Focus Junior Days is the new educational, entertaining, interactive project-event with hands-on experimenting organised by Il Centro in Arese, which will include interesting and attention-grabbing science laboratories and creative activities for children and families. The events will take place over 8 week-ends between March and November 2023.

This intense and unmissable schedule of free events will cover exciting topics such as astronomy, sustainability, nutrition, history, palaeontology and chemistry. The events are organised with the collaboration of Focus Junior, the main Mondadori Group brand in the kids segment. The activities are for children aged between 6 and 13, with the aim of making them interested in science, technology, sustainability and current affairs by stimulating them to interact.

A project partner is Iper La grande i, one of the most important actors in large-scale retail trading in Italy, which will offer a free snack to all children participating in the activities.

“Astronaut apprentices”, “Save the Blue Planet”, “Eating makes you healthy”, “A stroll in history”, “Health champions”, “Climate change”, “A day in the Jurassic age”, “We all love chemistry” are the 8 names of the 8 Focus Junior Days, which include educational activities, in some cases also jointly with local schools.

Children who take part in at least 5 of the 8 scheduled events will receive the Focus Junior scientific passport and a surprise at the end of the programme. Each event lasts 45 minutes and there will be sessions at different times: 10.30 – 11.30 – 14.30 – 15.30 – 16.30 – 17.30.

The first event, scheduled for Saturday 25 and Sunday 26 March in the Events Area on the 1^st floor, is “Astronaut apprentices” and the topic is astronomy. For information on the activities and to take part in the programme, simply book, free of charge, in the shopping mall’s website centroilcentro.it.

Focus Junior Days: the programme

Saturday 25 and Sunday 26 March
“Astronaut apprentices”

Spectacular experiments to understand why Mercury is covered in craters, what gases can be found in the infernal atmosphere of Venus and why Mars is red, what the rings of Saturn are made of, what the storms of Jupiter are, how cold Neptune and Pluto can be. Children will be able to discover the age, structure and temperature of the Sun, defeat gravity and travel in space, understand that a black hole is not a hole… and it is not actually black. They will amuse themselves calculating the weight and age of human beings on different planets, according to the duration of a planetary year.

Friday 21 and Saturday 22 April
“Save the Blue Planet” under the patronage of Earth Day Italia
On Earth Day (22 April), the topic will be pure sustainability. Reduce, reuse, recycle… waste: from a huge problem to an enormous opportunity. Water is life: we are all united against pollution and plastic in the seas, to protect our Blue Planet and save the living beings on it. Through experiments and activities, children will be able to observe the physical and chemical properties of the H₂O molecule, understand how much water there is on the surface of the planet, discover the percentage of water on the Earth that can be used for various purposes, understand the water footprint, see the effects of water pollution on the environment and ecosystems, learn what “plastic islands” and microplastics are, activate a hydroelectric turbine and transform the kinetic energy of waterfalls and tides into electricity.

Friday 19 and Saturday 20 May
“Eating makes you healthy”, with the collaboration of Iper La grande i
Learn in an entertaining manner how food is turned into energy, what nutrition groups are and the nutritional properties of each food. The food pyramid: how it is composed and how to “read” it, the social and cultural value of food. Who invented the most famous foods such as pizza, spaghetti and ice cream. How our metabolism works and how to read food labels and restaurant menus to discover calories.

Saturday 17 and Sunday 18 June
“A stroll in history”
A journey through the inventions and discoveries that made “history”. Learn about the pharaohs, the fascinating hieroglyphic writing system, ancient Egyptian excellence such as the sun dial, the water hourglass, medicine and astronomy, the mummification process. The legacy of ancient Greek thinking, from philosophy to the Olympic Games, the importance of democratic assemblies in ancient Athens. Children will be able to understand how useful are zero (a revolutionary invention from the Arab world) and a compass, used by Chinese sailors over 4000 years ago. They will also learn about the origins of chemistry through fascinating alchemy experiments.

Saturday 15 and Sunday 16 July
“Health champions”
Practising sport has always been linked to personal growth, intended as physical and intellectual development: “mens sana in corpore sano” [Latin for “a healthy mind in a healthy body”]. Children will discover that there is a positive correlation between health and exercising regularly, learn the difference between physical exercise, practising sport and physical fitness, how physical exercise shapes the body, makes it more agile and protects it.

Saturday 30 September and Sunday 1 October
“Climate change” under the patronage of Earth Day Italia
The topics addressed will be energy and environmental sustainability… on a mission to save the planet! From fossil fuels to global warming, from greenhouse gases to sustainable sources. Children will be able to simulate rising seas, discover how energy is produced, learn about carbon dioxide and its effects on climate, the sustainable alternatives for our future and for our beautiful planet, imagine a future of cars powered by hydrogen and solar power.

Saturday 28 and Sunday 29 October
“A day in the Jurassic age”
The creatures that all children love: dinosaurs. A journey to discover the “terrible lizards” that ruled the world, learning about their features and surprising characteristics, debunking widespread misconceptions, understanding the mechanisms underlying evolution and the new frontiers of palaeontology.
Children will be able to discover what the Earth was like millions of years ago, why dinosaurs were enormous and the main features of carnivores and herbivores, the real reason dinosaurs became extinct and how fossils are extracted after being trapped in rocks for thousands of years.

Friday 24 and Saturday 25 November
“We all love chemistry”
An entertaining journey in the miniature world of atoms and molecules, through phase transitions to incredible chemical reactions. Children will perform experiments to learn all matter is made of atoms and molecules. They will learn to recognise the three states of matter and what happens if the temperature changes, and that there are immobile atoms, moving atoms and crazy atoms in gases, liquids or solids. Children will discover about amazing sublimation, what happens if the substances in granny’s cupboard are mixed, the difference between simple mixtures and chemical reactions and how to perform the most incredible reactions without “explosions”.

Fun, surprises and experiences are the three ingredients of the new project of Il centro in Arese, which further confirm its vocation and its closeness to customers, to provide entertaining and care-free moments with friends and family.
All the information is available on centroilcentro.it.