Queen Rania of Jordan was every bit as enthusiastic as the 150 children who joined her on a visit to the kingdom's first interactive children's museum on Wednesday. Wearing a plastic apron, she picked up a paintbrush to create her own colour and name it, in an activity aimed at encouraging creativity and imagination.
She also got stuck in at the Ancient Times area, a simulated archaeology site featuring a big sandbox where children can dig for artifacts and draw on pottery plates - while learning about relics discovered in Jordan dating back to Roman times.
The mother-of-four's visit comes a few weeks' before the museum opens its doors to the public. Featuring over 150 exhibits across three main themes of humankind, technology and the natural world, it aims to encourage a love of learning. At the Dynamic Planet exhibit, for example, kids can identify various rocks and construct earthquake-resistant buildings out of blocks. They can then find out about saving water and recycling materials in the Energy Lab.
Rania, who is chairperson of the museum's board of trustees, is clearly excited about the project. "We want to get away from simply rote learning and communicate concepts in an exciting way that will boost creativity among our schoolchildren," she explains.
Photo: © Alphapress.com
Photo: © Alphapress.com
