Qatar Foundation wraps up summer programme for children

Qatar Foundation (QF) concluded its summer activity ‘Summer of Learning’ on Wednesday at the Education City Club House.

Digging up fossils, travelling back in time to a pre-historic age, and cooking up ‘edible science’ dishes were just some of the activities enjoyed by the young participants at the programme.

The fun-filled sessions were held from August 12-15, as part of QF’s efforts to offer young members of the community an engaging, educational, and entertaining way of spending their summer holidays.

Over 30 students signed up for QF’s ‘Summer of Learning’ camp this year, with sessions such as ‘Dino Daze’ and ‘Edible Science’ proving popular, and children trying their hand at making their own fossils, modelling putty into designs and conducting basic chemistry experiments.

The theme for this year’s programme, open to children between the ages of 4 and 12, revolved around science, with a variety of experiential activities based around Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math being organised for different abilities and aptitude.The sessions introduced participants to science through tasks such as cooking, circuit-building, and architecture-based designing.

Khalid M Zaghmout, event logistics and support supervisor, Community Services, QF, said, “Community development is at the core of all our efforts at QF, and this year’s exciting array of ‘Summer of Learning’ events reflect our commitment to fostering a socially-engaged and responsive society.

“Each year, this programme offers innovative ways for members of the wider community in Qatar to enhance their mental and physical well-being. Children who attended the sessions were able to pick up science-based skills in an environment that encouraged curiosity and interactive learning.”

Maha Yafie, a parent, said, “The programmes were perfectly suited for my children’s age group and helped them make the most of their summer holidays by offering activities to learn something exciting each afternoon,” she said.

Another parent, Antony D’Souza, who made a round trip of almost 40km to bring his two children to the camp, said ‘Summer of Learning’ made the journey worthwhile.

“Qatar Foundation’s ‘Summer of Learning’ programme is an example of out-of-the-box thinking, such as through a session called Sparky Monday,” he said. “My son learns about electricity in his class at school, but mostly from a book. Circuits and batteries were laid out for him to observe, and at the end of the session he couldn’t stop talking about it.”

The third edition of ‘Summer of Learning’ was one of the many student-focused QF initiatives held across Education City over the summer months. The full range of events, aimed at participants between the ages of four to 16, included the opportunity for primary and middle school students to join STEM-related sessions, while high school students got a taste of university life through a range of programmes at QF partner universities.