Update May 19: Out of an abundance of caution, we are postponing Jingkids Summer Fling from Sat, May 22 to Sat, May 29 (Rain date Sun, May 30). All bought and won tickets will be automatically transferred to this date. Full announcement, including how to request a refund, can be found here.
What do you think of when you think of summer? BBQs? Beaches? Day drinking on a picnic blanket? When you were a kid, perhaps summer meant summer camps, summer jobs, and that one lucky chance to study abroad.
Grown-up summers are much more complicated. There are vacations to plan, and activities and childcare to arrange around work schedules. Never mind all the legwork required to make sure you’ll actually be allowed to picnic in a Beijing park!
But never fear! Jingkids is here to help you sort out your summer and have a rocking good time with friends!
On Sat, May 29, bring your family to the Jingkids Summer Fling at Dongfeng International Sports Park! Beijing families from all across the city will be in attendance, and there will be a selection of excellent food as well as great summer camp advisors excited to tell you about all of their wonderful camp activities! But what exactly can you expect once you get there? Below are the top five reasons why we think the Jingkids Summer Fling is worth your Saturday!
1. It’s just plain fun. We’ve got the picnic area and complimentary blanket all set for you, and the food vendors are ready to serve! Even if you don’t arrange ahead of time to meet friends at the event, you’re sure to see some old and new faces on the day. Whatever you’re looking for, and however you plan it, you can look forward to a fun and relaxing day out with friends!
2. Hands-on time with each summer camp. Sometimes a camp sounds like a blast but then it turns out not to be such a good fit for your child. Sometimes it’s hard to grasp exactly what kids will be doing in the camp until you can talk with the counselors in person. At the Jingkids Summer Fling you can sample the key activities that each camp will provide and engage with the counselors who will be running the activities.
3. Meet counselors one-on-one. For school tours, you often get to meet the teachers and administrators. For summer camps, you tend to go by word of mouth and assume that if they’re a camp counselor, then they’re good with kids. But it can be difficult to know for sure until you meet the counselor in person. Or maybe counselors are all great at their jobs, but your child relates to one counselor more than to another. The Jingkids Summer Fling is the perfect opportunity to find out this crucial information, allowing you to make the best possible summer camp choice!
4. Learn what interests your child. Sometimes parenting feels like tossing spaghetti at a wall and seeing what sticks: you show your kids a variety of different activities that could interest them, and hope they take to something. But more often than not it’s still you choosing the activities they try, and perhaps cutting off others that you assume they won’t like. But who knows? Maybe your child is the next hula hoop star or ukulele player. Maybe they’d prefer a cooking plus culture camp. By bringing your child to the Jingkids Summer Fling and letting them see all the various options laid out before them, you can take the decision off of your plate and place it into your child’s hands.
5. Find out about camps you never knew existed. I’ve had the same standbys for camps since I moved to Beijing, which is great for some consistency with my kids. But as they get older they need different things, and different ways of stimulating their learning. Maybe one of my kids would adore a reading and phonics camp, while the other would just like to swim and hike all day. I’ll never know until we try!
When: Saturday, May 29, from 10am-6pm (Rain Date: Sunday, May 30, from 10am-6pm)
Where: Dongfeng International Sports Park (just west of Chaoyang Park)
Tickets: RMB 100 for a family of three (+RMB 50 for each additional person). Includes a free blanket. If you have a total of ten friends coming, tickets are RMB 25 each.
Note: Small tents and picnic blankets welcome! Open flame cooking is not permitted.
KEEP READING: Summer Camp Preview: BIBA’s English Bridge Camp & Uruguay’s Football Getaway
Images: Jingkids, Canva
