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Playing 'house' gets serious for kids learning about life in adult roles
February 25, 2010, Thursday
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IT'S not easy being a kid but there's a childhood experiencing center in Hangzhou that helps them understand what they're in for as adults, with "mini" paid jobs and responsibility, Xu Wenwen reports.
There's an ice cream shop, driving school and newspaper office in this "mini" society. And the staff are "built" accordingly, all aged from four to 12 years old. There's also public institutions, like a bank and post office, but they're 30 percent smaller than normal because they're designed for children.
In this smaller community, every child takes four to six hours to act like an adult. They hunt for and take jobs and generally survive and make decisions on their own. Parents can watch their actions but are not encouraged to give guidance.
It all happens at Dodu City in Hangzhou's Citizen Center, Asia's biggest child social experiencing hall. It was founded by the municipal government and opened in October 2008 with the aim of giving children a serious "play house" game. Last year, it attracted 149,000 children.
It boasts 11,000 square meters on two floors and offers more than 100 job positions in 60 pavilions. They cover all walks of life, such as public administration, cultural fields, financial institutions and scientific academies.
Every pavilion has teachers to instruct the children. The teachers are required to be trained, so one who is instructing in a beauty salon needs to have expertise in the work.
Children start their "play house" journey by first choosing a job.
On the door of every pavilion, which is also a work unit, there is a small notice board advising on when the next round of employment starts, including details on vacancy numbers and employee requirements.
Similar to real life, some jobs require high qualifications, others don't: the newspaper only recruits kids above grade three to be reporters, rescue team staff must be taller than 1.3 meters, but the housekeeper service and construction companies don't have any requirements.
But the salaries don't vary as much as real life - jobs pay from 5 yuan (73 US cents) to 8 yuan - a position in a pavilion last about 30 minutes, and a child can take as many as jobs he or she can handle in the fixed time.
As reality goes, some jobs are indoors while others are outside.
Wandering around the small city, people may see a dozen junior policemen and policewomen in uniform patrolling around, firemen dousing a blaze with a small hose, postmen running with mailbags, and a little reporter may ask your feelings about the city.
And some of the other action takes place just as normally.
"Good morning, miss. We're police in Dudo City, and we're looking for a 30-year-old suspect in red shirt and black jeans, blind in one eye and with long hair. Have you seen him?"
"Yes, he just had his teeth cleaned in my clinic, and he said he's going to the Moon Street."
This is a conversation between kid police and an adult doctor (a teacher) in the dental clinic, and it's a task to "find the bad guy" designated for little policemen. The kids hear an alarm go off in the office and then make up a patrol team to catch the bad guy under a teacher's guidance.
All units give appropriate tasks to the kids and pay a salary only after the job is done. Sometimes a bonus or overtime payment is added when kids do excellent jobs or work on holidays.
"Kids are not supposed to grasp some working skills in the game, but to learn how to cope with events, communicate with people, and express emotion correctly," says Zhu Jiaxiong, a professor of preschool education in East China Normal University.
"They use their own way to study and get experience in the imitating society, and parents are suggested to let the children learn by themselves," he adds.
To cultivate children's responsibility to pay tax, all salaries are after-tax and the pay slip includes a tax receipt. Anyone collecting five receipts can win a "Significant Taxpayer" award from Dodu Revenue.
The money is not real cash but looks like it because the Dodu note imitates the real yuan's color and pattern. But, in keeping with the spirit, it's smaller.
Dodu cash denominations are 1, 5 and 10 notes. To ensure the feeling of authenticity, all money is made from banknote paper. A mini ICBC bank and three small ATMs are also available, so children can deposit their wages into a bank card.
As adults earn money to spend, so do kids. So all kinds of schools, public transport, food courts, theaters and department stores are set up in the city to demonstrate consumption.
These places are not only for changing Dodu cash to souvenirs but also to help kids understand the theory of saving money.
"My one-hour work means a couple of dumplings, so now I know it's not easy for my parents to earn money," says Shen Yutong, a seven-year-old boy.
Shanghai has a similar "playing house" called Eday Town, and Kidzania, Mexican chain of family entertainment centers, plans to open its first Shanghai outlet in July.
