Take your kids to Expo 2020 Dubai this weekend for an adventurous time out

DUBAI: There is plenty of fun and entertainment for children at Expo 2020 Dubai this weekend, from arts and crafts to light shows and live performances. The launch of a new dining offer means families get one free kid’s meal with every adult’s at certain outlets. Visitors can also make the most of what Expo has to offer with an exciting action-packed Kids Winter Camp starting on December 15.

The new Expo food offer launches on November 27 and continues from Sunday to Wednesday at selected venues where children under eight will receive one free children’s meal for every adult main dish ordered.

The list of outlets includes Veg’d, Farrago Express, XSYT, and Mudra in the Sustainability Pavilion; Alif Café by farm2table and Farrago in the Mobility Pavilion; Gastro Roots of Hungary in the Hungary Pavilion; Canvas by Coffee Culture in the Opportunity Pavilion; and Garden on 1 – Sports Bar, Kojaki, Baron, The National, Scarpetta, Adrift Burger Bar, Kutir, Long Chim, Bread Ahead Bakery & School, Café Milano, Alkebulan the African Dining Hall, and Rising Flavours.

Sprout is also offering a Golden Jubilee Combo Meal for parents and children to celebrate the UAE’s upcoming 50^th anniversary, including one main meal, one side dish, and a fruit popsicle, all for AED 50, available any time. And if you happen to be at Expo 2020 on November 26, stop by the Arabian Tea House Restaurant to meet its colourful mascot, Umm Maryam, or head to the Grenada Pavilion on Friday for a hot chocolate tasting with one of the country’s top producers.

Arts and crafts sessions abound at Expo this weekend. Check out Hammour House, the experiential art installation and community project raising awareness about endangered coral ecosystems, with its tapestry made by school students depicting marine life. Doors open on Saturday for a week of drop-in knitting classes, with artists teaching the techniques to knit your own sea creatures.

Or head to the Saudi Arabia Pavilion for its ‘Al Qatt Al Asiri & Tiles Painting’ classes on Friday or Saturday. Described as a family-friendly, educational, interactive, and demonstrative workshop, the colours, and patterns represent so much more than the creations themselves, with this ancient art form featured on UNESCO’s list of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

Visit the China Pavilion to meet Youyou, the robot panda, who can perform tai chi moves, hold a pen, and act as a general guide. If you are outside the pavilion in the evening, you can catch the light and drone show, with the exterior and its LEDs putting on a fantastic display.

To get to know what the other Country Pavilions have to offer for children, download one of Expo’s interactive tours. The Press Play visitor journey is perfectly tailored to inquisitive young minds, taking in the animals of Tonga, the video games of Belarus and Monaco, the traditional games of Ethiopia, and the innovative playground of Bulgaria —which converts kids’ kinetic play into the light. It also includes other child-focused attractions, such as Rashid’s Playground.

There are plenty of stages around the Expo site, offering music concerts and dance performances, but something very much geared towards babies, toddlers, older kids, and families is Kinder Musik on the Earth Stage, taking place on Friday and Saturday. The instructors use piano and percussion to entertain little ones as well as take them on a musical development journey.

Then who could visit Expo and miss a show at Al Wasl dome — the world’s largest 360-degree projection surface? Kids are sure to enjoy Become a Guardian of Al Wasl, showing on Saturday, starring Expo’s mascots, Rashid and Latifa.

Want your children to see jugglers, stilt walkers, and magicians, have their faces painted, or make a canvas painting themselves? Then the Expo 2020 Kids Winter Camp starting on December 15 is for you. Other activities include sand art, frame design, painting, and paper flower crafts.

Source: Expo 2020 Website