‘The wind changed our plan…’ 

Starcatchers’ Stripy Nest team give us an insight into the research phase of this community project to help nursery children feel more at ease in the playground when they make the transition into P1 We have been working with pre-school nursery children at Canal View Primary in Wester Hailes, Edinburgh, who will soon be making… Read more »

Nat Whittingham

Nat Whittingham is a professional circus artist, acrobat and teacher who ‘fell into’ his circus career at the age of 18. He began as a trampolinist at the age of 4, and over the years moved up to competing at national level. His talents were later picked up by No Fit State Circus, which offered… Read more »

Gabbie Cook

Gabbie Cook is a former elite gymnast who combines incredible acrobatic skill with her passion for dance to deliver beautifully-crafted and exhilarating circus performances.   Gabbie has been in intensive training since the age of six, starting with artistic gymnastics and then graduating from The Northern School of Contemporary Dance with a first class honours… Read more »

Arron Sparks

Professional circus performer Arron Sparks is bringing his unique juggling and YoYo’ing skills into Little Top, our magical first circus experience for babies 0-18 months.

Quest for Identity

Lead artist Marion Geoffray reflects on the journey Expecting Something’s young parents embarked on over 10 weeks as part of an expressive arts project to explore their own and their babies’ identities. Through puppetry, the spoken word, mark-making, photography and film participants have explored who we are, how we perceive ourselves and how to share this as something tangible.

Introducing Ellie Dubois – Co-creator & Director of Little Top

  There are artists across the world who are reinventing traditional notions of what modern circus can be and the award-winning Ellie Dubois is certainly one of them.   Named as one of the British Council’s ‘Artists to watch 2017’, her most recent work No Show features an all-female cast of circus performers and won a Herald… Read more »

Being a Creative Champion: engaging parents

Creative Skills participants have fed back that in some settings, there is a tension between giving children the freedom to create whatever they choose, and the pressure to have, for example, a Christmas craft or Mother’s Day card that ‘looks like something’. How can we encourage adults to be more mindful of, and value, the process a child goes through when they have complete freedom of expression, which can give truly magical insights into how they think and feel?

Creative Skills and the expressive arts within child-led approaches

Since 2013 Starcatchers has delivered artist-facilitated training for early years professionals across Scotland, building creative confidence and sharing open structures to give babies and young children a voice through the expressive arts. Here, Creative Skills Manager, Heather Armstrong, reflects on the role of adults in child-led practice.

Creative Discoveries

Since August I’ve been Lead Artist at Expecting Something in Lochgelly, exploring creative play with a brilliant group of parents and babies. I always look forward to each session and seeing how the babies will react to the activities I’ve planned, and each week brings new discoveries for me as an artist, and also for… Read more »