City Centre Deira, a leading shopping and leisure destination in Dubai, UAE is offering a new experience for children with innovative robotics workshops this back to school season.

Young children can let their imagination run wild and pick up creative thinking skills with fun hands-on robot building workshops during the back to school season, led by a professional robotics instructor until September 9.

The mall, which is owned and operated by Majid Al Futtaim – the leading shopping mall, communities, retail and leisure pioneer across the Middle East, Africa and Asia – has collaborated with South Korean-based robotics educational company RoboTami to develop the Spectacular Science Workshops, which will get kids excited about science and mathematics lessons at school.

Children between 5 and 15 years of age will be guided into building robots to solve challenges and develop a love for STEAM skills (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Mathematics subjects). The initiative is part of Majid Al Futtaim’s efforts to complement the UAE government’s push for innovation among the youth.

Parents who shop for Dh300 ($81) at the mall can enrol their children for these exclusive workshops that will run from September 3 until 9. Children will learn about environmental protection, computer programming and pick up critical thinking and problem-solving skills with the help of robotics educational kit that is fully safe for children.

A RoboTami certified instructor will educate the children on STEAM, encourage the children into visual thinking and guide them into creating a robotic model to solve a real-life challenge with the help of the concepts learnt during the workshop.

On September 9, City Centre Deira and RoboTami will be running a competition where 20 participants who complete building and programming a robot the fastest during the workshop will receive a robotics kit to take home with them and continue the creative learning journey.

 A recent study published in the Digest of Middle East Studies noted that children in the GCC are less likely than their expatriate peers to consider science subjects as necessary for employment. City Centre Deira’s science workshops aim to change that view and make STEAM education exciting for children from an early age.  

“Children sometimes find science, technology, mathematics and art subjects boring and we want to show them that they can be interesting while also creating fun and great moments every day,” said Majed Al Fahim, senior mall manager – City Centre Deira.

“Our Spectacular Robotics Workshops will create a love for these subjects and encourage them to think creatively and find solutions to some real-life issues. We will be giving them a science kit so that they can apply their knowledge and make a model robot that they can be proud of.”

Khaled Al Aswadi, technology educational specialist and head RoboTami MEA Region, who will be leading some of the workshops at City Centre Deira, said that most of the countries are changing their education system to focus on STEAM education and prepare children for future jobs.

 “Science plays a role in every aspect of our life and robotics gives them an opportunity to learn with fun and gives them a feeling of ownership as they get to make their own models,” he said.

“We want to bring real-life scenarios in the workshop by doing robotics with a convergence of the STEAM framework. These workshops will teach them to work as a team and find the best communication method to work on creative and innovative ideas. It prepares them for the future.”

While the kids are occupied making robots at the workshops, parents can have a rewarding experience on the same spend at City Centre Deira, as they have the chance to win a grand prize of Dh25,000 and daily prizes of Dh2,000. – TradeArabia News Service