Kids' camps cool summer stress

Diverse classes

Children taking part in this program, which runs from July 8 to Aug 23 this year, get to participate in a variety of activities related to crafts, sports and moral education.

All classes are free of charge and are the result of partnerships between government bodies and social institutions that provide lessons suitable for children.

According to the camp organizers, the municipal government has cooperated with 27 social institutions and companies this year, including the Shanghai Civil Affairs Bureau, the Shanghai Landscaping and City Appearance Administrative Bureau and the Shanghai Women's Federation.

"The program offers a platform for institutions, companies and citizens to participate in social responsibility, and we expect that the introduction of professional practitioners can offer children more diverse and enriching experiences," says Li, head of the program.

Teenagers at Sunqiao community, Zhangjiang county in Pudong New Area, for example, get to attend computer programming classes offered by the German science and innovation public initiative, Science Cube.

During the class, children learn how to design a game related to garbage sorting.

"We aim to pique the children's interest in science and make their vacations special and memorable," says Lin Andu, head of Science Cube.

In a child care camp located at the Shanghai Expo Youth Center, equestrianism is one of the most popular classes.

Du Liang, director-general of the Co-worker Youth Development Center in Shanghai which provides the class, says that children get to learn about the management of the stables as well as how to care for the animals.

In another child care camp at Jing'an district's Nanjing Xilu subdistrict, children are taught about environmental protection initiatives.

One of the activities at the child care camp there involves picking up roadside garbage and learning how to sort it for recycling.