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Children in Dubai add colour to their dream cities

More than 1,200 students celebrated World Kids Colouring Day at an event hosted by The Kindergarten Starters in Dubai.

Students take part in the World Kids Colouring Day painting at The Kindergarten Starters in Dubai. In all, 1,200 students from 25 schools in Dubai participated in this year’s activity. — KT photo by Shihab

It was a ‘colourful’ carnival for children from 25 schools in Dubai who got together to celebrate World Kids Colouring Day on May 6 and raise money for charity.

More than 1,200 students celebrated the day at an event hosted by The Kindergarten Starters (KGS).

This year’s theme was ‘Picture stories: A colourful trip around the world’. Children were encouraged to express their dream city or holiday destination by colouring and drawing.

Bilal Aiman, Grade 7 student of Dar Al Marefa School, was among the participants. His illustration of the Statue of Liberty had a little smile on the statue’s face.

“I like details and that’s the reason I decided to draw the Statue of Liberty. I just put a smiley on her face because she (the statue) looked very sad,” said the student.

Others like Bilal were busy drawing their own dream destinations. Joel John Thomas, student of GEMS KGS, illustrated the Eiffel Tower.

“I wanted to make a simple drawing which looks good. Such activities are fun and it gives us a lot of time to think creatively,” he said.

Dr Miriam Bachmann, specialist in child and adolescent psychology, said, “Colouring promotes fine and gross motor skills which are of importance later on when learning how to read and write.”

Every student received a colouring kit sponsored by Staedtlar, which has spearheaded the global colouring campaign.

Last year, more than one million children participated in World Kids Colouring Day, creating imaginative and wonderful pictures at group and school events. In Dubai, the student drawings helped raise Dh35,000 last year.

muaz@khaleejtimes.com

• UAE