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.

Key Projects

Resilient Child

Resilient Child is Young at Art’s new child-centred, process-based arts education programme, co-designed with teachers, artists and children.

Resilient child will work in six primary schools across Belfast over the next three years, starting in October 2024. Participating schools are located in some of the most deprived areas of Northern Ireland with significant segregation of Catholic and Protestant children, and newcomer children.

The funding from Paul Hamlyn Foundation allows Young at Art to build on previous work and is a significant step forward for us and how we can support children’s 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.

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.

EVENTS

Belfast Children's Festival 2026

We are offering performances at Belfast Children’s Festival 2026 catered to school classes.

For more information on school events or to make an enquiry about booking tickets, please contact Becca, our Education and Engagement Coordinator: [email protected]

The Little Prince

Embark on a whimsical journey with the Little Prince as he wanders the universe in search of the true meaning of friendship.

Enter a world of endless sunsets, where people are like flowers, and grown-ups are, well, pretty peculiar. They think serious things are silly and silly things are serious. They’ve forgotten how to look with their hearts.

Join us on a great adventure to make friends, learn things, and notice the most important things in life.

Toby Thompson’s adaptation of the Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s novel, as philosophical as its original, invites its audience to sense infinite possibility and recognise everything that is beautiful in the world. Performed by Toby Thompson, who brings this enchanting tale to life with his signature style.

Date: Friday 6 March 2026

Time: 11:45am

Venue: Downstairs at the MAC

“An hour of curious enchantment” ★★★★★ – Ed Fest Magazine

To make an enquiry about booking tickets, please contact Becca, our Education and Engagement Coordinator: [email protected]

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.