Dodu City
Address: K Building of Citizen Center, 331 Xinye Rd
Website: www.doducity.com
Tel: (0571) 123-55
There's an ice cream shop, driving school and newspaper office in this "mini" society. And the staff are "built" accordingly, all aged from four to 12 years old. There's also public institutions, like a bank and post office, but they're 30 percent smaller than normal because they're designed for children.
In this smaller community, every child takes four to six hours to act like an adult. They hunt for and take jobs and generally survive and make decisions on their own. Parents can watch their actions but are not encouraged to give guidance.
It all happens at Dodu City in Hangzhou's Citizen Center, Asia's biggest child social experiencing hall. It was founded by the municipal government and opened in October 2008 with the aim of giving children a serious "play house" game. Last year, it attracted 149,000 children.
It boasts 11,000 square meters on two floors and offers more than 100 job positions in 60 pavilions. They cover all walks of life, such as public administration, cultural fields, financial institutions and scientific academies.
Every pavilion has teachers to instruct the children. The teachers are required to be trained, so one who is instructing in a beauty salon needs to have expertise in the work.
Children start their "play house" journey by first choosing a job.
On the door of every pavilion, which is also a work unit, there is a small notice board advising on when the next round of employment starts, including details on vacancy numbers and employee requirements.
Similar to real life, some jobs require high qualifications, others don't: the newspaper only recruits kids above grade three to be reporters, rescue team staff must be taller than 1.3 meters, but the housekeeper service and construction companies don't have any requirements.
But the salaries don't vary as much as real life - jobs pay from 5 yuan (73 US cents) to 8 yuan - a position in a pavilion last about 30 minutes, and a child can take as many as jobs he or she can handle in the fixed time.
As reality goes, some jobs are indoors while others are outside.
Wandering around the small city, people may see a dozen junior policemen and policewomen in uniform patrolling around, firemen dousing a blaze with a small hose, postmen running with mailbags, and a little reporter may ask your feelings about the city.
And some of the other action takes place just as normally.
"Good morning, miss. We're police in Dudo City, and we're looking for a 30-year-old suspect in red shirt and black jeans, blind in one eye and with long hair. Have you seen him?"
"Yes, he just had his teeth cleaned in my clinic, and he said he's going to the Moon Street."
This is a conversation between kid police and an adult doctor (a teacher) in the dental clinic, and it's a task to "find the bad guy" designated for little policemen. The kids hear an alarm go off in the office and then make up a patrol team to catch the bad guy under a teacher's guidance.
All units give appropriate tasks to the kids and pay a salary only after the job is done. Sometimes a bonus or overtime payment is added when kids do excellent jobs or work on holidays.
"Kids are not supposed to grasp some working skills in the game, but to learn how to cope with events, communicate with people, and express emotion correctly," says Zhu Jiaxiong, a professor of preschool education in East China Normal University.
"They use their own way to study and get experience in the imitating society, and parents are suggested to let the children learn by themselves," he adds.
To cultivate children's responsibility to pay tax, all salaries are after-tax and the pay slip includes a tax receipt. Anyone collecting five receipts can win a "Significant Taxpayer" award from Dodu Revenue.
The money is not real cash but looks like it because the Dodu note imitates the real yuan's color and pattern. But, in keeping with the spirit, it's smaller.
Dodu cash denominations are 1, 5 and 10 notes. To ensure the feeling of authenticity, all money is made from banknote paper. A mini ICBC bank and three small ATMs are also available, so children can deposit their wages into a bank card.
As adults earn money to spend, so do kids. So all kinds of schools, public transport, food courts, theaters and department stores are set up in the city to demonstrate consumption.
These places are not only for changing Dodu cash to souvenirs but also to help kids understand the theory of saving money.
"My one-hour work means a couple of dumplings, so now I know it's not easy for my parents to earn money," says Shen Yutong, a seven-year-old boy.
Shanghai has a similar "playing house" called Eday Town, and Kidzania, Mexican chain of family entertainment centers, plans to open its first Shanghai outlet in July.
Dodu City
Address: K Building of Citizen Center, 331 Xinye Rd
Website: www.doducity.com
Tel: (0571) 123-55
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