Using their imagination, children designed their own graphics on environment-friendly cloth bags, and badges and fridge magnets of their own design. In addition, they made handmade paper from waste, bird feeders, recycling jewelry, wallets from milk and juice cartons, upcycling toys and many other things. The young workshop participants loved this form of fun and spending free time. – I’ve already seen nearly everything and I love it here, especially that I could make a bag of my own design – says 9-year-old Krzyś, who came to the picnic with his mum: - Children can learn a lot of useful things through fun. This is something we can’t give them at home. Here, among scientists, all this brings very nice effects – says Katarzyna from Ruda Śląska.
The Jastrzębska Spółka Węglowa car park, where the picnic was organized, hosted over 4,500 children and adults. Regardless of the age, everyone was excited to watch the experiments and shows prepared by the crazy scientists. The strongest emotions were raised especially by a bed of nails, a great explosion of a barrel with colorful balls, and construction of a rocket. – Together with children we’re building a rocket from ordinary water bottles, we pump in special rocket fuel, i.e. DHMO, dihydrogen monoxide, (chemical name for water - editor’s note), and we launch it from a specially constructed launcher. It’s very spectacular – explains Mateusz Hosumbek, a scientist from the JSW Knowledge Mine.
At the car park, 20 interactive stalls were installed as part of the exhibition entitled “Laws of physics and nature park”, such as: bikes – electricity generators, periscope, telegraph model, optical illusions, kaleidoscope and others. Additionally, a section of 18 logical puzzles was prepared. Judging by the time spent by each stall, the puzzle were not easy. For the youngest participants, there was a corner with wooden toys and hundreds of small and big blocks. There were also numerous physical activities and dance exercises and lots of contests. – At our picnic we learn through playing. The stalls are devoted to individual fields of knowledge, primarily sciences - physics and chemistry. We have adapted the attractions to different age groups – said Agnieszka Barzycka, CSR team leader in JSW.
The picnic also saw an inauguration of the Great JSW Knowledge Mine Contest organized in cooperation with National Geographic Kids, which will last till the end of 2019 in the local community and throughout Poland.
The JSW Knowledge Mine is a project of Jastrzębska Spółka Węglowa’s CSR Team. Its primary objective, according to consistently pursued corporate social responsibility strategy, is to promote education, predominantly in the fields of science, ecology and beyond: the scientists running the workshops aim to make children excited about learning and experiencing the world and discovering new interests.
