Fun merges with focus at the Smash Room.

Gulf Today, Staff Reporter

The Sharjah Children’s Reading Festival (SCRF 2024) organised by the Sharjah Book Authority (SBA), beautifully aligns with the contemporary era, presenting a mosaic of workshops, talks, and events. Its central ethos fosters diverse mental stimulation for children, offering novel experiences and opportunities to refine their skills. Among these is the increasingly popular Smash Room, a concept that is gaining traction globally due to its unique approach to stress relief and active play.

During a 45-minute session, children aged five and above delight in smashing cans, boxes of styrofoam, and bursting balloons with darts. “I am going to break this board into a million pieces,” declared Zain, an enthusiastic eight-year-old, as he fervently swung a green hammer at a cardboard box. This activity, beyond being a source of immediate gratification, aids in developing key skills such as focus and concentration.

Rene, a session supervisor, noted, “This is a 45-minute session, but the children often wish to extend their stay.”

The Smash Room is not only a favourite due to its fun factor but also because it allows children to engage physically and mentally in a controlled environment, providing a safe outlet for their energy and creativity. The most popular activities involve the smashing of cans and the popping of balloons. “I have popped so many. It’s fun,” shared nine-year-old Fatma, eagerly waiting for another turn.

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Each day, the Smash Room’s contents are refreshed, offering a variety of new materials to keep the young participants engaged and excited. “I am enjoying this activity,” Fatma added, echoing the sentiments of many attendees.

The festival, now in its 15th edition, continues until May 12 at the Expo Centre in Sharjah. With a packed schedule featuring over 1,500 creative and engaging activities, it remains a vital cultural highlight for the young and the young at heart, encapsulating a spirit of learning and enjoyment that resonates across generations.

Earlier, a lively buzz of creativity hummed through the air at the Sharjah Children’s Reading Festival (SCRF 2024) on Friday as children as young as eight transformed into budding authors at the Wooden Books workshop. With vibrant imagination in full swing, the young writers crafted tales that stretched from African savannas to the bustling cities of the UAE.

One eager young author, ten-year-old Isra Mohammed from Sharjah, was filling the pages of her book with her story of Layla, a warm-hearted African elephant on a quest for friendship in unfamiliar lands. “Layla is very kind and friendly. She’s come all the way from African forests to the UAE to make friends with falcons and camels,” Isra said, her eyes sparkling with enthusiasm as she sketched her characters onto wooden squares.

The workshop, a brainchild of Ghiwa Bouyounes — an interior designer with a special knack for educational woodcraft — provided children with plain wooden squares, stencils of various animals and birds, a palette of colours, and threads to bind their creations into unique wooden books. “It’s a free canvas for their imagination. They can create picture books or weave in dialogues; it’s completely up to them to script their adventures,” Bouyounes explained.

Not far from Isra, nine-year-old Ala Abdullah was engrossed in building the adventures of Ashley, an elephant with a backstory of zoo life in New York, now exploring the Emirates with a local cat guide. “Ashley might just stay in the UAE forever,” Ala mused, her voice tinged with excitement and possibility.

The Wooden Books workshop is one of four inventive sessions hosted at the festival’s Workstation section. Bouyounes, passionate about Montessori-style learning, has designed each workshop to hone both motor and creative skills, educating children about different woods and their applications. “This year, we’ve brought four unique workshops, including furniture making and a car-making studio, tailored for various age groups and skill sets,” Bouyounes noted, outlining the hands-on, educational thrust of each session.

In addition to these, older children are given the chance to build and design furniture, with Friday’s session yielding a series of impressive handcrafted stools, showcasing the participants' engagement and craftsmanship.