Lifestyle

Children plate healthy meals like Little Red Riding Hood

03 May 2024

Young girls make some delectable sandwiches at the Sharjah Children's Reading Festival.

Gulf Today, Staff Reporter

Reliving the Red Riding Hood adventure turned out to be a fun and healthy ride for children attending the cookery session titled “Little Red Riding Hood’s Nature Feast” at the 15th edition of the Sharjah Children’s Reading Festival (SCRF), the largest celebration of knowledge, creativity, art and innovation of its kind in the region, now taking place in Expo Centre Sharjah.

Preparing a healthy meal in an interactive culinary experience under the guidance of chef Svetlana Kuzvetsova and eating it too was all that 6-10 year olds could ask for. Participants explored nature’s bounty – lettuce, cucumber, yellow capsicum and cheese sandwiched in toasted bread – and wrapped them in brown paper before placing them in a basket of fruits, prunes, apricots, boiled egg and chips that they could carry home.

Some of them could not wait to dig into the delectable sandwiches they had deftly packed. The chef explained that without good food and good health, one cannot go through the forest, which seemed to be true literally and figuratively. The dangers of unhealthy eating is like a wolf waiting to swallow and the chef was able to drive home that point to the children and their parents gathered around.

The cookery workshop and the prospect of making one’s own food and eating it is a hugely popular programme of SCRF, going by the long queues at the venue. It’s Lights, Camera, Action!

For young movie buffs

Young cinema lovers and aspiring filmmakers received a crash course in movie making at the ongoing Sharjah Children’s Reading Festival on Thursday as they learnt all about handling the camera and what goes behind the scenes.

Master instructor Chloe Gardner, who’s flown in all the way from the Australian city of Adelaide to train young learners at the 12-day annual festival, said: "Filmmaking is a powerful medium for storytelling, and by teaching young people the basics of cameras and how angles work, we can help them unleash their creativity and express themselves in new and exciting ways."

The interactive workshop that will run throughout the festival being held in Expo Centre Sharjah, will cover a wide range of topics, including script writing, directing, acting, cinematography, and editing. “Participants will have the chance to work collaboratively to create their own version of short film, from concept development to post-production,” added Gardner, the CEO of Capture The Action, an Australian company that provides online interactive film and media arts courses for primary and middle school students from around the world.

"This is a great initiative towards providing young people with opportunities to explore their creativity and pursue their passions, and we hope that this film making class will inspire the next generation of filmmakers and storytellers, and help them to realise their dreams."

Taking the select group of young attendees on a quick tour of movie production, Gardner introduced them to various nuances of international movie production including angles of a camera and how they are used effectively.

Twelve-year-old Leen Ahmed, who wants to become an actor, said the session was an eye-opener for her. “I dream of facing the cameras when I grow up one day, but today, I got to know what goes on behind the cameras. It’s fascinating,” said the Egyptian student of Al Mustaqbal Private School Sharjah and an admirer of the award-winning English actor Tom Holland for his breakthrough role as Spiderman.

Lebanese Nour El Orra, another ardent Hollywood fan, was no less awestruck by the lessons she picked up. “I learnt about different kinds of shots. My favourite is the mid-shot,” said the eight-year-old student of Dawha School, Sharjah.

The filmmaking class is open to children of all ages and skill levels, from beginners to aspiring filmmakers. Participants like Nour and Leen will have the opportunity to learn from Gardner, who’s attending her third SCRF this year after a gap of four years.