We live in a world that challenges our minds daily. Children and adolescents grow up in an environment where they are exposed to an avalanche of information, influences, and opinions. In this context, the ability to filter, analyze, and question reality becomes not only a useful skill, but an essential condition for their emotional and intellectual balance.

The project CURIOUS MINDS is a non-formal education initiative with artistic support, initiated by the Eclectica Cultural Association in partnership with the Arcadia Troupe of the Regina Maria Theater, and aims to develop critical thinking, empathy and argumentation skills among children and adolescents.

Target group:

• Teenagers between 14 and 17 years old, curious, reflective and eager to better understand the world in which they live

Objectives:

1. Practicing critical thinking through exercises specially designed together with a psychologist.
2. Creating an interdisciplinary collaborative framework between education, psychology and theater.
3. Formation of groups of teenagers capable of identifying manipulation, stereotypes and false sources of information.
4. Familiarizing participants with basic concepts of critical thinking: argument, logical fallacy, cognitive bias, evidence.
5. Practicing analysis, comparison and interpretation skills through games, debates, storytelling and media literacy.
6. Practicing critical thinking and argumentative expression in an artistic and collaborative setting

Structure and activities:

• 8 thematic workshops structured in two modules of 2 hours each – held at the Arcadia Hall of the Regina Maria Theatre
• Critical thinking exercises designed and validated by a collaborating psychologist
• Artistic coordination carried out by actors from the Regina Maria Theater, who will stimulate free expression, debate and role-playing
  
  Examples of themes:
  How do we recognize a false idea?
  What does it mean to have your own opinion?
  How do emotions influence our judgments?
  What is a logical fallacy?
  How do we analyze a story or a speech?

Expected results:

• Minimum 100 participating children and adolescents
• 10 thematic workshops held
• Creating an illustrated critical thinking mini-guide for children

CURIOUS MINDS it is not just a project about ideas – it is an invitation to think out loud, to dare to ask questions, and to build together a more lucid, more empathetic, and free generation.

FIRST MEETING: THE IDEA LABORATORY

June 16, 2025, Arcadia Hall, Regina Maria Theater

„The "Ideas Lab" is the project's pilot workshop and functions as a fertile ground for ideas and collaboration. In addition to participating in critical thinking exercises and role-playing games, the 20 teenagers involved will have an active role in co-creating exercises and methods that will be included in the next workshops.

These young people will become Ambassadors of Healthy Thinking, contributing to shaping activities relevant to their generation and helping us build a program that is truly alive and anchored in their reality.