Young designers get into craft and make friends at Ebrington

The Saints and Scholars, Castles and Kingdoms Maker Workshops gave crafty kids the opportunity to get stuck in to a variety of arts and crafts in Building Eighty81, creating castles and making royal crowns in keeping with the magical Land of the Little People theme of the St Patrick’s Spring Carnival.

They also enjoyed cupcake making and story-telling as part of the afternoon of family friendly events, organised through the Council’s Science and Innovation Programme, run in conjunction with Stem Aware.

Director of Legacy with Derry City and Strabane District Council, Oonagh McGillion, said it had been a great afternoon of family fun.

“We were delighted to see so many children enjoying all the activities in the creative hub at Building Eighty81,” she said.

“The Scinnovate Programme gives children the opportunity to take on new challenges and learn new skills as a result, focusing on the key STEM areas of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics,” said Ms McGillion.

The Legacy Director said the event was a perfect way to get children interested in science and it was also a great way of introducing them to new friends.

“The programme aims to engage children with education through new creative approaches and to put the fun back into learning by getting them involved in activities outside the classroom and making new friends,” she said. “The event was the perfect addition to all the family friendly activities taking place over the Spring Carnival weekend.”

The Saints and Scholars, Castles and Kingdoms Maker Workshops were just a number of a series of events taking place throughout the year as part of the Science and Innovation Programme.

As we all know when it comes to creating opportunities for economic growth in the future there are no more important areas than Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM).

Whether it be computer scientists, technicians or engineers they all can transform our world. Industry, both locally and nationally, is crying out for people with STEM skills.

Indeed, in today’s UK workforce, some 72 per cent of businesses rely on people with STEM skills and that figure is only likely to grow.

This programme is designed to enthuse our children, develop their awareness of the vast potential of STEM subjects and support our educators and business people to develop a positive environment in which STEM can flourish.

For anyone hoping to find other new activities to occupy curious young minds, the programme is also currently hosting the Brick Wonders Exhibition at the Nerve Centre, showcasing some of the amazing Wonders of the World LEGO style. www.nervecentre.ticketsolve.com

For more information on forthcoming Scinnovate events go to www.derrystrabane.com/scinnovate