Education & Engagement
Young at Art is dedicated to enriching the lives of children in Northern Ireland through the arts.
Our Education & Engagement Programme delivers a range of projects and initiatives to connect children and young people to the arts and ensure quality arts engagement is accessible to all, building confidence, imagination, critical thinking skills, and resilience.
Our Education & Engagement Programme delivers a range of projects and initiatives to connect children and young people to the arts and ensure quality arts engagement is accessible to all, building confidence, imagination, critical thinking skills, and resilience.
Key Projects
Creative Child
Creative Child is Young at Art’s flagship education and engagement project, now in its 10th year. By providing a range of creative and artistic experiences, the project not only aimed to introduce children to different art forms but also encourage them to give voice to their ideas and opinions and explore their creativity.
Creative Teacher
Creative Teacher is our multi-year arts skills development project for Primary school teachers designed to encourage, mentor and support teachers in creative learning techniques that can be applied to curriculum teaching. and increase critical thinking in their pupils. We work with teachers in areas of high deprivation across Belfast.
Visual Arts Engagement
Our visual arts engagement project led by YAA artists uses creative workshops and cultural visits to allow school-children to reflect on and respond to their personal experiences and become connected to Belfast’s arts venues.
Literature Programme
Our Literature Programme includes the Irish Language Author Programme, part of Belfast Children’s Festival and other schools literature activities with Children’s Books Ireland.
Access all Areas
Access All Areas is a Belfast Children’s Festival project designed to overcome the barriers to engagement with the arts for children and young people with special needs and learning disabilities, including those with neurodiverse and/or autistic spectrum conditions and other sensory or communication needs.
Mental Health & Arts Engagement
Our mental health and arts engagement project uses arts-based engagement, working with children and young people (Primary and Secondary) to promote and explore social and emotional well-being.
YAA Collective
YAA Collective is a three-year pilot of a new initiative, designed to embed the voice of children and young people in Young at Art’s decision-making processes.
Other Projects/Initiatives
Journeys & Stories
Journeys & Stories is an arts engagement project for Primary and Secondary schools that encourage participants to explore the challenges faced by newcomers in Northern Ireland.
Creative Pathways
In partnership with U105, we developed ‘Creative Pathways’, a schools programme highlighting creative careers opportunities for young people, promoting diversity and inclusion.
Arts Backpack NI
Arts Backpack NI was the Northern Ireland pilot of a national initiative, delivered in partnership with London-based Action for Children’s Arts, which aimed to provide quality arts experiences across various mediums to Primary schools in areas of high social deprivation.
Shared Education
This visual arts-based project was delivered in partnership with Black Mountain Primary School and St Joseph’s Primary School as a part of the PEACE IV funded Shared Education Programme.
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Latest News
All the latest news from Young at Art, including new partnerships, announcements and opportunities to work with us.
Belfast Children’s Festival 2024 Survey
We hope you enjoyed Belfast Children’s Festival 2024 and would really appreciate it if you would share your feedback with us. The information you provide just helps us understand our...
YAA and CQ BID bring Festival Family Fun to Belfast on Saturday 16 March.
Belfast Children’s Festival and CQ BID have announced a partnership that will bring an exciting selection of pop-up performances, workshops, walkabout characters, storytelling, circus, comedy and music to Cathedral Quarter...
Young at Art partners with Victoria Square!
Young at Art partners with Victoria Square to bring family fun to Belfast Children’s Festival. Belfast Children’s Festival (8-16 March), the largest family festival on the island of Ireland, will...