Curious Kids Festival

Little Mashers’ Curious Kids Festival

Welcome to the Curious Kids Festival – a day of engaging workshops bringing out children’s creativity while nurturing environmental awareness.

On arrival, each child receives a Curiosity Passport, encouraging them to explore the festival ground and participate in the range of activities on offer.

The festival runs two sessions for families to choose from: morning (10-1.30 pm) or afternoon (2.30-6 pm).

Workshop Highlights

• Little Mashers: Curious Kids Grows UV T-shirt Printing – Experience screen printing a unique festival T-shirt based around the environment. Children will personalise their creations using eco-friendly stencils, inks, and simple block prints. A ‘curious space installation’ with a UV light provides an exciting backdrop for their finished shirts.
• Zeroh: Animated Moths on a Bus – Create a swarm of curious moth patterns inspired by native species on board a double-decker bus! The masterpieces will join an animated ‘moth eclipse’, easily viewable via a smartphone or tablet.
• LouLou Cousin: Mechanical Cardboard Characters – Build your own mechanical cardboard characters. Turn a handle and watch as your creations bounce or jump!
• Anna Atkinson: Nature Cyanotype Prints & Poems – Blend nature and found objects to form visual blue poems. The slow-reactive cyanotype printing formulation will create prints inspired by nature coupled with found poetry.
• Beccy McCray: Millions of Magical Mushrooms – Ready to create a vast network of magical mushrooms? Using air-drying clay and foraged materials, you’ll form a group artwork alongside individual creations to take home. Don’t forget; your mushrooms love to be photographed in the wild!
• Marie Louise: Butterfly Weaving – Weave delightful butterflies with recycled materials such as beads, fabric, yarn, and sticks. Each butterfly contributes to a large-scale communal installation at the festival.
• Makedo: Curious Cardboard Constructions – Makedo’s safe cardboard construction tools turn ordinary boxes into extraordinary creations, sparking imagination and highlighting the potential of everyday materials.

Every workshop is led by knowledgeable artists who’re eager to inspire young minds. Every journey at the Curious Kids Festival is a testament to creativity and love for our planet.

ORGANISERS + FACILITATORS

• Little Mashers are Clare Tomlinson and Andrew Davies. For 14 years, their creative company has encouraged creativity in children, developing engaging workshops with galleries, schools, and festivals. Their portfolio includes collaborations with Tate Modern, Turner Contemporary, The Barbican, and more.
• Zeroh – Known locally for their immersive projection work, Zeroh, a team of artists, crafts public-facing artworks. Their expertise extends from The Hastings Moth Project to Wavelength in Bottle Alley and the People of Hastings exhibition.
• LouLou Cousin – A community artist first, LouLou Cousin now employs her skills as a freelance workshop facilitator in schools and a teacher for adults. She specialises in creating large 3D structures and tiny automata from cardboard.
• Anna Atkinson – As an artist and an Art workshop leader for children for over a decade, Anna Atkinson merges her love for visual storytelling with her experience in therapeutic art interventions. She draws inspiration from nature, found objects, and poetry.
• Beccy McCray – Her unique artistic style is influenced by her partnerships with grassroots communities and world-leading cultural institutions. Beccy McCray pioneers a blend of community art with DIY craft, encouraging audience-wide participation.
• Marie Louise – Based in St Leonards on Sea, Marie-Louise Miller wears multiple hats as an Artist/Designer and Educator. Through her workshops, she invites others to share her appreciation for recycled materials.
• Makedo – With their innovative series of safe cardboard construction tools, they empower kids to create a world of their own. This workshop is facilitated by young creatives currently studying at college.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

The Compound, 161 Bexhill Road, Hastings, United Kingdom