Cooking classes and outdoor team activities at the district's camping forest every weekend starting Sept. 5; registration opens Friday on Seoul's public service booking site, with a 5,000-won participation fee
Gwanak-gu will run a day-trip "Forest Picnic Program" at its camping forest throughout September, giving busy families who find overnight stays or weekday schedules difficult a low-barrier way to enjoy nature with their children.
The district designed the program to engage children's five senses through hands-on cooking with fresh ingredients, while nurturing creativity, a sense of achievement and family bonding in an outdoor setting.
An earlier overnight camping program held in June — featuring tent decorating, a nighttime caterpillar-spotting walk and other nature-based activities — drew 122 families (402 participants) and recorded a 99 percent satisfaction rate. Buoyed by that response, the district is introducing the day-trip format to extend the experience to more residents.
The program combines a sensory cooking session in the morning with cooperative outdoor play in the afternoon. In the morning, children become "junior chefs," making their own sandwiches and assembling layered fruit-and-cookie parfaits. The afternoon shifts to team games designed to help children relieve stress and build social skills alongside peers.
Sessions run every Saturday and Sunday from Sept. 5 through Sept. 20. Families of four or five that include at least one child aged 7 to 12 are eligible to apply, with up to 15 families accepted per session on a first-come, first-served basis. The participation fee is 5,000 won per family.
Families can register starting Friday on the Seoul Metropolitan Government's public service reservation website.
"I hope the children get to be junior chefs, run freely with friends and create special memories with their families through this picnic," District Mayor Park Jun-hee said. "We will continue to expand programs so that residents can enjoy and find comfort in nature close to home."
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