One of the best things about being a kid are is the endless possibilities for the future. Now 6- to 14-year-olds in Beijing can get a taste of what it’s like to be an architect under the guidance of professional architects and designers.

KidsCity believes in inspiring and empowering the next generation of thinkers and creatives. This weekend, your young architects can spend an exciting day with like-minded kids to create the tallest hutong tower possible!

Kids will get a taste of what it’s like to be an architect for a day. They will learn about the designs of Beijing’s traditional alleyways and high-density buildings in our big bustling city. The day will be spent using city layout plans, designing roads, planning parks, and creating cool buildings with fellow future architects under the guidance of architects and designers that will lead them every step of the way in a fun outdoor activity in 798 art district.

KidsCity Vertical Hutong, Sept 15

Ages 10+. RMB 350. Scan QR code to register.  11am – 3pm. KidsCity. 751 D·PARK A6 Roling Center Square, Chaoyang District. Contact (WeChat ID) seba1988 for more information. 751 D·PARK 北京时尚设计广场 A6荣麟中心广场

Photos: KidsCity

R3 Discovery occupies a maze of cosy nooks at Funworks, a co-working center in World City, CBD. Here children can explore, learn, and discover the joy of real books, in a world where screens provide a constant distraction.

“I don’t think parents are aware how much their children’s attention is on their tablets and phones,” says R3 founder Perlita Pengson. “It’s good that technology is affecting the life of our kids, but there are still some old traditions we should keep up, and one of them is reading books.”

Pengson is a former preschool teacher, but the motivation for setting up R3 Discovery came from her experience of bringing up her own children.

“As a mother, I don’t like the idea of my kids spending all their time on gadgets. They affect children’s eyes.”

What about e-books, I ask her?

“E-books are OK, I’m not against them, but they don’t have the same feeling as a physical book, of using your fingers to turn the pages. And it’s too easy to switch to other things.”

(l-r: Perlita Pengson, Miyee Woon)

Co-founder Miyee Woon also talks about the joy of sharing books with her own daughter.

“She will tell me about the story she is reading, and from that topic we will dream far into the future. It gives us quality time together.”

The children who attend R3 Discovery are aged from 5 to 12, a mix of locals and international kids, although the books they read are all in English. They come twice a week after school, for a 90 minute session, and are divided into beginners, independent, and advanced readers.

“Each session has a lesson plan,” Pengson explains. “We begin with a discussion. I might ask them, have you read anything interesting this week? Then we choose a book to read. At the end there’s a short activity based on the book.”

Parents meanwhile can go for a coffee or shopping World City, sit and chat, or even have a read themselves. Feedback from kids and parents has been positive.

“We’ve had letters from parents who have finished the program or have moved abroad, saying how much they got from it. And some parents want their kids to continue after they’ve completed the program.”

As well as the reading program, R3 Discovery has run a Writing Workshop and a Book Creation Workshop, and are developing new ways to share their love of reading with kids. But what do they like to read most themselves?

“Fairy tales!” Pengson says enthusiastically. “You’re never too old…”

Photos: Courtesy of R3 Discovery, Andrew Killeen

Two weekends ago, I walked through the door of an otherwise normal-looking apartment building in Haidian to find the lair of a mad scientist complete with robot parts, 3D printers, periodic tables, and Erlenmeyer flasks.

Instead of a wizened scientist running the experiments, a small group of elementary schoolers decked out in lab coats and safety goggles were at the helm. These kids were getting a hands-on introduction to one of the most classic science experiments for kids, the Coca-Cola and Mentos bottle rocket, with a local organization called Genius Lab.

Unfortunately, in many local schools in Beijing, true science experiments are far too uncommon and often sacrificed for book knowledge. Genius Lab created this kids’ laboratory and curriculum to fill this need.

Genius Lab is an after-school and weekend science program that provides a hands-on, creative approach to science education.

The Coca-Cola and Mentos bottle rocket experiment is just one of the many experiments that the organization facilitates. It partners with local schools to give instruction in Chinese and is planning to open its first English-language program in the near future.

After exploring the space, I sat down with Sophia Su, founder, to discuss the vision of Genius Lab. She explained that about 80 percent of the teachers are science Master’s and PhD students from local universities who have a desire to teach the experimental process to kids. She explained to me the difference between what goes on at local schools and what happens at Genius Lab.

“In local schools, you would learn about DNA and its double helix structure. It would be a very blurred concept in your head and you would just know the theory. But here at Genius Lab, we learn about [the theory]and then we do an experiment where we extract a strawberry’s or a banana’s DNA,” she says.

“It would be a visual experiment for [the kids]. They would know more about cells, DNA, the nuclei and everything related. It’s very exciting and that’s a big difference from what they get in school.”

It was exciting to go into the apartment complex courtyard with the little bottle rockets and shoot them up into the sky. Parents crowded around and took pictures as the kids giggled.

I can see why, after participating in this program, many kids tell Su and her colleagues that they want to be scientists and go to MIT. It all begins with the passion that Genius Lab puts into their work.

If you’re interested in finding out more, contact Su and Genius Lab through the organization’s official WeChat account: GeniusLab.

Kassandra Lee
Kassandra Lee is a published poet, arts organizer, and education entrepreneur. In her free time, she enjoys talking about education and biking around the eclectic hutong neighborhoods of Beijing in search of surprises.

Photo: Kassandra Lee