Children's City to celebrate Cultures Day

The Children's City, in cooperation with MBM, UAE Exchange Centre, and the Yemeni consulate, will organize a variety of activities on Friday and Saturday, 17 and 18 December 2010 to celebrate Cultures Day. The activities will be held from 4:30 pm to 7:00 pm, said Naila Al Mansouri, Head of Children's City.

"Culture is the soul of the nation and the address of its identity. It is one of the pillars of the basis for nation-building and advancement. Each nation has a culture from which it draws its elements, features and characteristics. Each society has a culture which is characterized, and each culture has its advantages and characteristics," she said.

Al Mansouri said the Children's City's celebrations on this occasion come in its bid to become a pioneer in the field of edutainment in the Middle East, reach an internationally recognized position, and provide edutainment service for groups of schools, children and their families through its different sections of display by offering activities and programs associated with them.

She said the aim of this event to celebrate the cultural diversity, which is a common heritage of mankind, and that the dialogue between the cultures is a possibility. "The culture should be viewed as a set of distinctive spiritual, material, intellectual and emotional features of a society or a social group. It encompasses, in addition to arts and literature, lifestyles, ways of living together, value systems, traditions and beliefs," said Al Mansouri.

She said that Children's City endeavours to take care of the culture among future generations and introduce them to diverse cultures. "We also want to teach them that cultural diversity specifically derives from experiences and contributions of all countries, cultures and peoples. Cultural diversity promotes human values and maintains a common ground where you cannot claim any credit for one culture to other cultures. This will contribute in bringing up children's creativity through various artistic activities, sports, music, theatre, painting and other arts," said Al Mansouri.

"The Children's City through its different exhibits and events aims to achieve communication and integration with different segments of the community, and the development of the role of a typical family, and keep up with all that is new in the field of museum shows while maintaining the existing in terms of theory and knowledge as it desire to meet the needs and wishes of visitors," she said.

"It also aims at the consolidation of relations with relevant bodies and organizations, similar in goal, and provide better service to the public through training and motivate staff in the required disciplines, as well as creating a centre of attraction for cultural tourism and children's tourism at the local, regional and international levels," said Al Mansouri.

The Children's City has prepared a number of special programmes on this occasion as the day will start with the national anthem, followed by a poem about the UAE, and presentation of the Al Youla dance of the UAE. There will be a stage show that gives an overview of several countries such as Kenya, the Philippines, Ethiopia and Pakistan. A photo exhibition of the Republic of Yemen and an exhibition of the currencies of different countries will also be organized, in addition to providing hospitality of the UAE heritage. At the end of the day there will be a big raffle draw.

Children's City gears up to host school students in new academic year

The Children's City has lined up a wide array of educational and recreational programmes to receive school students in the new academic year. Children's City, the first edutainment facility in the Middle East, will offer presentations and workshops that serve the new curriculum template for entertainment and education through the special exhibits in the city.

Nila Al Mansouri, Acting Head Children's City said that there are many activities and programmes that develop the talents and creativity of children in a family and entertaining atmosphere.

According to Mansouri several events including a group of workshops and educational weeks related to school curriculum developed by a team of academicians, will be organized.

"The workshops, divided according to different age groups, will be offered to schools with prior booking, and attendance at these workshops will be free and within the price of a ticket to enter the Children's City. There will be presentations in Arabic or English according to demand, and will cover activities related to the curriculum of some important topics in science, nature and arts, as the exploratory visit to these workshops can be interesting and useful experience for students," she said.

The workshops for the age group of 4-6 years include two sessions of the workshop, "The Human Body Week - Story of the Senses" from 10am until 10:45am and from 11am until 11:45am, and will be held at the Information Centre.

The second workshop titled "feelings" will be organized in two sessions starting from April 2011 from 10am until 10:30am, and from 11am until 11:30am. The workshop "balance game" will also in two sessions from 10am until 10:30am, and from 11am until 11:30am. The workshop "float and swim" will be organized from March 2011 from 10am until 10:30am, and from 11am until 11:30am.

The workshops for the age group of 7-11 years will include the "Natural History Week - Workshop on fossils, which will be held in two sessions from 10am until 10:45am and from 11am until 11:45am. The workshop "kitchen chemist" will be organized from 10am until 10:30am, and from 11am until 11:30am. In addition, the workshop "World of Forms" will he 10am until 10:30am, and from 11am until 11:30am.

The workshop "Challenge Balloon Bird Show" will teach the students the scientific background of balloon and the date of discovery of balloon flying, and then making a balloon and using it to challenge the wonderful balloon made by their friends. This activity will also have two sessions from 10am until 10:30am, and from 11am until 11:30am. In addition, the workshop "World of Forms" will also be held 10am until 10:30am, and from 11am until 11:30am.

The Children's City will also hold workshops for the age group of 12-15 years, including "Space Week - fiery rocket show." There will be two shows for this also 10am until 10:45am and from 11am until 11:45am. The workshop "the genetic material show" will be held in two sessions from 10am until 10:30am, and from 11am until 11:30am.

It will also organize a workshop on "Greenhouse gases - a sign of early warning" and the problem of global warming, one of the most important challenges facing us at this time. The workshop will have two sessions from 10am until 10:30am, and from 11am until 11:30am. The workshop on "energy supply" will he held from 10am until 10:30am, and from 11am until 11:30am.