Sharjah24: Schoolchildren turned inventors as they made the prototype of a telephone at a workshop called The First Phone at the 16th edition of the Sharjah Children’s Reading Festival (SCRF 2025). Using a DIY kit, they discovered how sound waves move through wires and help people communicate with each other.
Trainer Asmaeel Alahmed from UAE-based Aufuq AlEbdaa centre first briefed the children about 19th century American scientist Alexander Graham Bell and his invention of the telephone that revolutionised communication. He invited one of the young girls to see if she could hear him on a phone prototype he had created and then asked the Grade 5 girls to make one for themselves using the material provided.
The girls then set about building their own phones using simple everyday materials -- two paper cups, a long woolen thread, scissors, colour paper and glue. The children cut the paper and stuck it around the cups to give it a neat look, some even adding a sketch or a decorative tape on them. They pricked two holes on the base of the cup with a toothpick provided and passed the thread through it; then they passed its other end through the second cup’s holes knotting it to secure it.
The girls then tried speaking to their friends using their phone; while one said “hello, hello” into the cup, her friend held the second cup into their ear, and an excited grin broke on her face as she heard the sound waves pass through the ‘wire’ into the ‘receiver’ cup. A simple telephone had been made, and one of the young inventors from India International School Sharjah made a small speech about what they had learnt on their day out at SCRF.
Taking place from April 23 to May 4 at Expo Centre Sharjah, the 16th edition of SCRF promises an immersive experience under the theme “Dive into Books”. Organised by the Sharjah Book Authority (SBA), this year’s agenda features 133 guests from 70 countries, and 122 Arab and international publishing houses from 22 nations.
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