No more paying for children’s playing for 10 Hong Kong mums running their own parenting group
Hand-in-Hand is bucking the trend of splashing out big cash for playgroups with a more organic, home-grown approach
Ten local mothers are bucking the trend of enrolling toddlers in pay-to-play playgroups by forming a more organic community to nurture their children.
From reading groups to neighbourhood exhibitions showcasing art made from waste, a group of mums from Eastern district are sending a message that pay-to-play playgroups, which have become increasingly popular among new parents, should not be taken as the natural course for childrearing in a busy cosmopolitan city like Hong Kong.
The 10 mums, who first met earlier this year through community events, have formed a reading group named Hand-in-Hand which gathers once a week. Through their weekly meet-ups the mums discovered their children shared a common interest in handcrafts, which emboldened them to organise a two-week art exhibition at a community centre last month.
Florence Chan See-kar, one of the mums in the group, said: “Increasingly I have seen more new parents, who are busy with their schedules, simply pay to get their children taken care of.”