The 28th Muscat International Book Fair is not just about books. It has lined up an array of fun events and activities for young readers to boost their reading skills and fire up imagination.
The Children's Corner has 131 diverse activities which includes theatre and workshops, the Al-Dhad Corner (Arabic Language Corner), the Children's Museum Corner, and the Green Corner that focuses on the goals of sustainable development. Cultural cafés are set up in a number of pavilions.
Dr Wafa bint Salem al Shamsiyya, member of children’s activities and supervisor of Al Dhad Corner, said, “The activities and programs in the Children’s Corner are implemented by a number of governmental and private institutions and civil society initiatives in cooperation with the book management. The Children’s Corner has attracted a number of institutions, including official and private ones, with the aim of creating diversity in the activities and programs that the child desires to know.”
Among the participants, an Omani start-up Framezone company is displaying the Little Entrepreneur game, which is a strategic and educational game, where the child learns the basic concepts of financial culture and entrepreneurship. The game represents an innovative step towards stimulating the learning process in an effective and enjoyable way. It focuses on the child’s interaction with his surroundings by engaging in a set of interactive challenges that encourage creative thinking and promote concepts of social responsibility.
The Al Dhad Corner teaches entrepreneurial skills to children and young people. It introduces concepts like entrepreneurship and start-up companies through stories. This is part of the school education initiative of the Authority for Small and Medium Enterprises Development.
Children's activities include workshops, interactive competitions, plays, discussion and dialogue sessions, drawing and colouring, recycling, reading sessions, writing and listening to stories. In addition to that, workshops will be held in creative writing, poetry recitation, chanting, and shadow theatre.
The Children's Public Library also participated in this exhibition. Sarah al Maamaria, the administrative officer at the Children’s Public Library Corner, said, “The library supports the exhibition by holding cultural events and workshops for children. It annually presents about 15 to 20 workshops and activities for children with the aim of promoting children’s culture.”
The director of the Muscat International Book Fair, Ahmed al Rawahi, said the book fair aimed to bring in diverse activities and programmes. The Children’s Corner focused on skills that stimulate the child’ imagination and keep pace with their aspirations in the cognitive, technical, and creative fields.
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