The Qatar Children’s Museum (QCM), now being developed by Qatar Museums (QM) that will be hosting daily workshops on its Instagram account that families can participate in using everyday materials found in their homes. The sessions invite families in Qatar to incorporate playing and learning in their daily weekday routine and engage with the museum’s staff who will be present to facilitate the sessions live.

The content is suitable for both Arabic and English-speaking audiences and is being launched before QCM even begins construction, to aid families that are sheltering at home during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

QCM has already inaugurated a Learning and Outreach Department, which has engaged the community through workshops for children and their families at popular events such as the Doha International Book Fair. In response to the challenge that families are facing during the pandemic, the museum has shifted its work online, but plans to provide the same warmth and support that audiences have come to expect from the museum.

QCM will be sharing an activity video at 3pm, Sundays to Thursdays, designed to encourage all family members to get involved. During the live 1-hour workshops, QCM’s staff open the door for virtual audience participation and will be on hand to answer questions, make suggestions and curate an exchange of ideas between families. The team will also invite families to share their creative explorations, which could be featured on the museum’s Instagram page.

The fun and educational workshops will include art, crafts, literacy, science, and cooking among other topics and the activities planned include painting with bubbles, making plastic from milk, crafting tissue paper flowers and upcycling plastic containers to jewelry. QCM will share instructions and lists of materials required will on their Instagram account (@ChildrensMuseum.QA) prior to each activity, so families and their children can prepare in advance.

Essa Al Mannai, Director of the Qatar Children’s Museum, said, “Even though the Qatar Children’s Museum is still in the development phase, we have felt that our mission of nurturing each child’s creativity, imagination, and love of learning is too important for us to wait until we open our doors. We are already working in the community, and we feel we are needed even more at this challenging moment, when the spread of COVID-19 is forcing people to self-isolate. We thank Qatar Museums and its Chairperson, Her Excellency Sheikha Al-Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani, for encouraging us to step forward in this way.”

The Qatar Children’s Museum will be the first institution of its kind in the gulf, enriching the lives of children and their families by providing an unparalleled space for learning through open-ended play, exploration and experimentation. The new museum is being designed to nurture, challenge and inspire our children, fueling their creativity and encouraging their empathy and understanding. A variety of stimulating, interactive and accessible indoor and outdoor experiences will offer families the opportunity to have fun by playing and learning together. The Qatar Children’s Museum is being created to advance the goals of the Qatar National Vision 2030 for human, social, economic and environmental development. With programming that will offer each child an opportunity to learn through play, the Qatar Children’s Museum will nurture the future leaders and caretakers of Qatar.

(Source: Press Release)

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Khadiza Begum

Content Writer

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