The Supreme Council for Family Affairs (SCFA) in Sharjah is actively promoting awareness and educational initiatives for children and families through a diverse range of activities during its participation in the 15th edition of the Sharjah Children’s Reading Festival (SCRF 2024), which is taking place until May 12.

Under the SCFA umbrella, the pavilion includes the Family Development Department, the Cultural and Media Office, the Health Promotion Department, and the Child Safety Department (CSD). Together, they are hosting various activities, events, and workshops designed to enhance children’s skills and cover multiple educational topics, focusing on health and prevention. This initiative highlights the Council’s dedication to community enrichment, cultural engagement, and health development, aiming to improve children’s physical and mental well-being and ensure their safety and quality of life in their families and communities.

Building connected and balanced communities
Asmaa Hassouni, Director of the Media Office at SCFA, said, “Our participation in this edition translates the vision of Her Highness Sheikha Jawaher bint Mohammed Al Qasimi, Chairperson of SCFA, focused on family cohesion and its role in building connected and balanced communities, and in raising educated and informed generations capable of leading a comprehensive social development journey.”

She added: “Given the importance of this leading cultural event, SCFA is happy to involve all its departments in our pavilion at the festival. This provides us with an ideal platform to present a variety of activities and workshops that suit all age groups of visitors, their nationalities, and interests. Each department has chosen several topics to present interactively and enjoyably to ensure that our educational efforts and messages reach the largest number of visitors.”

Awareness workshops and sessions
The Family Development Department and branches are hosting a Role-Playing activity for children aged 7-14. This theatrical activity simulates real-life roles like a father, mother, or sibling to boost imagination, communication, and good behaviour. Concurrently, the ‘Dutiful Son’ activity, for the same age group, features family stories and workshops that emphasise the importance of following parental guidance and enhancing family cohesion.

The Cultural and Media Office is hosting three interactive children’s workshops led by Dr. Zakiyya Al-Sarraf. The ‘Stories and Drawings’ workshop focuses on developing children’s linguistic skills, ‘Stories and Maze’ enhances youngsters’ observational abilities and storytelling in mazes, and ‘Stories and Six Panels’
workshop encourages reading by having children sequence and colour six story panels.

The Health Promotion Department is rolling out the Enhanced School Health Program, which includes an interactive physical activity to demonstrate school health standards. They also host ‘Healthy Eating’ workshops for all ages, focusing on the importance of nutritious food choices to maintain health and prevent the negative effects of poor eating habits. Additionally, partnering with health associations like the Breastfeeding Friends Society, Diabetes Friends Society, Friends of Cancer Patients , Friends of Arthritis Patients Association , and The Friends of Kidney Patients Association, they offer specialised workshops to promote disease prevention and provide coping strategies for various health issues.

Meanwhile, the Child Safety Department is raising awareness among visitors through an interactive wall titled ‘My Body belongs to Me,’ which teaches children about improper physical contact. They also offer a game, ‘Good and Bad Secrets,’ to help children understand the nature of secrets and differentiate between them. Additionally, a workshop called ‘Masood Al Batal’ raises children’s awareness on basic safety measures to observe at home.

The workshops extend beyond educating children to actively involve parents. CSD is organising throughout SCRF the “Positive Parenting for Our Children” event, aimed at enhancing parents’ understanding of contemporary parenting techniques and their influence on children’s behaviour. SCFA will host educational games and competitions organised by staff from its various departments until May 15.