From Playgrounds to the Entire City! Lai Jui-long Promotes 'Learning Through Play, Learning Through Doing' to Build a Child-Exploring Kaohsiung

Kaohsiung mayoral candidate and legislator Lai Jui-long attended the opening of the Kaohsiung Family Recreation Park today (8th), experiencing the facilities with families and extending Father's Day greetings to all fathers and caregivers worldwide. Following his recent announcement of the '2030 Bilingual Capital' seven-point policy, Lai today further introduced the concept of 'Immersive Game-based Exploratory Education,' advocating that children learn through play and grow through exploration, extending learning spaces from schools to every corner of the city, making 'the city itself the child's classroom.'

Lai explained that the park, formerly the Taiwan Railways Administration Kaohsiung Depot with over 50 years of history, has been revitalized through collaboration between central and local governments. Preserving its railway industrial architecture, it has been transformed into Taiwan's largest semi-indoor family recreation space, featuring over 30 free facilities such as parkour, bouldering, trampolines, and rope nets, turning the historic site into a new playground for children's play, exploration, and learning.

Lai emphasized his long-term focus on the relocation and revitalization of the Kaohsiung Depot, having worked with his team to secure a total budget of NT$13.5 billion. After the depot's relocation in 2022, joint efforts by central and local authorities have preserved Kaohsiung's significant railway industrial heritage while reintegrating the old site into citizens' daily lives, allowing the laughter of the next generation to continue the story of this land.

He praised Mayor Chen Chi-mai's ongoing efforts to build a family-friendly city through distinctive parks, inclusive playgrounds, and revitalized public spaces that restore the urban landscape from a child's perspective. The next phase, Lai stated, should further transform the entire city into a child's exploratory classroom—ensuring children not only 'have places to play' but also 'learn through play.'

Lai stressed that 'play' is a crucial way for children to understand the world. He plans to promote 'learning through play, learning through doing' by integrating diverse learning methods such as picture books, board games, STEAM activities, AI interaction, and outdoor exploration into education. Schools will develop more exploratory spaces, and these will be connected with the National Science and Technology Museum, libraries, industrial sites, and local experiential programs, allowing children's learning to extend beyond desks into the city and daily life.

He emphasized that education is not just about filling children's minds with knowledge, but about giving them opportunities to operate with their hands, bravely try, and collaborate with others. Through play and exploration, children can discover interests, uncover talents, and develop language expression, creativity, cooperation, and problem-solving skills—encouraging them to dare to play, ask, and try, and to have the courage to pursue their dreams.

Regarding child-friendly urban development, Lai pledged to continue promoting distinctive parks, inclusive playgrounds, and integrated small children's libraries to create more public spaces where children can freely play and read. On family support, he proposed increasing childbirth subsidies to NT$50,000, enhancing childcare allowances, and adding a monthly NT$1,000 growth allowance for children aged 0–6 in line with central government policy. Public and quasi-public daycare centers will provide 60 hours of extended care vouchers annually, with special-needs families receiving up to 100 hours. These measures aim to reduce parental burdens across education, childcare, and economic support.

On Father's Day, Lai shared that every father and caregiver learns through the process of parenting, growing through repeated attempts and gradually becoming the kind of father their child needs. He stated he would approach city governance with the same attitude—remaining humble, listening to citizens, and continuously learning and improving—to make Kaohsiung a more welcoming, family-friendly city where every child can grow up safely, explore freely, and bravely pursue their dreams.