Sharjah Children’s Reading Festival Adds Up

Youngsters at the first day of the Sharjah Children’s Reading Festival have been learning that mathematics is more than a numbers game, as they faced some tough problem-solving challenges in a ‘Mathnasium’ workshop.

The children, aged between six and ten years old, were given a series of logic and arithmetic papers to test their mental maths agility and some valuable advice on how to use it in their day-to-day lives.

Managing the workshop, Earland Perito from the UAE-based Mathnasium learning centre, used matchsticks, magic squares and ‘Kidoku’ to help the would-be Einsteins understand the value of numbers and the tips and tricks of calculation.

“Mathematics is a subject which some children may be a little wary of, but in this workshop, we try to show them that there is no reason to be daunted and maths can actually be fun as well as rewarding.”

The festival’s events span several programmes, under the main themes of Kids Activities, Cultural Programmes, Cultural Café, Kids' Creative Café, Social Media Café and Cookery Corner. SCRF 2018 also features a series of international theatrical performances like ‘Tuta and Monkey Cheetah’, and the ‘Island of Kids’ Area’ that combine education, fun and entertainment to highlight the values of honesty to young visitors.

A prime highlight of the festival this year is its first ever 3D Book Exhibition, featuring 250 pop-up books from the 3D Book Centre in Forli, Italy. The books have been handpicked by the exhibition curators to represent eight different periods of time. One of SCRF’s mainstays, the Sharjah Exhibition for Children’s Books Illustrations, is featuring 355 artworks by 104 illustrators from 32 countries this year.