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Science may not sound like the kind of thing that could get children squealing with delight at birthday parties, but thanks to two science-loving ex-pat women, chemistry, physics and biology have become the coolest after-school and birthday party activities.
When 'Mad Science' was introduced to Bahrain last month it became an instant hit with children and their parents who thought that the programme was a novel way to learn about science in an interesting and enjoyable way.
A mix of crazy experiments, mind-bending theories and hands on programmes keep kids entertained while they learn.
Bahrain's Mad Science is a franchise of the Mad Science group in Canada which is the world's leading provider in science enrichment programmes for children from six to 12 years of age.
Mad Science's mission to spark children's imaginations was brought to the kingdom through the efforts of enterprising duo, Sayra Naoumovitch and Anne Kesterton.
"Both my children went to a Mad Science camp in England in the summer of 2006 and absolutely loved it," said Anne, a former corporate lawyer who moved to Bahrain four years ago.
She teamed up with her long-time friend Sayra, a trained engineer based in Bahrain, and discussed the option of getting the Mad Science franchise in the kingdom.
"Bahrain was, and still is, a fertile place to start a business and we decided to be part of the growing numbers of entrepreneurs on the island. We also wanted to introduce a new activity which would be creative and educational," explained Anne.
The dynamic duo travelled to Montreal in Canada earlier this year and enrolled in the Mad Science training programme. The team in Bahrain has been trained by a visiting instructor from the Mad Science Group in Canada.
"When we offered the programme as an after school activity it was hugely oversubscribed and we had to add more classes to accommodate the number of students. The emphasis on each class is the students involved in an entertaining manner," said Sayra.
The Mad Science programme is currently running successfully in four schools across the island: The Shaikha Hessa School, St Christopher's School, the British School and the Bahrain Bayan School.
Mad Science is also offering a NASA programme from the NASA Academy of Future Space Explorers that involves interactive demonstrations about rocket science, space technology and living as an astronaut.
As an ongoing after school programme it plans to introduce 'Crazy Chem' next term where children will have hands on experience with the principles of chemistry.
"My children and I happened to see a Mad Science demonstration at the Seef Mall last month," said Zainab Ali, 32, a mother of two young girls from Saar. "It was wacky to see the dry ice smoking up and the kids were squealing with delight when they were given steam showers. They came up with funny yet innovative answers when the Mad Scientist did the egg in a jar experiment and explained the principle of air pressure involved in it. It was fun yet informative."
Mad Science is also available for birthday parties and special events. For more information call: 17591136.
