Children navigate Qatar’s maritime heritage at ExxonMobil STEAM Festival at NMoQ

The ExxonMobil STEAM Festival at the National Museum of Qatar (NMoQ) offers children and families an interactive experience that merges Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics (STEAM) with Qatar’s maritime heritage. At the festival's NMoQ Roots of Routes zone, attendees engage in hands-on activities to create traditional tools like a model dhow and a kamal, a celestial navigation device once utilized by sailors to determine their position at sea.

Participants begin by constructing a dhow, selecting from traditional types such as Al Jalbut for pearling, fishing, and coastal transportation, Sanbouk for pearling and fishing, and Boom for long-distance trade and cargo transport. Following dhow assembly, participants craft a kamal, which, when combined with the dhow, leads them on a navigation mission across a large floor map.

Using the kamal to estimate latitude and following clues, they determine the correct destination for their dhow. This activity turns abstract concepts like measurement, geography, astronomy, and engineering into tangible experiences, fostering learning through direct participation. Beyond Roots of Routes, the festival features various activities tailored for different age groups across the museum, including workshops on navigation, traditional boats, and maritime journeys, as well as discussions about STEAM careers for older teens.

Set to run until November 28, the ExxonMobil STEAM Festival provides families with an engaging platform to discover scientific principles through familiar elements of Qatar’s history, from building a traditional dhow to interpreting celestial cues for navigation.