Aiju Kindergarten in Xuhui District held a sports meeting on Saturday for 70 kids and their families.

Ma Yulian, principal of the kindergarten, said the event was to highlight the importance of sports and "family affection" in the healthy growth of children.

“Sports is good for children’s growth in many ways, including skeletal growth, the development of body coordination, group cooperation, communication, problem-solving and perseverance in overcomingdifficulties and setbacks,” Ma said.

“We also want to take this activity as an opportunity for busy parents to temporarily put their work aside and play with their kids,” she added.

The sports meeting included various activities, such as the presentation of sport exercises they learned at the kindergarten and relay races with basketballs, balloons and rafts, as well as a tug of war.

Due to the limited space inside the downtown kindergarten, an indoor stadium at Shanghai Jiao Tong University was rented for the event.

Ma said one third of the kindergarten's students hold Chinese passports and the rest are foreigners.