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Young ones battle it out

The competitions and championships, held on Friday in different zones of Modhesh Fun City, included the Let’s & Go Championships, Counter-strike and B-Blade.

In the Let’s & Go Championships, nationals Abdullah Khalid, Hamad Othman and Mohammed Nasser, took the first three winning slots after all three crossed the final finish line in record time. The trio received valuable prizes from New Boy stores and bicycles. More than 30 competitors took part in the championships, and had to make their way through five different circuits to gain points.

The Accession Day Championships in the high-performance car racing competition, was the second level of racing, the last step before the final UAE Championships to be held on August 27, the last day of Modhesh Fun City and Dubai Summer Surprises 2004.

The popular Let’s & Go racing series draws inspiration from the fast and furious sport of Formula 1. At the Let’s & Go zone in Modhesh Fun City, children’s abilities and creative skills are tested while they design, build and race the cars. The main goal of the race is to encourage children to think logically and have fun at the same time.

The B-Blade competition also yielded three winners: Abdallah Al Saqqaf, from the UAE; and Mohammed Salah and Fawaz Musaid from Kuwait. These three also received prizes from New Boy stores.

The Counter-Strike game at the Network Games Zone, a team-based, counter-terrorist game, also yielded five winners: Mohammed Adil Lootah, Nasser Nabeel Alboom, Bader Aqeel, Ali Al Khaja and Rashid bin Midya. In this game, the player chooses to either be part of an elite counter-terrorism team, or fight alongside terrorists. Hostage rescue, bomb defusion, and other tasks are included.

Meanwhile, Al Ghurair City is hosting a number of events and activities during the Knowledge Surprises theme week to hook children on to learning biology science with greater interest.

“Every child feels strongly about a doctor - either the relationship is that of respect or that of a person to be scared of. In both cases, we wanted to make sure that children get to learn more about basic health through interesting workshops and experiential learning,” says Nuha Safar, Head of the Knowledge Surprises Committee.

Learning by experiment has been taken to a new level at the various events. Children can choose any of the interactive formats or the show formats to learn more about the sciences.

From measuring the strength of your breath by using a simple plastic tube and two ping pong balls, to using Da Vinci’s Vitruvian man to place the elements of the body by sticking these to the right place, everything is a covered learning experience.

Children can also learn to use a biological and microscope kit, and learn to measure body reflexes and read the pulse by using a foot hammer and watch.

Simple first-aid lessons and pretending to be a little doctor is also great fun as children discover how operations are conducted, with a mock operation.

The classical fight between the body organs about who is the king of the body organs is also enacted in the Dr Bones and Mr Muscle experiment. The play goes onto it obvious conclusion about every organ being the king of each essential body function.

Some of the experiments also includes sessions about how to use a heart pump, the contraction and the dilation.

At the Modhesh Fun City Sports Zone, Fun levels have nearly reached the ceiling thanks to the Bungee Trampoline installed and run by the Bel Rumaitha Club. Kids in two age groups - from the very young to the pre-teens - have been spending their evenings happily bouncing several feet into the air, securely tethered to bungee cords. Four sets of the bungee trampolines have been set up in the Modhesh Fun City Sports Zone, and the ride is so popular that there are almost always children clamouring for their turn, said Laila Al Jassim, Manager of Modhesh Fun City.

“The bungee trampolines installed by the Bel Rumaitha Club have been especially designed for young children, and parents are happy because it means the children are safe and thrilled at the same time,” Al Jassim said.

Each trampoline features no-pinch bungee cord springs and a slip-resistant mesh mat, so that when the children come back down to ground level, they can safely jump off again in their search for more gravity-defying fun. Ever since the ride was introduced several years ago at Modhesh Fun City, the bungee trampolines have been one of the most popular and enduring parts of the fun zone.

Modhesh Fun City, located at the Dubai Airport Expo, is open from 10.00am to 10.00pm every day and from 3.00pm to 10.00pm on Fridays.

• UAE