Spending quality time with your parents doing something new doesn't always have to be daunting or costly. By tapping on your SkillsFuture credits, that each Singaporean, age 25 and above, has, adult children and their parents can now try out interesting courses or learn new skills together without having to fork out much money.

 

You and your parents can choose from over 10,000 courses available on the SkillsFuture website. We narrowed this down to five types of SkillsFuture courses that you can consider attending with your parents. 

Keeping fit is a great way to spend quality time together. To get started, consider signing up for the Health And Fitness – Fundamental Physical Conditioning conducted by the Institute of Technical Education.

 

This 1-day course will teach you the fundamentals of health and fitness. You will learn about common sports injuries, design your own training and fitness programme along with a healthy diet plan to complement it. The course also includes a group fitness class so you can also expect to burn some calories while attending it.

 

Use this course as an opportunity to kickstart a habit of exercising with your parents. On AIA Vitality, you can continue keeping fit together through discounted memberships at gyms and yoga classes as well as embarking on fitness challenges together to earn Vitality Points. This will allow you to lead healthier lifestyles and give you the opportunity to spend more time together enjoying cruises, holiday trips or watching movies together at discounted rates. 

If spending time in the kitchen sounds like your cup of tea, you will be glad to know that there are several hundred food and beverage (F&B) courses that you can choose from on SkillsFuture.

 

There is no shortage of culinary courses to suit your tastes, including learning to bake breads like a professional to preparing diverse international cuisines. It's really up to you and your parents to decide what you would like to pick up or specialise in.  

 

The best part about learning how to cook is that you can try out what you have prepared. After the course, you and your parents can also put your newfound skills to good use by preparing a meal together for the rest of the family.

 

In fact, a mother-daughter duo took advantage of their shared passion for cooking at the AIA Vitality Healthy Cookout Showdown on 21 September 2017. Their healthy take on a local favourite – Nasi Lemak – emerged as the winner as AIA Global Ambassador, David Beckham, and over 1,000 other supporters watched on in encouragement.

Every now and then, an old trend comes back into style. Whether you just want to understand why your parents dressed the way they did in old photographs or aspire to start you own fashion label together, you could consider signing up for one of the many fashion courses listed on the SkillsFuture website.

 

You can choose from learning to design and sew clothes for children, women or men and even create intricate jewellery pieces together. With so many choices, both you and your parents can kickstart your journey to being the de facto fashion designers of the family. 

Botany can be both calming and rewarding – especially when you see a seedling you care for bearing fruit. However, doing so in an HDB flat can be challenging and some may not know how to start.

 

Not to fret, there are several SkillsFuture courses that will teach you and your parents how to start growing flowers, plants, herbs and spices in the confines of your HDB flat and in Singapore's tropical climate.

 

Additionally, if you want to fully immerse yourself into a complete home-cooking experience, nothing beats having access to your own herbs and spices cultivated in your home garden. 

Flowers are a very common gift to express love, celebration or concern for someone. However, bouquets bought from a florist can cost a tidy sum, especially during special occasions such as Valentine's Day and Mother's Day.

 

One way to save money and personalise your gift can be to learn how to create a fresh flower bouquet. There are a few courses listed on the SkillsFuture website that you and you parent can sign up for.

 

Once the course is done, you can help your friends and family with their simple flower arrangements needs. Once you and your parent are more confident, you can even look to generate some revenue together by taking in orders for bouquets. 

At the end of the day, you need to ask yourself "What's Your Why?". If you have a "Why", you'll understand that living a longer, healthier and better life will mean you get to spend more time achieving your "Why".

 

One way to help you achieve your "Why" can be through the courses offered by SkillsFuture. Learning something new with one or both your parents, especially something that is of value and interest to you, can create more meaningful relationships with the people that matter to you. At the same time, you will have a buddy with whom you can learn and enjoy a hobby or even start a business alongside.