Help Tell the Stories . . . This season the DAI is celebrating its 40th anniversary. The opening of the museum in 1983 was the highlight of the 1st year, but sharing the stories The al-Sabah Collection (TaSC) tell was what was most inspiring.  For 40 years, the DAI has been sharing TaSC objects with people abroad and here in Kuwait.  And here in Kuwait that’s been done with the help of DAI Docents. One former docents said she enjoyed being in the programme because she felt like she was making a difference.  She explained that being a docent helped give her a context for her life in Kuwait…

  Storytime: children of all ages Children’s books are magical: sparking imagination and curiosity and, hopefully, a love of reading.  This season we will continue the weekly Storytime sessions on Wednesdays at 4 PM at Yarmouk Cultural Centre, beginning 10 October, and Saturdays at 4 PM at Amricani, beginning 13 October. For information on all our education programmes, please follow us Instagram at dai_education.

  Family Day This season families have six opportunities to come and explore the Amricani Cultural Centre and their own creativity. Once a month, for four hours from 2 PM – 6 PM, activities are scheduled to encourage families to have an adventure together – discovering more about the world around them through games, art projects and fun. Sometimes the activities are quiet, but not often; sometimes the activities are competitive, but only in a friendly fashion; often the activities are a bit silly, but everyone needs to be silly every once in a while.  What is constant is that the activities work for ages 2 – grandparents, all the…

  Experience Science: children ages 9 – 13 years old Chemisty, robotics, physics, optics and engineering are some of the subjects shared with participants who experience science Saturday afternoons at the DAI’s Amricani Cultural Centre. Created to highlight the contributions of Muslim scholars to today’s scientific world, Experience Science, Experience Science: Advanced and Experience Science: Hybrid encourages the kids have fun with science and learn something at the same time. For information on all our education programmes, please follow us Instagram at dai_education.

  StoryCraft at Yarmouk: children ages 4 – 12 years old The StoryCraft programme is organised in a series of monthly sessions, with each 60 minute session built around a book. It includes storytime and a related craft project appropriate for children ages 4 – 12 (with parents providing support for the younger children).  Based on the success of the summer programme, we will be doing StoryCraft at the Yarmouk Cultural Centre  on Monday afternoons this season. For information on all our education programmes, please follow us Instagram at dai_education.

  Yarmouk Green Thumbs: children ages 6 – 9 years old The Green Thumbs programme will be back at Yarmouk Cultural Centre this year, taking their growing potential to a whole new level. For 10 weeks in the autumn, kids will have the chance to show off their ‘green thumbs’, growing herbs, vegetables and flowers.  They will learn gardening techniques, why being in touch with the earth is important and even a bit about environmental conservation. And, of course, they will reap what they’ve sown and enjoy a feast of the freshest veggies possible.

  What do you see? How do you look? What do you learn? Education experts confirm there’s a link between art experience and improved critical thinking.  In doing so, they cite a number of factors at play. In particular, art teaches students to observe the world more closely. Art objects are often layered with multiple elements and meanings. It takes time to find, examine, and consider the numerous details that constitute most works of art. This process of observation and study helps teach students to more closely observe and analyze the world around them—skills that make up the bedrock of critical thinking. Students who participate in the DAI’s visiting classroom…

  Excitement in the Neighbourhood The DAI is organizing two exciting cultural expeditions, both highlighting destinations in the neighbourhood. As always, due to high demand for these interesting expeditions, the trips are open to all current members of the Friends of the DAI. The first trip, in early December, is to Cairo – to sights you may have missed.  Yes, the trip will include a visit to the Pyramids and Sphinx, but it also includes special visits to the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization, which opened in April 2021, and the Grand Egyptian Museum, scheduled to open in November, 2022.  In between there will be opportunites to visit Khan El-Khalili,…

  As the 21st century progresses and companies look to future employment needs, the importance of the 4 Cs (collaboration, communication, creativity, and critical thinking) is growing rapidly.  Recognising that many of jobs those currently in elementary schools will compete for do not exist at the moment, it is vital that they are prepared for an environment that values the ability to work with teams, assess material from a critical thinking prospective, propose creative ideas and effectively communicate those ideas with others.  All the programmes offered by the DAI Children’s Education team are designed to encourage the participants to further develop these important skills. For information on all our education…

  CAW and CAW Jrs: children ages 6 – 12 years old Led by DAI volunteer Maha alEssa, the Children’s Art Workshop (CAW) for children ages 9 – 12 and CAW Jrs for children 6 – 8, is something special this season.  From October – December, the children who joined the CAW programme last year will finish their new exhibition, A Home for Comforting Words: Calligraphy in The al-Sabah Collection. We will have a short, project based programme that runs from January – March. As always, in addition to the art and culture based efforts, the programme is designed to help participants further develop leadership, critical thinking, collaboration, creativity, and…