Children unleash their creativity as they make wood tell stories through fridge magnets at the 44^th Sharjah International Book Fair

Sharjah, November 10, 2025 

At the 44th Sharjah International Book Fair, children are discovering the joy of storytelling through wood at the “Wood Tells Stories” workshop, where they craft their own fridge magnets. Designed for children aged five and above, the free and interactive session encourages creativity as young participants use child-friendly jigsaw machines to carve characters from white wooden pieces under expert supervision.

Armed with sketch pens and protective glasses, they created their stories from a five-year-old’s bright orange cat with red whiskers to older children’s more intricate designs, each transformed into a unique wooden magnet to take home.

Zainab Mohammed, one of the trainers, explained: “This woodworking workshop is for children in the 5+ age group and we are helping them make fridge magnets. While they are operating the machine, they have to keep their aprons and glasses on to prevent dust from the wood going into their eyes. They can remove the glasses when they do the sanding and colouring of the wood pieces.”

She added: “It is a hands-on experience that will improve their dexterity and concentration as well as unleash their creativity. At our lab, we have one- and two-hour sessions where they can create things depending on their ability.”

Sharjah International Book Fair 2025 is a 12-day event, organised by the Sharjah Book Authority (SBA) under the theme ‘Between You and a Book’. Visitors will get the opportunity to experience more than 300 cultural events led by 158 Arab and international guests, 750+ workshops in Arabic and English covering writing, editing, publishing, and creativity and 85 stage performances from 12 countries.

 –ENDS-