United Arab Emirates hosts 16th Sharjah Children's Reading Festival
Published on: Friday, April 25, 2025
Published on: Fri, Apr 25, 2025 Text Size: Some of the children at the Digital Cube workshop. SHARJAH: The 16th edition of the Sharjah Children's Reading Festival (SCRF), the region's leading literary celebration for young minds, opened its doors to a world where stories meet circuits and technology becomes a tool for creativity. This year's festival features more than 600 creative workshops and activities, with the Digital Cube workshop – designed around the globally popular game Minecraft – proving to be one of the highlights. The session reimagines a pixelated universe into a hands-on experiment, where children craft glowing, LED-lit cubes that blend art, mathematics, and technology. 'This is a digital LED pixel cube. It's a project that brings together technology education, mathematics, engineering, and art,' said Mahmoud Hashem, a computer scientist from Lebanon and a first-time SCRF participant representing Room 94, known for its inventive workshops. 'Here, we're trying to blend mathematical thinking with practical skills, enhancing creativity and sparking curiosity. We want children to know that technology can be fun and approachable.' Equipped with printed templates, coin batteries, copper tape, LEDs, and scissors, participants set to work building their own digital cubes. The process involved cutting out paper circuits, applying copper tape, inserting the electronics and colouring and assembling their glowing cubes. 'The beauty of this experiment,' added Hashem, 'is its simplicity. Every element is readily available from a local stationery shop, and the children can take the idea home to invent something new.' For 11-year-old Sana Siddiqui, the session was a revelation. 'It was such a fun way to learn about circuits,' she said. 'I want to use LEDs in the cards I make for my family and friends - the lights could be candles on a cake.' Twelve-year-old Akil Ashraf took it a step further, experimenting with two LEDs in a single circuit. 'I want to make a castle and light it up, just like in the game,' he shared. SCRF's 2025 edition, running until May 4 at Expo Centre Sharjah, stands out for championing digital literacy and creativity in equal measure. For full details and the complete programme, visit www.scrf.ae. * Follow us on Instagram and join our Telegram and/or WhatsApp channel(s) for the latest news you don't want to miss. * Do you have access to the Daily Express e-paper and online exclusive news? Check out subscription plans available.
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