The new, nine-hole "keiki course" at the Mauna Lani Resort on Hawaii's Big Island aims to get beginners and fledgling golfers 18 and under onto the par-33 course with abbreviated fairways and holes noted on child-friendly scorecards as "Wipe Out" and "Geev Um," a localism for "go for it." Children are required to play the course in the company of an adult (with elders limited to mid and short irons) and pros customize lessons for initiates. Available summer only.

For more information: Mauna Lani Resort

On voyages to Alaska and Tahiti, Regent Seven Seas Cruises offers children age nine and up its Ambassadors of the Environment youth program, which combines shipboard activities devoted to conservation with similarly focused shore excursions. Created by Jean-Michel Cousteau, son of explorer Jacques Cousteau, Ambassador sessions may cover navigation and recycling while at sea, with shore stops to snorkel (Tahiti) or watch wildlife (Alaska).

For more information: Regent Seven Seas Cruises

Tennis hurdles the net when it comes to teaching children forehands, backhands and footwork with the new downsized Andy Roddick Kids' Courts at Horseshoe Bay Resort Marriott near Austin, Texas. Beginners use low-compression balls and oversized racquets, resulting in more hits; they play on three-quarter-sized courts, which reduce exhaustion (and, by association, frustration). In addition to private and semi-private lessons, tennis camps are held in summer.

For more information: Horseshoe Bay Resort

The Four Seasons Hotel Hampshire, England, immerses families in the ancient sport of kings: falconry. Learning flight commands and how to anticipate a landing. Budding falconers don a protective leather glove onto which the hunting raptor is trained to perch between forays. Younger kids can watch, but because the activity requires upper body strength only those aged 12 and up are eligible to interact with the birds.

For more information: Four Seasons Hotel

Learning vacations for kids can take all kinds of forms. Junior foodies file into the two-Michelin-starred kitchen of Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons outside London. Manoir chef Raymond Blanc and staffers lead a one-day Children's Cookery School wherein toque-topped students—divided into groups of seven-to-11-year-olds and 12-to-16-year-olds—spend the morning preparing lunch before an afternoon devoted to chocolate tastings and making dessert soufflés and Floating Islands. Dates vary throughout the year.

For more information: Le Manoir

At the family-friendly polo club that is part of the 420-acre, nine-room Estancia de Charme El Colibri in central Argentina, kids can partake in the country's national sport atop one of 60 polo ponies in classes tailored to age, interest and skill. "It is really hard to give an [beginning] age as all depends on the size, strength and capacity of the kid," says owner Stephanie Fenestraz. "Mine started polo at five, but for kids that never ride I would suggest eight-years-old."

For more information: Estancia

Children comprise a quarter of the sailing school students at Bitter End Yacht Club on Virgin Gorda in the British West Indies. Beginning at age six, kid's campers board 12-foot sailboats in groups of four or five with an instructor. By age seven, they may graduate to solo or tandem sails on nine-foot Optimists and, by age 10, 10-foot BIC O'Pens. Classes are held year-round, but boats fill quickest during Presidents Day weekend and spring break.

For more information: Bitter End Yacht Club

This new Loews Hotels program features site-specific learning programs for teens that range from surf instruction in San Diego, to witnessing New York's NASDAQ trading floor. At the Loews Vanderbilt in Nashville, budding musicians ages six through 16 can sign up for a songwriting session with Thom Shepherd, who wrote the number one hit "Redneck Yacht Club," as well as a guitar lesson on a Gibson acoustic they can take home.

For more information: Loews Hotel

As young as five, junior hipsters in residence at the Gansevoort Hotel in New York's trendy Meatpacking District can learn the art of the disc jockey. Lessons involve using a turntable to scratch, mix recordings and juggle beats under the guidance of a local instructor from Scratch DJ Academy in private or group jams.

For more information: Gansevoort Hotel

Pre-licensed kids as young as three can take the wheel of a quarter-size Land Rover at Scotland's Gleneagles resort, driving an off-road course of bridges, hills, ditches and puddles at maximum speeds of four miles per hour. "It's great for hand-eye coordination," says Emma Ford, off-road director. By age 10, guests graduate to eight-wheel semi-amphibious vehicles known as Argocats commonly used on Scottish estates. With room for four in the back, Mom and Dad can ride along.

For more information: Gleneagles Hotel