The iCREATE childrens' workshops took place on May 24, 2015, the Bulgarian Education and Culture, and Slavonic Literature Day. The indoor and outdoor workshops were held under beautiful sunny weather in front of and in Vivacom Art Hall, a popular venue for exhibitions, cultural happenings, and educational events in the center of Sofia.
Nearly one thousand children (ages 5-14) and parents participated together in the interactive workshops from early morning into the late afternoon. The chemistry-oriented workshops were set up around the scientific world of green energy – the energy that keeps the sky blue, the water green, the air – fresh, the prices – low. Children and parents together built and tested batteries made from various fruits, solved puzzles made up of scanning electroscope microscope images of battery and fuel cell materials, learned about green vehicles riding around in an electric car, and learned about the production of energy from water and wind, from biomass and sun.
By far the most popular workshop for all ages was the "Hydrogen Race", a race with demonstration fuel cell toy cars – a present from the Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking (FCH JU). The race stand was constantly surrounded by parents and children who alone produced hydrogen fuel from water and sun via the small solar panels and the electrolyzer toys and then hurried to the toy racetrack to see whose car would outrun the rest and grab the prize. Small chocolate medals were given not only for speed, but also for understanding how the fuel cell cars work. By competing and having fun, both children and parent alike could grasp the efficiency of the hydrogen economy in a practical hands-on manner.
One day, when driving their own fuel cell car, some of the children will remember the day when they first touched, fueled, and drove a “hydrogen car”.
