10 Malaysian parents tell us how they SECRETLY tire out their kids

You know what it means to have kids around: BALLS OF ENERGY. LOTS OF IT.

Being aunts and uncles to a buncha super energetic kids ourselves, we know just how that’s like. So much so that in the past Cilisos even wrote a guide on how to deal with them, based on Sun Tzu’s Art of War!

So with this in mind, we decided to team up with our friends at SuperPark Malaysia, a Finland-based indoor activity park in Avenue K @ KLCC, to ask Malaysian parents/aunts/uncles/babysitters etc… what are some of the sneaky ways they get their kids to tire out?!

 

1. Pair them with even more hyperactive stuff… like dogs and rabbits!

“Let them play with dogs. Or cats. Or rabbits. That’s how I tire out the kids I babysit.

But I also do pet boarding so… I’ve got an unlimited supply of hyperactive dogs for the kids to chase around. And a big porch.” – Kelly Low

But what if you don’t have any furry friends of that sort? Don’t worry, our readers got you sorted with the next point…

 

2. Get all like-minded parents to pakat for the weekend

“Pakat with other parents… Each weekend let the kids gather in 1 fella’s house and play non-stop. All other parents enjoy that weekend off. When they collect their kids, everyone will be super tired already.

Then the next weekend, another parent takes over. Win-win for all.” – Wei

When kids gather with their friends, you’ll see them with energy levels like never before. So why not let them channel all of that, AT ONCE? Wei adds that with no restriction on behaving themselves in public, kids will get to have the screamfest of their lives while building fun memories with their friends.

Actually if you think about it, this would also mean that each parent friend would take turns to bite the bullet for everyone… in turn strengthening their friendship too, maybe? Memang win-win.

If you wanna take things to the next level, you can even consider hosting a party at SuperPark, or simply getting everyone to get together there instead of tearing your house apart.

Not only can they jump to their hearts’ content at the extensive trampoline area, they’ll even get to learn how to work as a team with group activities like SuperBall (dodgeball), Street Basketball, SuperPinBall and a super cool Augmented Climbing Wall! More on their 20+ activities here.

 

3. Get them to read until their eyes takleh buka

Just don’t give them Dragon Ball comics la, that one maybe got reverse effect. Speaking of books, there’s actually several of them about yawning that are guaranteed to make both you and your kids schnoozy! Just try reading this article without yawning. (Seriously.)

Now if reading doesn’t work…

 

4. Just whip out the homework books

“Very easy; just bring out all the karangan and maths revision books, list down the pages that you want done and lastly ask them, “Would you like to sleep early tonight or do you still have enough energy to do some homework?”

The lights will be out in no time at all!” – Lim Sooi Ping

This is pretty smart too! No need to buy sleeping pills and all, cos all you’ll need is a buku latihan and you can use it over and over every time your kid doesn’t wanna sleep. Plus, seeing as it’s the school holidays, we’re sure their teachers would’ve packed a whole lot of em…

 

5. Get them on a mini Ironman race

“I will bring them to the pool for a swim, 30mins to 1 hour, more than that they might catch a cold so I bring them up and then I sneak in some sprint work, I’d say race you to the door or let then run in the playground (as long as put in some cardio).. make them run a bit.. and then I make sure to finish it off with a shower n milk on the bed.. KO!” – Daniel Lok

Daniel adds that he would also wrestle his boy on the bed. “By pinning him down, I’ll try to squeeze off all his energy with him trying to push me off,” he adds. “But usually his mom will try and rescue him, and by then he would be exhausted and hopefully ready to sleep.”

If this doesn’t feel like a mini Ironman for kids, then we don’t know what is. Speaking of races, SuperPark actually has a SO many indoor activities to challenge your little ones, including a mini obstacle course for your little Malaysian Ninja Warriors-to-be. There’s even a gymnastics area with an air-track, parterre and soft blocks:

If pinning them down would tire YOU out instead, there’s another alternative…

6. Weigh them down. For real.

 

7. Play fetch! Yes, for real.

“Just throw a ball. When the kid catches it, just get him to give it back and we’ll throw it again. After 10 minutes, he’ll surely ask for milk and lie down feeling tired.” – Nur Amalina Azman

She adds that she’ll also throw RM2 rubber balls with her 2-year-old son. It usually takes about 10 minutes of playtime before he’d collapse and ask for milk. And if you’re particularly lazy like this writer, you can even use a laser pointer to make them run around! Err… just be careful not to point it to their eyes la, not good leh.

P/S: Malas to pick up balls? There’s actually a pretty canggih batting cage in SuperPark that will do all the work for you, heh.

 

 

8. Give them a hot bath and milk

“I have three boys and if they’re bouncing off the walls later during the day, getting them to calm down during dinner time and easing them into the evening with a hot bath and milk before bed time seems to help.” – Syazwani Baumgartner

If being physical was a way to get a deal ‘signed’, then hot bath and milk would be the ‘sealed and delivered’ bit. Apart from tiring kids out physically, our readers also suggested giving them a hot bath and milk at the end of the activity as a surefire way to sleep peacefully.

So… is there any science to this? Well a lot of the articles we read attributed this to routine, that it’s a psychological thing… but there seems to be some science to it. With heat comes comfort and a lowered blood pressure, plus your body would naturally work to keep itself cool (hence adding to the tiredness thereafter). Pair that up with comforting warm milk from a sippy cup and your kid would be all chilled out in no time.

 

9. Let them do boring adult things…

“Once I had to drive out during really, really heavy traffic. My kids were threatening that they would take my car if I didn’t take THEIR toy cars. So I put their toy cars into my car and let them drive with me and suffer in the jam together. Reached home, straight away KO.” – Mikkail Johari

Huh. Next time round mebbe can get them to wash dishes, mop the floors, settle electricity bills etc. And if all else fails…

 

… just send them to a place where they can play for hours

“Bring my kid to a “play-till-you-drop” indoor playground where I can sip a nice cup of latte while checking on my FB to while away time.” – Grace Liew

Get ready cos here comes the sponsored plug!

If you’re like Grace, you may be looking for a cool new place to let your kids stretch those muscles and play till they drop… so it wouldn’t be a bad idea to check out SuperPark Malaysia in Avenue K, KLCC. Launched in December 2018, it has over 20 activities across two floors!

The Cilisos team actually went there recently to check out what the hype is all about, and we can guarantee that it’s both kid and adult friendly, with plenty of fun activities spanning across two floors. If your kids are still pretty young, there are separate areas with activities tailor-made for them.

But bigger kids and adults will also get to play a whole buncha other cool stuff, like augmented wall climbs, trampolines, flying fox, tube slides, ninja obstacle course… wah a lot la. Catch a glimpse of some of them in our video here.

There’s also a special promo for this month. From now till 23rd June 2019, you can enjoy a 20% discount on admission tickets! Just purchase the tickets online on their official website and use the promo code SH20%JUNE19 during checkout to enjoy the discount. (Discount valid for ‘Super Day Ticket: Morning Mayhem & After 6pm’ and ‘Regular Day Ticket: 1-Day Ticket & After 6pm’). For more info, just click here.

If you’re not using the promo code, here are the usual prices. Pretty affordable even without the discount 🙂

With or without the promo, everyone will need to wear a pair of SuperPark grip socks (RM5 per pair), but don’t forget to bring your shoes too – you’ll need them for Climbing Wall and Skate & Scoot World! Cilisos came in flip-flops so couldn’t go monkeying around.

To get your tickets, just head over to SuperPark’s website and book your tickets or simply walk in 🙂 Heads up –  all you old cikus better drink some energy drink first. You’re gonna need it!