780 Children Using After-School Care in Jung-gu Each Grow One Plant Pot

Seoul Jung-gu, Commemorates Arbor Day with 'Making Companion Plant Pots'

Children planting seeds in flowerpots they decorated themselves at the Jung-gu directly managed care classroom

[Asia Economy Reporter Jongil Park] Jung-gu, Seoul (Mayor Seoyangho) is holding a 'Making Companion Flowerpots' event with 780 children using Jung-gu elementary after-school care in celebration of Arbor Day.

This event, which runs until the 7th, involves every child in the care classrooms making one flowerpot each and taking care of their own flowerpot inside the classroom.

To this end, the district delivered 800 'Companion Plant Kits' to 14 care centers.

The companion plant kits consist of six types of seeds including ▲ mini sunflower ▲ balsam ▲ cherry tomato ▲ herb basil, along with pots and potting soil, designed so that children can easily plant and grow crops.

The pots are made of eco-friendly waterproof paper, allowing for decoration activities such as drawing on the surface.

While growing the plants, children write observation journals and experience various related activities such as writing and drawing, helping them understand the growth process of plants. All activity contents are posted on the Jung-gu care exclusive community, allowing parents and children to check together.

Since 2019, Jung-gu has gained enthusiastic responses from parents by introducing the nation's first high-quality elementary after-school care directly managed by the district office. This is thanks to all-day care from 7:30 AM to 8:00 PM, diverse educational programs led by professional instructors such as robot coding, growth yoga, and webtoon drawing, and eco-friendly meals and snacks, precisely meeting parents' needs.

In particular, with the transition to direct management by the district, the district office collaborates in developing play programs and has introduced a two-teacher system per classroom, significantly reducing the workload of care teachers.

Through this, Jung-gu realizes happy care for all three parties involved: teachers, children, and parents.

Seoyangho, Mayor of Jung-gu, said, "This Arbor Day event is especially meaningful as children in Jung-gu care classrooms learn the importance of nature by growing one flowerpot each," adding, "Going forward, with the mindset that the district office raises all children in Jung-gu together, we will directly operate various childcare education services to greatly improve quality and reduce the burden on parents and teachers, making Jung-gu a better place to raise children."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.