The Sharjah Children’s Reading Festival is held every year to connect children with books and reading. The event this year was organised by Sharjah Book Authority with the main theme of ‘For Your Imagination’. It took place from May 19 to May 29, 2021. 27 authors from 15 countries participated, alongside 172 publishers. More than 500 activities were organised including theatrical shows, workshops, cookery sessions, panel discussions and a literary competition.

In this reading event designed for children, there were many new books launched. Expo 2020’s Dubai Mascots Activity Book was one such book that was launched in this reading festival. This book is about the 5 mascots who take the readers on a tour of Expo 2020. The main theme of Expo 2020 was “Connecting Minds, Creating the Future”, with three subthemes; Suitability, Mobility and Opportunity. For each pavilion, the expo has 5 mascots named Rashid, Latifa who are the guides and Alif, Opti and Terra, the expo’s guardians.

The Expo 2020 Dubai Mascots Activity Book is all about the adventures of these 5 mascots. Specially designed for children aged from six to nine years old, this book teaches about Science, Technology, Artificial Intelligence and Environment Preservation in a fun and interactive way. This book contains quizzes, fun challenges, and other activities, teaching the children about interesting technological advancements in energy, environment and space travel. Jade Robertson, the International Publishing Director of Austin Macauley Publishers, noted, “In creating this book, we want children to question what they see at the expo and the world around them. In doing so, they will develop their future skills. Encouraging enough for children to want to pick up, read and most importantly develop a basic understanding of the environment.”

So let’s check out everything this book has to offer.

EXPO’S MASCOTS:

The Exposition 2020 had 5 mascots for each pavilion. These mascots help you show around the expo and be your guides. The sibling duo, Rashid and Latifa are the guides while Alif, Opti and Terra are the guardians. So come on in and let’s explore what these mascots can have to offer.

• Rashid

Rashid is a 9-year-old, smart for his age boy who is quick to learn and is full of enthusiasm. He is a caring little boy who can sometimes be cheeky. He loves discovering new things and finding out more about the world around him. He tries his best to look after the environment. He also has a liking for listening to the generations’ old stories of his family, looking up to the night sky and counting stars.

• Latifa

Latifa is chatty, inquisitive and a smart girl. She is Rashid’s younger sister. She dreams of becoming one of the world’s greatest inventors. She passionately loves Science and Technology and is always on the lookout for learning something new. She also loves to figure out how to solve problems, puzzles and quizzes.

• Alif

Alif is the guardian of the Mobility Pavilion. The leader of all the guardians, Alif has the responsibility of protecting the secrets of the wise Ghaff Tree Salama at the Expo 2020. He is designed to transform into any form of vehicle, Alif can swim, walk, run and even fly to take Latifa and Rashid to any path of discovery they want to go to.

• Opti

Opti is the guardian of the Opportunity Pavilion and is also one of the three guardians tasked with the responsibility of protecting Salama’s secrets. Opti’s heart is made of pure gold and he offers Latifa and Rashid various choices during their journey of discovery. He has the special powers of opening portals through space and time.

• Terra

Terra is the guardian of the Suitability Pavilion. She is a kind-hearted robot, who wants to feel more human than she actually is. She guides Latifa and Rashid throughout their adventure and makes sure they carry out their adventures in the best possible manner. Her mission is to protect the environment and nature. She has the secret power of turning invisible.

What the Activity Book Has for Children?

As this book is specially designed for children of age 6 to 9, by Expo 2020, it has various activities to help them learn about Science, Technology, Artificial Intelligence and Environment Preservation. There are puzzles, mathematical quizzes and other interesting activities.

Chemistry Quizzes:

It also has some activities teaching the basics of chemistry such as colouring the periodic table, while some other activities related to mobile application development. The children are taught about different types of energy through another fun-filled activity with the help of drawings and examples.
 

Maths and Computing Puzzles:

This activity book has some interesting quizzes and puzzles related to maths and basic computing, like coding. Children can also learn about computer applications development by solving puzzles included in this book.

Activities related to Water Conservation:

In an attempt to teach children about the sources of water and its conservation, there are a few activities that help them learn more about the importance of water and what they can do to save it.

Environment Preservation Activities:

Another very important message this expo-book gives to the kids in a fun way is to recycle the old items into new ones and are also taught about categorizing the products. By completing the puzzles, the kids will have learnt about more ways they can help protect the nature around them and be mindful of the products they use.

History and Culture of UAE:

Some other activities included in this book are designed to help the children and their parents learn more about the history, culture and important places in UAE. There is some useful information about the national bird Falcon, the National Day of UAE and some traditional days they celebrate in the UAE. In the end, the answers to all the puzzles and quizzes are given for the children to compare their results with.

In a nutshell, Expo 2020 Dubai Mascots Activity book is the best way to help children learn useful things in an engaging and fun way. With a variety of activities, the kids will be immensely interested in finishing this book and also gain valuable knowledge about important topics; such as Technology, Artificial Intelligence, Science and Environmental Protection.

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