Kagiso children take a trip into the future at Silverstar
Future Park, an incredible interactive digital expo that has been enjoyed by over 4 million children worldwide and is now on at Silverstar on the West Rand, was visited by 200 Grade 3 children on Friday 23 February 2018.
Sponsored by Future Park organisers, Media24, and Silverstar the 200 children and six of their educators from Mashudu Primary School in Kagiso got the chance to experience the wonders of the expo and participate in activities that allowed them to step into a digital world and fun learning experience they may never have had before.
Future Park consists of a series of fun, interactive activities that highlight the marvels of technology and takes children into a digital wonderland where they can interact with their artwork, play digital hopscotch, make music with symphony balls, and many other exciting activities. It is now on at Silverstar Casino from 24 February to 8 April.
Anneke Potgieter, GM and Operations Director of Silverstar, says, “Learning is most effective when it is fun, and Future Park does just that. It’s a world of wonder – and through interactive play, it nurtures a host of valuable skills such as spatial awareness, co-operation, problem-solving, pattern recognition, logical thinking, creativity, the power of expression, and more. Bringing these children from Mashudu Primary to Future Park at Silverstar gave them exposure to world-class technology and brand-new experiences, to seeing their own creative work come to life, and importantly, to a lot of fun. It also exposed their educators to possible new ideas for their classrooms, and hopefully also gave them a highly entertaining and educational outing.”
Potgieter adds that Silverstar is committed to engaging and working with local communities and schools, in line with Tsogo Sun’s wider group CSI focus on education, which impacts more than 35 000 children and youth around the country annually.
Edmund Beukes, Project Manager at Media24 says, “This is a wonderful experience for kids from all walks of life. We were thrilled that we could open our doors to the broader community and include more children – it is great seeing their faces light up when they walk in and start to play.”
Activities at Future Park include Sketch Aquarium, Sketch Town Papercraft, Hopscotch for Geniuses, Light Ball Orchestra, Connecting! Block Town, a Table where Little People Live, Sketch Town, and the Story of Time. It enables children to use their minds and bodies, and encourages an interest in science and technology.
A no-fee-paying school, Mashudu Primary School accommodates 1 008 learners from Grade R to Grade 7, headed up by principal Barbara Peega and a dedicated team of educators. Says Mrs Peega, “The Future Park experience was learner-friendly, colourful, and very exciting for the children, who will be talking about it for a long time. They loved to see their drawings with their names on come alive on a big screen and the learning in an informal setting and through play was very positive. It also improved the self-esteem of some of the children.” Mashudu Primary is also part of the Tsogo Sun Moves for Life chess programme, which Mrs Peega says adds excellent value to other subjects too. “We are finding that topics in maths and languages can be linked to chess, and the learners are benefiting from it.”
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