Young visitors of the eighth Sharjah Children’s Reading Festival, held from April 20 to 30 at the Sharjah Expo Center, have the opportunity to learn circus secrets as well as some yo-yo tricks when they stop by the Kids Corner. The workshops are organized by Saltimbanco Italiano, a company that has for two decades organized artistic activities with children in the UAE, Italy and Poland.

The interactive workshops all have an educational aspect to them that pertain to children’s development. “Our company is composed of a large number of educators and teachers. Our main goal is to help children express themselves and work as a team. Keeping in mind this vision, we select the most creative workshops like juggling, yoyo skills and creating Venetian masks, to give children a different communication skills, enhance their potential and allow them to learn new artistic techniques,” said Celina Miklaszewski, CEO of Saltimbanco Italiano.

The activities include group and solo acts and teach skills like maintaining equilibrium, juggling, artistic expressions and theatrical clowning. A corner for arts and crafts for toddlers is also present and include dynamic workshops where children will be guided to become painters and to explore the wonderful world of colors.
A storytelling puppetry workshop will also allow children to communicate and nurture their imagination while being inspired the puppets that they create out of string, plaster, cloth, plastic, cardboard, glitter and feathers.

The science behind the yo-yo, understanding pendulum’s swing and energy, rotational physics and kinetic energy physics are all part of the yo-yo workshop that children can be part of during the festival. The workshops are facilitated by international yo-yo champion Robert Kučera, from the Czech republic.

Outside the halls and greeting all visitors to the Sharjah Expo, roaming lovable characters will also be around to greet and meet the young ones and the adults accompanying them.