A while back, we featured a theme park that focused on giving children a taste of various careers by putting them to work for a day. While Kidzania is firmly grounded in the realms of make-believe, elementary schoolers in Tokyo had a more realistic option this summer. For a few weeks in July and August, the Rihga Royal Hotel Tokyo ran a program for guests aged 3–12, employing them for a day.

Children picked one of five different types of work: housekeeping, doorman, front desk, floor service and kitchen, with 72 different tasks to tackle. At the end of the day, the young staffers were allowed to choose their preferred form of remuneration: a gift certificate for books, or a passport for free ice cream every year. Rihga Royal's informal work experience program was open to children accompanied by an adult staying at the hotel.

For an extra JPY 24,150 (USD 210 / EUR 155), parents had the option of hiring a professional photographer to snap shots of their industrious offspring greeting guests or making an omelette. With dual aims of keeping children entertained and encouraging them to consider a future career in hospitality, this seems like a fun program for hotels, restaurants and other industries to try out for size. Just make sure to abide by locally applicable child labour laws ;-) (Related: Dream job holidays.)

Website: www.rihga-tokyo.co.jp/stay/kids
Contact: w-room@rihga.co.jp

Spotted by: Mio Yamada

We've featured efforts by two banks—Postbank and Umpqua—to stimulate children to start their own businesses, but financial institutions aren't the only ones interested in making children financially savvy.

South-African Ka-Ching aspires to empower children with financial and entrepreneurial skills that will help them throughout their lives. The company offers courses that parents can use to teach their children to plan a budget, to control spending, to identify a business opportunity (we assume Springwise is on their reading list), to present a business plan, etc. Ka-Ching sells its courses online and through affiliate partners for USD 147. Customers include schools and individuals in South Africa and abroad.

Meanwhile, Los Angeles-based It's A Habit, a socially conscious startup, spent the last five years developing an educational program to help teach young kids financial literacy. Taking a more playful approach, It's A Habit employs Sammy the Rabbit in books, CDs and training guides that aim ‘to make the American dream accessible to kids no matter who they are, where they come from, or what language they and their parents speak at home.’

Faced with a profusion of stimuli to spend-spend-spend, it can't hurt to show children the other side of the coin. We have no doubt that, if properly marketed, similar initiatives would work well in most countries. Two to look into if you're in education or publishing.

Websites: www.ka-chingworld.com — www.itsahabit.com
Contact: info@ka-chingworld.com — sammy@itsahabit.com

Spotted by: Willem Bonneux

Each year, millions of people volunteer to coach youth sports, but not all of them have the time or resources to develop fun and effective training programs for their teams. CoachDeck offers a simple yet innovative solution to ensure that coaches never repeat “the same boring practice”—handy reference cards with easy-to-understand practice drills, so that even the most time-crunched coaches can easily come up with unique programs, with very little preparation.

Designed by professional coaches, each deck contains 52 color-coded drills, most of which include a “Make it a Game” feature, plus two double-sided cards on Safety, Terminology, Practice and How to Use CoachDeck. Coaches can carry the cards in their pockets and fan them out for players to randomly select drills. They make a great tool for parents who want to work with their children on athletic skills, too. CoachDeck is currently available for baseball and soccer, with plans to release a basketball version this fall. Decks can be ordered online for USD 19.95 each, with discounts for bulk orders.

While information on sports drills has long been available in books and videos, putting them on playing cards is a new approach—and one that's portable, fun and easy to use. It's an idea that easily could be duplicated or expanded on for just about any type of training, including sales and marketing, team-building for businesses, foreign languages and more.

Website: www.coachdeck.com
Contact: www.coachdeck.com/corporate/contact_us.asp

Spotted by: Jason Patrick

Residents and visitors in the Bay Area who want to expand their culinary expertise and sharpen their palates can brush up on their cheddars and bleus at the Cheese School of San Francisco. The school’s curriculum ranges from Cheese 101 courses—Basic Cheese Primer; Cheese Selection, Storage and Service and Cheese and Wine Pairing—to core studies by region and specialized classes in Fondue, Pub Tasting: Cheese and Beer, Farmstead Cheesemaking, Ga-Ga for Goat, Raw vs. Pasteurized: Fact and Fiction and Extreme Cheese.

Taught by a faculty of esteemed cheese connoisseurs, individual classes are USD 60 per person, with a discount for taking a series, such as Cheese 101. The school also hosts special seasonal events, such as the St. Patrick's Day special on cheese and beer, and drop-in nights, which offer a sampling of cheeses and cheese knowledge for a reduced rate and without the need for reservations. In addition, the Cheese School is available for private and corporate events, and courses can even be brought to other venues. Gift certificates are also available.

Like other status skills, a culinary knowledge of cheese is hardly an essential life skill, but rather a sophisticated and leisurely pursuit. The Cheese School is based in San Francisco and is (obviously) limited to cheese, but there's no reason this concept couldn't take off in other areas where consumers with a lust for knowledge are looking for expertise to wow their friends and associates with. For related examples, check out trendwatching.com’s briefing on status skills.

Website: www.cheeseschoolsf.com
Contact: www.cheeseschoolsf.com/contact

Spotted by Tina Riter

Giving customers the opportunity to learn a few words of Korean or Portuguese while en route to Seoul or São Paulo, Air France introduced in-flight language instruction on selected flights this month. An interactive audiovisual language program developed by Berlitz, the service works on regular in-flight entertainment screens. Passengers can learn and practice the basics of 23 different languages, in four main lesson categories: numbers, dates, words and dialogue.

JAL and Singapore Airlines also offer Berlitz Word Traveller as part of their in-flight entertainment package, and Virgin Atlantic has experimented with Japanese and Spanish lessons. It's a great example of trendwatching.com's status skills trend. As many consumers are demonstrating a value shift in status from passive consumption to mastering skills, smart companies are offering their customers the opportunity to add to their skill set. Similar initiatives include BMW's Performance Driving Schools, the Sony Digital University or the Viking Cooking School. Watch and learn!

Websites: www.airfrance.com - www.jal.com - www.singaporeair.com - www.virginatlantic.com

Spotted by: Sophie Schmitt