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Home / Get Creative

Get Creative

We’ve got a great range of activities for children and young people at Phoenix, from filmmaking courses to downloadable activities using Scratch.

We run a wide range of events and activities to inspire children, young people and their families, giving them the chance to experiment with new materials and the latest digital technology.

Free drop-in sessions are held throughout the year, particularly during school holidays, along with one-day workshops on subjects like animation, creative technology and filmmaking.

Phoenix is also a host venue for The Spark Festival – Leicester’s annual arts event for children and families – and our wider programme of digital experiences and activities is specially designed to engage and excite people of all ages.

CQEarlies logo

Cultural Quarter Earlies

Cultural Quarter Earlies brings together FREE family activities across Leicester’s Cultural Quarter, taking place on the second Saturday of every month. Look out for details of our next workshop.

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At Home 3D Design

3D Design 'At-Home'

Exploring a range of digital 3D modelling and design tools, this free video course will take you through the basics of 3D model creation, which can be used in computer games, animations and 3D printing. Suitable for ages 12+.

Find out more and start creating
An image of leaves in shadow, with the text "Phoenix, Film Making at Home"

Filmmaking 'At-Home'

Using open source and experimental tools to discover filmmaking, this FREE course will take you through some basic techniques for planning a film, making an animation and getting started with editing. Suitable for ages 12+.

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Game Design 'At-Home'

Using experimental tools to discover game design, this free course takes you through the basics of building and publishing story-telling games. The course comprises four video tutorials. Suitable for ages 12+.

Find out more and start creating
An image of toy robots overlaid with the text:Art-AI Playbook Section 1 Faces

Art-AI Playbook

The Art AI Playbook is a downloadable activity pack for children ages 8-10 exploring artificial intelligence, featured as part of the Art-AI Festival 2021. There are 3 sections: Faces, Patterns, and Words.

Find out more and download
A virtual room

Draw a 'Virtual Room'

In this online tutorial, we’ll show you how to create amazing ‘3D’ drawings that you can view 360°, just like in virtual reality. The activity introduces you to the world of VR and some of the basic concepts behind making virtual spaces.

Find out more and start creating
creative typing tutorial image

Kids 'At-Home' Activities

Create colourful images from text in our latest in our free creative activities for children to download and try at home. There are now 14 different activities available using Scratch, including an interactive fish pond and a virtual pet!

Start Creating

Spinimate! Family Workshop

Turn your drawings into amazing spinning animations in this free ‘at-home’ activity for children and families – all you need is access to a computer or tablet and some paper and something to draw with! Suitable for any age with help from a parent, or age 8+ without.

Find out more and start creating
A pattern of bright fragmented colours caused by polarised light

Creative Kits for Families

Our creative kits provide all the materials and inspiration you’ll need to create film and art projects at home, with full instructions for all the activities. Our new kit looks at ‘polarised light’ – which is commonly used in computer screens and 3D glasses – showing how you can use it to make amazing ‘light mosaics’ and colourful DIY kaleidoscopes.

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Pyka Loop Junk Instruments

Family Workshop Gallery

Our free monthly drop-in workshops give kids the chance to get creative with the latest digital technologies. Take a look at our gallery to see the fabulously inventive work that children have made in some of these workshop sessions.

Explore our family workshops gallery