Operation of 17 Public and Private Daycare Centers with 26 Classes for 412 Children Aged 5-7
Placement of Professional Instructors at 5 Private Sports Facilities, Conducting Futsal and Toddler Gymnastics Classes
Expanding Opportunities for Regular Large Muscle Physical Activities for Growing Children, Contributing to Healthy Physical Development
Yangcheon-gu (District Mayor Lee Gi-jae) announced that it will significantly expand the operation of the ‘Hotddul Hotddul Seoul Yangcheon Early Childhood Sports Team’ this year to support 412 children, enhancing opportunities for physical activity and healthy physical development for growing young children.
The Hotddul Hotddul Seoul Early Childhood Sports Team, a Seoul city public project, connects public and private sports facilities with daycare centers to form district-based early childhood sports teams, supporting young children to regularly experience various physical activities.
The district was selected for the Seoul city public project for the second consecutive year following last year, securing 100 million KRW in city funds, and will carry out the project for eight months until November this year.
The target participants are approximately 410 children aged 5 to 7 enrolled in public and private daycare centers. The program includes two sports disciplines?futsal and early childhood gymnastics?that are difficult to experience at daycare centers. The district assigns professional instructors to private sports facilities to provide systematic physical education.
The number of participating daycare centers has more than doubled from 8 last year to 17 this year, supporting 412 children compared to 163 last year. In particular, daycare centers are evenly distributed considering regional equity: 5 in Mokdong, 6 in Sinwol-dong, and 6 in Sinjeong-dong. To improve accessibility from daycare centers, the number of private sports facilities increased from 3 last year to 5 this year.
Furthermore, since the program targets young children, special attention is paid to safety. During program operation, one instructor from the daycare center must accompany the children to conduct thorough safety education in advance. Only sports facilities capable of operating child protection vehicles are selected to ensure both convenience and safety during children’s transportation.
Lee Gi-jae, Mayor of Yangcheon-gu, stated, “Through the operation of public early childhood sports teams in this era of ultra-low birth rates, we expect to promote high-quality early childhood sports programs and help reduce educational disparities.” He added, “We will continue to do our best to support physical activities so that our children can grow happily and healthily within Yangcheon.”
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