Diwan bookstore hosted Friday a friendship event at its Heliopolis branch organized by the edutainment center Kids' Workshop.
The center organizes a special themed event each month aiming to bring out kids’ creative sides and help parents discover their children’s inclinations.
“We make up our own theme or celebrate a certain occasion such as Halloween and Christmas in a bid to teach kids new crafts and develop their artistic skills,” said Nardeen Atro, the owner of Kids’ Workshop.
Atro said the reason for organizing a friendship-themed event last week was to instill in children the importance of tolerance and forming friendships regardless religious or political backgrounds.
Kids’ Workshop has five centers offering art, drama, crafts, games and science for children from three to 12 years old. The centers are run by professional instructors and assistants, ranging in age from 14 to 50 years old, who are trained to instruct and deal with kids.
The friendship event comprised six activities focusing on take-home items to be gifted to the kids' friends:
1) A flower pot:
Children learnt how to make a nice flower pot with their own hands and design it with drawings or their friend's initials. They could put real flowers in it and give it as a gift or keep it for their own home.
2) Frosting cupcakes:
Easy recipes were taught to children to turn their cupcakes into creations. Children could be as fantastical as they wanted decorating cupcakes with flavors and toppings.
3) Friendship bracelets:
Ready-made base bracelets were offered for kids to ornament with their own aesthetic. Beads, ribbons, buttons and sequins were among the materials for creating friendship bracelets.
4) Cards:
A card with handmade art is a good way to express how a friend is special. Kids' Workshop provided children with creative ideas to make their cards more unique. Personal messages, friendship verses, or poems were added to give meaning to the kids’ cards.
5) Dinosaur key chain:
Interesting and easy for kids to make, Kids’ Workshop teaches this craft especially for boys. They were given plaster and a dinosaur mold to learn a simple handcraft technique and give a gift to be cherished by friends and carried around anywhere.
6) Mirror frame:
Kids were taught how to handle wooden pieces properly and use their creative sense to make something practical and useful. The objective was to personalize a mirror frame to decorate their bedrooms.
