Young visitors to the Sharjah Children’s Reading Festival (SCRF 2023) are discovering their creative and artistic potential in a way many haven’t experienced before. The festival’s ‘Expression Room’ is a unique and massive no-holds-barred paint splattering space, where dozens of young artists are walking in every day to discover colour, art, imagination and creativity in the most uninhibited and freeing of ways.  

They are using the whole room - walls, floors and all other surfaces that can be painted on - as their own personal canvas. 

The initiative by Medaf Creative Studio is designed to feed into children’s imaginations and give them an outlet by engaging in paint splashing, splatter and finger painting activities. They can even customise private canvases with their own unique artistic creations. The walls of the room are designed like paint palettes, with individual grooves to hold each colour so that they don’t run down the walls freely.

“This is a special room where the kids can go mess inside, and enjoy play activity through painting,” said Joy, the activity facilitator from Medaf Creative Studio. “They can splash it anywhere they want, spread the paint all over and even paint to each other, on the walls and on the floor. They can use their brushes or their hands to give free reign to their creativity - there are no limits. The activity is designed for children to express themselves freely.”

Before entering the room, the young participants are given disposable hazmat-style suits to wear, so they don’t soil their clothes and shoes with paint. The flooring of the room is made up of rubber mats that can be easily cleaned and the activity uses water-based paints which can be washed off easily, ensuring that the activity is made all the more fun and the children are not left with stains later on.  

At the end of the one hour of play painting, the kids also get to take home any canvases they may have painted.