Smart Kids, the largest and longest-running kids’ education fair in Asia, is set to thrill parents and children alike for the 12th year running this coming April at Putra World Trade Centre, Kuala Lumpur. The three-day fair brings together a myriad of edutainment (education and entertainment) products and services under one roof, providing an invaluable platform for parents and their children to look for learning centres, childcare education centres, childcare products, edutainment materials and more.
Boasting an impressive line-up of around 100 exhibitors for this year’s fair, the much-awaited parent-child exhibition promises to be a great destination for a beneficial and fun weekend outing for both parents and children.
“Education will always be the focus of parents who are willing to spend on products and services which will help their child’s development and growth. Smart Kids’ mission is to promote a platform with learning tools that will facilitate the physical, emotional, social and intellectual growth of children,” said Mr. Gerald Lum, General Manager of Sphere Exhibits (M) Sdn Bhd.
Smart Kids is organised by Sphere Exhibits, a wholly owned subsidiary of Singapore Press Holdings (SPH); and is co-organised by Mutiara Sigma (M) Sdn Bhd.
The Smart Kids Educational Kids’ Fair is the most successful fair of its kind and continues to garner extensive support from the Malaysian Ministry of Education, learning centre owners and edutainment providers, and parents and children. Last year’s visitor number was estimated to be around 100,000 over the three-day event, with an impressive 96% of visitors expressing that they were able to find what they were looking for, and 98% of visitors stating that they would want to visit the fair again in 2014.
Previous years’ visitors agreed that the fair is an excellent and engaging platform for both children and parents alike.
“The idea of bringing together so many child-oriented brands and services under one roof was convenient for us to find out more information at the same time,” said Mr. Cheah. He visited the 2011 edition of Smart Kids together with his two children and wife.“It was definitely very interesting and informative, and not to mention very educational for the kids as well! My 5 year old son particularly enjoyed the talent show as he loved how engaging the program was. My 8 year old daughter is already asking me to bring her back next year!”
Mrs Chuo, who visited the fair twice in the 2011 edition of Smart Kids, felt that the fair was a very successful and meaningful for both children and parents as there are so many things to see and engage with! “The most important thing is that both of my children got hands-on exposure when they took part in the various games and contests,” she explained.
“Smart Kids caters to parents and children of different age levels. Children nowadays not only need to study smart, but also play smart! This is an excellent opportunity for them to explore and learn new things, while being able to enjoy themselves and have fun with their parents at the same time,” Lum added.
So what can both parent and kids expect in this year’s edition of Smart Kids? “It is definitely bigger, better and even more exciting than the previous years, filled with educational and fun activities!” said Lum.
The Smart Kids 2014 exhibition is divided into 6 categories –
•Education enrolment pool
•Educational products
•Edu-finance solutions
•Nutritional food and beverage
•Leisure, sports and recreation, and
•Children’s educational ICT solutions.
With a wide range of interactive and fun activities, it is the only parent-child exhibition that ensures a rewarding experience for parents and a great time for kids.
Some activities highlights for children in this year’s fair include —
Smart Kids Futsal Competition
With two categories to participate in, boys and girls from 8 years old to 16 years old can register (in a group) and try to win up to RM800 cash prize, Admiral’s products and medals for each winning team member, courtesy of Pinnacle Foods (M) Sdn Bhd. For the first time, Admiral and Malaysia Futsal Association have signed up as Official Sports Partners.
Smart Kids Aqua Bubble
Come try and ‘walk’ on water in a huge inflatable ball! Children can climb inside the transparent ball and walk run, bounce, roll or just float on water without getting wet. It’s safe, energetic and so much fun!
Smart Kids Archery
How did Robin Hood and Legolas from Lord of The Rings always hit the bull’s eye with their arrows? Practice makes perfect, that’s why! Archery is a sport that helps improve a child’s ability to focus and improve hand-eye coordination. Come and enjoy the fun and challenging session and learn the skills of archery!
Smart Kids are talented kids! Visitors can look forward to the signature Smart Kids Talent Quest Competition, which is opened to kindergarten and primary school children in groups of at least 8 students. Participants can sing, act, dance or combine other performing arts to try their luck in winning up to RM800 win cash prizes, a trophy for the school and participation certificates. Prizes are sponsored by Pinnacle Foods (M) Sdn Bhd.
Primary school choirs, this is your chance to excel and shine at the inaugural Smart Kids Choir Competition! Professionals from the music industry will be judging the competition and determine which choir group will walk away with RM800 cash prize, a trophy for the school and participation certificates.
If your kid is great at colouring and the whole family loves visiting theme parks, you may just win one of the prizes of Smart Kids Coloring Contest presented by Sky Enigma Bhd, which is giving away a trip to Hong Kong Disneyland, Bangkok Dream World and Singapore Universal Studio with return flights, accommodations and more to the top three winners!
For parents, check out the Smart Kids Education Enrolment Pool, which specifically caters to parents who want to do in-depth research on kindergartens, childcare centres and even pre-schools that they intend to enrol their children in. This is the perfect opportunity to decide what serves their children’s best interest in terms of educational needs.
Parents can also look forward to the Smart Nutrition Zone as it will have food, beverages and supplements for children. This section features health industry players like nutritional food providers, pharmaceutical manufacturers, healthcare product specialists, medical centres, wellness experts and specialists in kids’ nutrition.
How can such a fun and entertaining fair be complete without the mascots? This year’s mascot parade will see about 20 of them mingling and interacting with the crowd. Don’t forget to bring along your cameras as there will also be photo opportunities with renowned mascot characters such as Ronald McDonald and Elmo of Sesame Street.
Finally, for all visitors to Smart Kids exhibition 2014, you will stand a chance to win lucky draw prizes worth more than RM10,000! The main sponsor of draw prizes is Prudential Malaysia.
To facilitate the crowd for the public’s convenience, the first leg of Smart Kids Asia 2014, Kuala Lumpur Edition will be held at
•Venue: Putra World Trade Centre (PWTC), Kuala Lumpur
•Date:Friday, 25 April 2014 to Sunday, 27 April 2014.
•Opening Hours: 10.00am to 8.00pm on 25th and 26th April; and
10.00am to 7.00pm on 27th April.
The second leg will be held at Straits Quay Convention Centre (SQCC), Penang from 15th to 17th August 2014.
Other admission information includes –
•Admission is free of charge.
•The first 50 visitors on 25th and 26th April (Kuala Lumpur Edition) will receive a pair of complimentary ‘The Amazing Spiderman 2’ movie tickets.
•First 500 visitors each day will receive a complimentary goodie bag as well.
•Parents and children who pre-register online at www.smartkids.com.my before 23 April 2014 (Kuala Lumpur Edition), and 12 August 2014 (Penang Edition) can redeem a Smart Kids Asia 2014 (Malaysia) Limited Edition Bag for kids aged 16 and below, while stocks last on a first come, first served basis!
For further information and enquiries, log on to www.smartkids.com.my, or check out the fair’s Facebook page at fb.com/smartkids.com.my, or call 03-8023 2600.