Culture & Education | Thursday 19 April, 2018 6:02 am |

Much of an individual’s confidence stems from a knowledge of the self and their ability to express themselves effectively. 

 

The Sharjah Children’s Reading Festival (SCRF 2018) has brought on board award-winning Lebanese actress and filmmaker, Sara Mezher, who will be engaging children in a variety of exciting innovative workshops and team building exercises throughout the 11-day festival with the aim to help children as young as 4 and 5 years pick up on social cues and nonverbal communication. 

 

An excited Mezher after delivering her very first workshop on the opening day of SCRF 2018, to a group of preschoolers in Sharjah, said: “I work in cinema and theatre and I will be conducting what I call drama workshops for children of all age groups, where through several teambuilding activities they will be encouraged to trust each another, how to work as a team, build their own confidence and learn how to express their feelings and understand those of their peers by reading body language.”

 

In one of the teambuilding games, the young participants were divided in groups of five and given hoola hoops with several markers guiding them to slowly turn them clockwise and anti-clockwise one by one – something that required the children to be calm and work as a team. 

 

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 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.