Great fun awaits little explorers on the Expo Dubai Press Play visitor trail

With Dubai World Expo 2020 and UNICEF celebrating World Children's Day on 20 November, it is the perfect time for children of all ages to explore the Expo Press Play Visitor Journey, one of the many tours selected by Expo to enrich the visitor experience.

The journey incorporates unforgettable moments of fun and adventure, highlighting games, musical experiences, animals and more, throughout the Expo site. It will take them to the Tonga Pavilion, where a young Tongan boy, Lafi, will introduce the family to his friends, the Tongan animals, and his best friend, Lei, a whale.

An out-of-this-world experience awaits in the Belarus Pavilion, where a video game called Beltaurus takes visitors into outer space. And in the Monaco Pavilion, youngsters can take part in another video game, helping a penguin negotiate different obstacles, such as ice crevasses, leopard seals and debris.

The Bulgaria Pavilion allows children to learn through play, with an innovative playground that converts children's kinetic energy into light, encouraging children to play more and reducing overall energy consumption. Board game fans can expect great fun at the Ethiopia Pavilion, which features classic Ethiopian games such as Gerbeta and Segno Maksegno, and the Angola Pavilion, meanwhile, invites children to play two uniquely Angolan games; one designed to improve environmental awareness and another that empowers Angolan society to unite.

More games can be found in the Malawi Pavilion, with a traditional game of Bawo, a version of an ancient African board game based on a simple counting device. Bawo (Malawi), Bao (Tanzania) and Omweso (Uganda) belong to the world-renowned Mancala group of "count and catch" board games.

And young visitors can have fun at Rashid's Playground learning about humpback whales. These giant mammals are rare visitors to the Gulf, and a mother and calf were recently spotted off the coast of the United Arab Emirates.

Press Play is just one of the fascinating self-guided tours for visitors available on the Expo 2020 Dubai app.

Text, photos and video: Expo Dubai 2020