Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
Educational workshops at the Castle this month
THE Castle of Good Hope will host the Open Design Afrika (ODA) Festival this month. The event will enable children to attend a wide range of educational workshops for free.
The workshops focus on LEGO, robotics, coding, maths, science, and art and design. Educational LEGO activities are short, simple exercises and games made to get the brain and the child moving, thinking and remembering. Parklands College will run this workshop.
The workshops will teach them how to build eco-block structures with their EcoBricks with the aid of quality management from EcoBricks. An EcoBrick is a plastic bottle packed tightly with clean and dry plastic and paper waste.
They will also learn about e-waste and disassembly workshops. E-waste is computers, and other electronic devices that were thrown away. Children will take electronic devices apart and explore their design, engineering, and electronics.
Programmes will also focus on upcycling and art projects.
Maker Station Maker School will help with safe science experiments including bottle rockets and slime, etc.
Chief executive officer of the Castle Control Board, Calvyn Gilfellan, said: “I think through these workshops we can make young kids aware that design is ruling our lives. It’s important because it has aesthetic and usability importance. Once they’ve realised that, it drives them to making a career in design.
“This means that design is important because it is part of things used daily. It has to do with beauty. This beauty is seen in buildings, cars, furniture and devices.
“If you look at the Castle and think about what I said about usability and aesthetics, you see that the five points of the Castle show a pattern of ‘steady and strong’. It has been here for a really long time because of its design. The design festival is something we relate to.”
Gilfellan said he strongly supported many of the workshops. He talked about the importance of recycling and using waste to good effect. He said the EcoBrick programme helped with preventing pollution and was environmentally friendly. It also helped save resources.
The workshops will run from October 18 to 27.