UOB Students Design “Writing Inspired by a Child’s Imagination”

‘University of Bahrain students from the College of Arts participated in an initiative to create digital pictured stories. The “Writing and Design Inspired by the Child’s Imagination” initiative was launched in 2017 as a creative project within the “Art of Digital Illustration” course, a requirement for the Bachelor of Arts program. The initiative’s concept involves each university student sitting with a child to collaboratively develop ideas and a storyline for a shared story, drawing entirely from the child’s world and imagination. This initiative has continued and is conducted in each academic year to date. The process begins with the child drawing the characters and sketching initial scenes on paper, suggesting suitable names for the characters, and inventing the story’s events. The university student then refines these ideas and transforms them into a completely illustrated story through professional design and artistic production.

The initiative saw fruitful collaboration with “Bahrain Bayan School,” where university students conducted a field visit to the school. Each student from the BA in Arts and Design program met with a sixth-grade pupil in a prepared hall to work together on producing the story. At the end of the semester, the university students organized an exhibition on campus, which was attended by the participating children and their parents, to view the final versions of the stories bearing the children’s names. Each cover was inscribed with: “Envisioned by the child…” This exhibition played a significant role in motivating the children to explore their talents in imagination, writing, and drawing.

The initiative’s achievements did not stop there. These stories were later converted into animated videos and showcased on a dedicated YouTube channel titled “Writing Inspired by the Child’s Imagination,” which has amassed 400 illustrated stories. All stories were reviewed and refined by Mr.Ibrahim Sanad and Ms.Nabeha Al-Khayyat from the “Sard Bayt Al-Tifl Al-Thaqafi” Foundation.

These creative efforts culminated in several university students receiving prestigious regional awards. Student Fatima Jawad won the Sheikh Rashid Bin Humaid Award in the United Arab Emirates, student Hassan Ali won the “Ihsan” Award in the Sultanate of Oman, and student Najiba Al-Sab’ won the “Bahrain Trust” award for Micro School Stories.

• 
•