine, with no pre-registration required.
Brilliant colours, a dreamy cloud lamp and cheery graffiti smattered across a wall, the Turtlewings workshop is the perfect place to "design, think and play".
Planes, trains, automobiles and...kitebuggies? Spend a week catching rays and waves on the glimmering North Sea at the Kite Surf School in Nieuwpoort. The school offers week-long courses through the end of August for ages seven to 15. Thrill seekers 14 and up are also allowed to participate in adult day and weekend classes. The school offers courses in powerkiting, kite landboard, kitebuggy, and kitesurf. We can't really tell you the difference, but check out the website's calendar to see a number of terrifying photos that your teenager will think are the bomb and a complete list of classes, which are available in English, Dutch and French.
Flanders Today is a 
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