Learning through play: Children engage in diverse extracurricular activities for International Children’s Day

June 1 is International Children's Day. As the day approaches, children across China are stepping out of their classrooms to engage in a variety of colorful extracurricular activities to gain knowledge and broaden their visions.

Many valuable lessons come from labor and life. Encouraging children to develop a work ethic, cultivate good habits, and improve their skills from a young age helps them learn more effectively.

On Wednesday, the Ayi Choir from Wenshui Town Central School in Liangshan Yi autonomous prefecture, Southwest China's Sichuan Province, visited the honor hall of the training bureau under the General Administration of Sport of China in Beijing, where they learned about the history and achievements of China's sports development.

Also on Wednesday, students from Tuerhong Township Central Primary School in Altay prefecture, Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, visited the Tuerhong Border Police Station of the Altay Border Management Detachment for an "open day" event.

The police officers introduced their daily work through equipment displays, a police history museum tour, and traffic safety classes. At the end of the event, the police officers encouraged the students to study hard and strive to become pillars of the country's future.

On Monday, Youyang County Experimental Primary School in Southwest China's Chongqing Municipality organized a two-day study tour with the slogan "Practice Makes Perfect, Labor Shapes the Future" for the school's fourth-grade students. The students moved their classrooms to the fields, integrating knowledge with practice, learning through play, and celebrating a unique Children's Day in advance.

Experts explained to the students the process of growing rice, from seedling cultivation, transplanting, disease prevention, and pest control to finally the harvest. The students also learned about the development of agriculture in China and took part in activities such as making scarecrows, painting straw hats, going on a treasure hunt and enjoying a starry night campfire.

In Ordos city, North China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, students at Kangbashi Experimental Primary School participated in a fun competition to learn labor skills on Wednesday. They learned daily life skills to enhance their self-reliance as they celebrated the Children's Day.

Early in the morning on May 24, children could be seen in Yuanjia Community in Wuhan, Central China's Hubei Province, picking up cigarette butts and cleaning up trash. The community and Shenyang Road Primary School organized a series of special activities to allow children to experience environmental protection firsthand. Led by their teachers, the children became young "guardians" of the environment to clean up the garbage. They received thumbs-up from passing-by residents.

Many countries around the world celebrate Children's Day on June 1. The purpose of establishing International Children's Day is to ensure children's rights to survival, health, and education, improve their lives, and oppose the abuse and poisoning of children.

China's first Children's Day was celebrated on April 4, 1932. After the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, the Chinese government announced that "International Children's Day" on June 1 would replace the original "April 4 Children's Day."