Since last year, the SWG mascot Fabius has been visiting primary schools with the "Energy Theatre". Now the cuddly dragon demonstrates experiments in short videos that children can copy at home and visits Stadtwerke Gießen.
Over the last few weeks in particular, many parents have been faced with the problem of keeping their children occupied in a meaningful way. The new commitment of Stadtwerke Gießen (SWG) can help a little: In short video clips, the funny dragon Fabius, SWG's mascot, and clown Ichmael show exciting and educational experiments to imitate. "Due to the coronavirus, our 'Energy Theatre with Fabius' has to take a break. And there is no other opportunity for children to experience our Fabius live. So what could be more obvious than to offer the content of the programme, which can be tried out at home with a little skill and preparation, in the form of films," explains SWG company spokeswoman Ina Weller.
Various channels
From 6 July, SWG will be publishing new clips at weekly intervals under the name "Discovery tour with Fabius" on its website, on the social media channels Facebook and Instagram and on YouTube. The films cover three categories: Experiments, SWG - who, how, what, why, why, why and explanatory videos on energy topics. In the experiments, Ichmael and Fabius explain how to make soap bubbles, ice-cream vases and lemonade. Or they perform tricks - such as keeping water in a container that is quickly swung in a circle on a rope. And most recently, they also show how to wash your hands properly. In the SWG section, the duo visit the waterworks in Queckborn, the TREA, a combined heat and power plant, the Ringallee bathing centre including sauna, the training centre and the network control centre, and also take a close look at a city bus. And the explanatory videos cover topics such as torches, natural gas heating and light switches.
What all the films have in common is that they convey knowledge in a child-friendly way. But that's not all: "The Fabius-typical mischief always pops up and ensures that the children also have a bit of fun while watching," Ina Weller is sure. Michael Rogalla, who guides through the videos as the clown Ichmael, plays a big part in this. As with the "Energy Theatre", the plots for the videos also largely come from his pen. "From the experience we've gained from the performances in schools, we know that Michael Rogalla and his wife Jeanette in the Fabius costume go down extremely well with the children. We therefore assume that parents and children will accept and make use of our 'Discovery Tour with Fabius'," adds Ina Weller.
The two accompanying offers also speak in favour of this: In a film, Fabius demonstrates how the children can make a stop-motion film themselves and then submit it. And on the SWG website there are Fabius motifs and pictures to colour in - especially for the younger Fabius fans.
There is an important reason why SWG is turning to children as ambassadors with Fabius: the aim is to convey an understanding of the careful use of limited resources such as energy and drinking water. "We can lay the foundation for this at an early age," emphasises Ina Weller. This is why those responsible are consistently developing educational programmes such as guided tours, holiday games and the "Energy Theatre".
Own website
SWG has created a special website for its children's programme: A new, exciting film will initially appear on www.fabius-entdeckertour.de every week during the summer holidays. There is also a link on the website where the colouring pages can be downloaded. And to make it easier for parents to prepare the experiments, the SWG also provide lists on this page of the ingredients and materials required.