Why is the Jongno-gu Daycare Center Special?

There Is Something Special About Childcare Centers in Jongno-gu

Various Policy Projects Implemented to Enhance Childcare Center Competitiveness, Including the Introduction of Digital Creative Playgrounds and AI Food Scanners

Aiming to Provide High-Quality Childcare Services... Contributing to Healthy Growth of Children and Reducing Parenting Burden on Parents

Introducing the Nation’s First ‘Digital Creative Playground’ Distributing Educational Content Based on Famous Paintings, Aspiring to Become a Model in Education

Digital Creative Playground Observation Class held at Seonjae Kindergarten on May 2nd

Jongno-gu (Mayor Jeong Munheon) is gaining attention for promoting various policy projects focused on ‘strengthening the competitiveness of childcare centers’ and ‘differentiation’ to ease parents’ burdens and worries about child-rearing and support the healthy growth of children.

Currently, there are a total of 67 childcare centers in Jongno, including 32 public childcare centers, 7 private and home-based childcare centers, and 28 workplace childcare centers.

In response to the declining birthrate trend and the consequent annual decrease in the number of children enrolled, the district is striving to provide high-quality childcare services and create an educational environment where children can grow happily.

Representative ongoing policy projects include ▲operating the Digital Creative Playground ▲providing digital competency training for childcare teachers ▲introducing AI Food Scanners ▲joint purchasing of eco-friendly ingredients ▲and providing Jongno-type subsidies.

First, the ‘Digital Creative Playground,’ which gained attention in May as the nation’s first educational content distribution based on masterpieces by masters such as Van Gogh and Monet, is noteworthy. It was designed to raise the learning level at childcare centers and allow children to continuously experience famous paintings at the centers without having to visit art museums, thereby fostering interest in art, creativity, and imagination.

Rather than merely delivering information about the artists and their works, a special feature is that children can directly touch the electronic whiteboard to color the artworks and assemble puzzle pieces of the paintings, providing a unique interactive experience.

This allows children to perceive artworks not as untouchable objects but as interactive subjects through their touch. Additionally, after playtime, children can engage in offline art classes using specially produced activity sketchbooks, enabling them to express their own unique artistic personalities.

Furthermore, in line with the Ministry of Education’s top national agenda of nurturing one million digital talents, the district operates a ‘Supporting Play for Infants and Toddlers Using Digital Technology’ training course for childcare teachers from April to December this year, consisting of a total of 32 sessions.

The main topics include copyright basics, video, icon, and image modification and combination, creating and utilizing digital picture books, and play support based on virtual and augmented reality.

The ‘AI Food Scanner,’ which has received positive responses for simultaneously improving picky eaters’ dietary habits and managing customized meal plans, also draws attention. The AI Food Scanner is a system that uses artificial intelligence technology to measure the amount of food consumed along with nutritional components such as calories, protein, fat, and carbohydrates, providing daily reports to parents to help maintain healthy eating habits.

After meals, scanning the tray displays different character images depending on the amount of leftover food, making mealtime a kind of fun play and helping to correct picky eating habits. Parents can also check what their children ate outside during the day and address any nutritional deficiencies at home, making it very useful.

In addition, Jongno-gu supplies ingredients from companies selected through evaluations by a joint purchasing promotion committee composed of the Childcare Center Association and parents to ensure hygienic and safe operation of childcare center meals.

Moreover, considering the increasing number of childcare centers closing due to declining enrollment, the district provides ‘Jongno-type subsidies’ in addition to Ministry of Health and Welfare subsidies to guarantee the stability of the childcare environment as much as possible. Even if the number of children decreases, appropriate separate subsidies are provided accordingly, preventing harm to parents caused by childcare center closures or childcare teacher turnover.

Mayor Jeong Munheon stated, “We are working hard to implement effective projects that support children’s healthy growth and reduce parents’ worries and childcare burdens,” adding, “We will continue to make every effort to develop competitive educational content unique to Jongno and provide high-quality childcare services.”

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