It was a day of fun with food at the 43rd Sharjah International Book Fair (SIBF) on Sunday as young culinary enthusiasts joined the ‘Minions Pancake Decorating’ workshop, transforming plain banana pancakes into creative Minion faces with an assortment of colourful toppings.
The workshop combined fun with creativity as children learned to play with ingredients, decorating their own pancake masterpieces inspired by the Minions’ famous love for bananas.
Svenja Arens, who led the workshop with her team at Skilldeer, highlighted the joy of hands-on activities, saying, “It’s wonderful to see children express themselves through edible art, learning new ways to appreciate and engage with simple ingredients like bananas and whipped cream in a creative way, allowing kids to see cooking as a form of self-expression.”
Noting that pancake decorating gives kids an accessible, playful introduction to culinary skills, Ahmed Kandea, general manager of the UAE-based company, highlighted the broader impact of such experiences, saying, “Activities like these are invaluable in building confidence and sparking creativity. For kids, especially those below 10, crafting something unique with their own hands empowers them and fuels their imagination, which are crucial life skills.”
Children from diverse backgrounds and nationalities dived into the activity with enthusiasm, experimenting with different textures and flavours.
Six-year-old Jordanian Abdulrahman Ahmed, expressed his delight, by saying, “I loved making my pancake look like a Minion! It was fun to turn it into a little friend I could eat.”
Taym Ahmed, 10, from Iraq, added, “Decorating the pancake felt like drawing with food—I liked using different toppings to make faces and what a yummy experience it was overall.” Meanwhile, Gory Esam, 7, from Palestine, shared her excitement about “turning pancakes into little friends.” “Turning pancakes into funny faces made them special. It felt like playing with food, but in a way that looked so cool,” said the grade 2 student.
This year, SIBF will present a comprehensive programme of 600 workshops for various age groups, including 465 sessions for adults and children and 135 for early childhood, covering heritage, media, entrepreneurship, technology, environment, arts, life skills, and creative writing.
