Jungnang-gu, First Seoul District to Obtain Korea Forest Service Forest Education Program Certification

District's Self-Developed Programs 'Heugirang Nolja' and 'Hello Forest Colorland Friends!' First in Seoul Autonomous Districts to Receive Forest Education Program Certification from Korea Forest Service

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] Jungnang-gu (Mayor Ryu Kyung-gi) has been recognized for the excellence of its forest education programs.

The district announced on the 17th that its self-developed forest education programs, ‘Let's Play with Soil’ and ‘Hello Friends of the Forest Color Land!’, have received certification from the Korea Forest Service.

The ‘Forest Education Program Certification System’ grants certification to institutions providing safe and high-quality forest education and experiential activities for children. Jungnang-gu is the first among Seoul’s autonomous districts to obtain this certification.

‘Let's Play with Soil’ and ‘Hello Friends of the Forest Color Land!’ not only passed on-site evaluations for certification but also met criteria such as contributing to children’s ecological literacy, providing opportunities for proper value judgment regarding the forest environment, program sustainability, and diversity and systematic nature of educational content.

The certified programs, ‘Let's Play with Soil’ and ‘Hello Friends of the Forest Color Land!’, are annual forest education programs conducted by the district, which were scaled down this year due to COVID-19. First, ‘Let's Play with Soil’ is a two-hour program held at Gurungsan in Sinnae-dong for 15 five-year-old children, designed to stimulate interest and curiosity about soil play.

The program consists of five activities: ▲ ‘Forest friends, can we play together?’ where participants set mutual safety agreements for forest play ▲ ‘Find the stones in the forest’ involving collecting and sorting stones by size ▲ ‘Soil wriggles~’ observing various colored soils in the forest ▲ ‘When you mold soil with your hands~’ a hands-on soil playtime ▲ and ‘We will protect the life-giving soil~’ sharing reflections on the activity.

Additionally, the certified program ‘Hello Friends of the Forest Color Land!’ is also a two-hour session for 15 five-year-old children. Participants explore various colors created by nature and experience natural dyeing at Yongmasan Early Childhood Forest Experience Center located on Yongmasan.

The program includes six activities: ▲ ‘Hello, colorful friends of the color land!’ ▲ ‘Come out, color fairy I found!’ exploring natural materials like clover and mugwort to discover various natural colors ▲ ‘Making magic brushes through the five senses’ using natural materials to create brushes ▲ ‘Transform! Making natural pigments’ using leaves and other natural items ▲ ‘Drawing freely with natural pigments and magic brushes’ ▲ and ‘Appreciating the artworks created together’.

Furthermore, in October, to prevent the spread of COVID-19, the district will operate four non-face-to-face forest education programs: ‘Let's Play Acorns’ (Yongmasan Early Childhood Forest Experience Center), ‘Making Autumn Memories at Gurungsan’ (Gurungsan Nature Experience Park), ‘Food Chain Card Game’ (Bonghwasan Early Childhood Forest Experience Center), and ‘Story of Sotdae Giving Hope’ (Mangusan Children’s Adventure Playground). Residents wishing to participate can visit the experience sites set up on-site from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Meanwhile, in 2019, the district operated 11 forest education programs at local forests and parks such as Yongmasan Early Childhood Forest Experience Center and Gurungsan Nature Experience School for about 60,000 residents, receiving great responses from the community.

Ryu Kyung-gi, Mayor of Jungnang-gu, said, “With this certification, we will develop programs that allow children in the area to have various experiences in the forest, helping their emotional development and personality growth. We also ask for much interest in the newly established Early Childhood Forest Experience Center at Mangusan.”