Creating Origami characters to bring to life lovable story characters is a method used in a workshop organised by the Sard Cultural center - Bahrain during the 8th edition of Sharjah Children’s Reading Festival.

During the session children heard a story about a bunny who was intrigued by his permanent friend, who he later finds out is his shadow. After the storytelling part of the workshop it was time to make a long-eared paper bunny using the created Origami technique.

Origami, the Japanese paper folding art involves creating objects and sculptures out of paper that is folded repeatedly.

“The aim of the workshop is to make children love reading. We want them to create a character from the story that they can keep and it would remind them of the story that they read and loved,” said Nabeeha Al Khayyat, Director of Sard Cultural Center in Bahrain.

She added that when the child feels that they are a partner in the reading process they are more likely to be encouraged to read. “We don’t want regular ideas but creative ones that inspire the creative processes of the child and that is why we have a special program that does that,” she said.

Nabeeha added that when it came to the children’s age groups, they were able to learn the art skills involved with no difficulty. “Sometimes their skill levels are varied and that is not a problem. It’s important to be able to attract them no matter what towards the artistic expression of their stories,” she said.

Other workshops that is held by Sard during the Sharjah Children’s Reading Festival includes creating pop-up books of their favorite stories as well as creating their very own jigsaw puzzle which they can take home with them.