Activities for children visiting Tarxien temples

Heritage Malta has developed an innovative way in which to turn a child's visit to Tarxien Temples into an exciting, enjoyable and educational experience, in an initiative funded by The Maltese National Commission for Unesco and Bank of Valletta.

Yosanne Vella, a pedagogist specialised in the teaching of history and a lecturer at the University of Malta, has developed a children's workbook and onsite activities aimed at encouraging pre-teenage children to adopt a critical and creative approach to the megalithic temples.

As a result, children can understand different concepts related to Maltese prehistory, which forms a part of the national history curriculum for children in the early secondary school years.

A teacher's resource book has also been prepared to aid teachers visiting the Tarxien Temples with their class, guiding them through pre-visit and post-visit lessons and ensuring that the maximum educational benefit is gained from the children's experience at the site.

The onsite activities include an interactive model of the prehistoric monument, a jigsaw puzzle and drawing activities.

The activities and workbooks have just been launched during a formal presentation made to the Minister for Tourism and Culture, Francis Zammit Dimech, and to the Minister of Education, Louis Galea, at the Tarxien Temples.

Mario Tabone, chairman of Heritage Malta, said the agency was giving priority to enhancing the educational experience of all visitors, especially that of school children, at Heritage Malta sites.

Igino Xuereb, chief officer of operations at BOV, said the bank has committed itself to an investment of Lm190,000, over a period of 10 years, in the BOV Tarxien Temples project. An innovative visitors' centre will be built with the funds, designed to completely transform the visitors' experience at this World Heritage Site.

The workbooks and teacher's resource book are available from the Tarxien Temples. Students participating in this educational programme pay 50c each. Teachers wishing to book a school visit should contact James Aquilina at Heritage Malta's head office on 2295 4310.