Sharjah 24: Young primary school going children learnt all about colours of a rainbow using fruits as part of a hands-on workshop at the Sharjah Children’s Reading Festival (SCRF).

The fun and creative workshop titled Rainbow Kabobs saw a group of students from Manarat Al Sharjah school spend time making their own versions of fruit skewers with each representing the seven colours that make up a rainbow.

“The idea was to teach children the importance of fruits and vegetables as healthy snacks while also allowing them to unleash their creativity by making their own rainbow kebabs,” said instructor Lamia Msallam who is leading all the sessions at the cookery workshop throughout the 12-day festival being organised by the Sharjah Book Authority (SBA) until May 12 at the Sharjah Expo Centre. 

“So, for all the participating children, it was many lessons rolled into one – from learning about the nutritional benefits of fruits and vegetables to incorporating them into their daily diets, as they went about making their own rainbow kebabs using a variety of their favourite colourful fruits.”

For the participants who assembled their own rainbow kebabs on a stick using a variety of fruits including grapes and pineapples, it was a delicious hands-on lesson in basic science as well as healthy eating.

"The rainbow kebabs were not only delicious but in the end it was also a fun way to make me eat more fruits," said 10-year-old Mayar Ben Amir. Her Egyptian classmate Abdelrahman Reda said: “I learnt about the healthy aspects of each fruit and now I am sure I will eat more fruits every day.”

Meanwhile, Own Abdallah, also 10, said the best thing about the workshop was about getting to eat some good food. “I not only made my own kebab but also ate it. That’s what I loved most,” said the Jordanian student from the same school.