More than 100 people aged two to 70+ developed a greater understanding of engineering at a free family activity morning hosted by the Rochester Bridge Trust.
Held at Cineworld, Rochester, the event began with a selection of hands-on activities before a free screening of The Nutcracker and the Four Realms.
Education Officer Aileen White explained: “Giving children experiences is a really important way of helping them to understand the way classroom learning applies to the world around them. It’s also a great way to inspire very young children before they begin to encounter stereotyping.
“Providing these activities free of charge to families helps break down those stereotypes, encouraging youngsters to take an interest in STEM subjects and helping parents and grandparents to appreciate the potential of these areas when it comes to future career choices.”
The activities were designed to encourage an appreciation of STEM subjects – science, technology, engineering and maths – and they included different types of bridge building; working with gears and mechanisms; and a range of engineering-themed quizzes. These were followed by the film screening, which tells the story of a young inventor who creates solutions to help her overcome a series of challenges.
Aileen added: “We were pleased to welcome 105 people to the activity morning, including very young children, parents and grandparents. It was so good to see three generations of families exploring engineering together!”
After the event, parent Sophia Felmingham got in touch to say: “Thank you for putting the event on, we all enjoyed it and my son had brilliant fun building a bridge. I thought it was very well organised.”
Children who were unable to attend the free activities can still join in the fun, with a competition to take on an engineering challenge at home. Find out more here.