This week, the historic Bristol Old Vic hosted our Energiser Fund learning event. Early years practitioners, artists, academics and programme leads all gathered to celebrate and reflect upon the first year of the Energiser Fund. 

The Energiser Fund supports 11 organisations with a three-year grant to deliver co-created programmes with 2-4 year olds. We gathered to share learnings and experience some of the imaginative early years sessions our partners are delivering across the country.

a collage created by the energiser fund participants. lots of handmade posters are lined up next to each on a table in front of a yellow wall

Reflecting on one year of the Energiser Fund through collage

The event opened with Vanessa Stansall, an early years music teacher, producer and researcher with Creative Futures and Sound Connections, sharing her thematic analysis of the fund’s first year. 

Vanessa had been exploring the question What is co-creation?. Though the work delivered by the Energiser Fund partners is diverse - some common elements have started to emerge. Co-creation can be seen as open-ended work which embraces curiosity, possibility thinking and risk. It is a collaborative process where children are seen as competent and adults are responsive and attuned to them. In order to co-create safety and trust must be built, and this important work takes time. 

We'll be sharing in more detail the findings from Year 1 in an online session on 25 November. 

In the discussions different organisations expressed that co-creation is not a simple procedure or list of rules to be followed. It is a process, a live question, something that must be practised, tested and reflected upon in real time. 

Each organisation created a collage as a creative expression of how their first year of the fund had gone. It can be easy to forget to practise what we preach, but every group embraced creativity and play to reflect on their work. Many noted that making the collages echoed the experience of co-creation itself: dialogue, collaboration, improvisation, and openness to one another’s ideas and feelings.

Co-creation with early years can be difficult to define. By the end of the discussion, it felt important to acknowledge that everyone is working within this uncertainty – and that the uncertainty is valuable. It creates the flexibility needed to follow children’s interests and let them truly lead.

3 adults smiling and kneeling on the floor, playing with small percusive shakers and other musical toys on a blue sheet
a girl sat on the floor of a hall with a ukelele, and surrounded by other musical instruments and toys

Playing for practitioners – Bristol Old Vic’s Create Space Project

The final session of Day 1 was a chance for the group to experience Bristol Old Vic’s Create Space project, which is in partnership with local Redcliffe Nursery School. This project takes a core group of children aged 2-4 years to co-create playful spaces within the theatre. 

Two huge rolls of paper were rolled out across the floor, along with scissors, strings, crayons and anything else that could be played with. Adults were encouraged to re-engage with their curiosity and creativity they encourage in the children they work with. A pianist observed the session responding to the action with improvised music. The room was transformed into a place of play, music and creativity. 

Everyone was on their knees or lying flat, drawing sunflowers, shapes and allowed themselves to play with their imagination. 

two women standing and smiling while painting and drawing on a poster
a woman on her knees smiling and talking to someone off screen, in front of them are all sorts of toys and musical instruments laid out on a blue sheet

Made with Music & Stories with Liv

This session was run by Hannah Dilworth and Kathryn Sturman, who are founders and directors of Made with Music in Leeds. The charity focusses on accessible music making for all families and operates on the social model of disability. Accompanying them in running the session was Olivia Corbin-Phillips, (Stories with Liv), a storyteller, early years practitioner and consultant. 

Together, they led a session form their Energiser project My world, my story, my song, which celebrates Disabled children and ensures their voices are heard and acted upon. 

Everyone was able to experience the wonderfully interactive session; playing with instruments, tubes, using interactive art/music technology, or simply hiding away in a nook to read. They experienced the creative freedom that the children have whenever they enter this project.

They guided thoughtful reflections on how they ensure children and families feel welcome and the care and detail they put in to ensure the space is accessible for everyone. 

They shared how much early provision for Disabled and d/Deaf children often focuses on what the children can’t do, whereas their sessions focus entirely on what the children can do. They show the children themselves and their adults just how imaginative they are. 

two women with 'made with music' t-shirts. One is stood in front of a microphone talking, the other, in the foreground, is leaning on a chair and smiling

Dancing at the edges: Dr. Adesola Akinleye

Dr Adesola Akinleye smiling in front of a microphone and lecturn, with the sun hitting her face. She is clasping her hands in front of her yellow shirt

We were privileged to hear from Dr. Adesola Akinleye, joining us from Texas, about how research can be approached in ways that empower creative practice. 

Her perspective challenges hierarchical notions of research and knowledge, reframing research as a tool for creating alignment rather than finding the “right” answer. 

She introduced the concept of “constellations,” where methods or ideas aren’t simply right or wrong, but they may be more or less distant to our work. Certain concepts, she argues, may be far out in the constellation of ideas and methods, we don’t have a close relationship with them, but she is sceptical about labelling them simply as "wrong."  Many participants found this a liberating and energising way to think about their work.

She discussed how children learn by interacting with the art and culture that surrounds them. She believes that art making can be a way of community participation and cultural inclusion, that art should include all children and be allowed to be shaped by them. 

Dr. Akinleye invites us to see children not only as participants but as co-makers of knowledge; where play, rhythm, and embodied curiosity open new ways for belonging and community.

Wrapping Up the Energiser Event

This was a wonderful event, and we’re grateful to our Learning Partner Groundswell Arts for their design and delivery of the event, and to Bristol Old Vic for hosting us. 

Of course we also extend our thanks to all of our Energiser Funded partners that came down and generously shared their work. 

Over the two days, we saw creativity, play, and collaboration in action, and were inspired by the dedication and imagination of everyone involved. It was a brilliant reminder of why supporting early years creativity matters and how much we can all learn when we put children’s voices at the centre. 

Interested in finding out more? 
Join us on Tuesday 25 November for an online session sharing  our reflections and findings from Year 1 of the Energiser Fund. 

two women on their knees playing with musical instruments on toys laid out on blue sheets
A picture from the energiser event in bristol, adults entering a hall and chatting with each other on seats or stood near the door

Discover more about our Early Years work

Magic Acorns Early Years Training - Connecting to Playfulness

Posted: 03/10/2023

Youth Music's Programme Officer Phoebe Cross reflects on a day of Musical Play with Magic Acorns. 

Introducing Magic Acorns

Magic Acorns are an early years development organisation striving to co-create ground-breaking work with, and for the very youngest children. Youth Music is pleased to be supporting Magic Acorns' work through a Catalyser Fund grant (thanks to the National Lottery via Arts Council England) and a Recharge Fund grant (thanks to players of People's Postcode Lottery). 

Magic Acorns work inclusively, led by children's imaginations and research, across multiple art forms - music, theatre, making, art and play. They're known in the sector for their collaborations with early years practitioners, artists and cultural organisations, making extraordinary multi-sensory experimental creations and training accessible to young children, artists, educators and the wider community, both in the UK and internationally.

Getting settled in 

So with all that in mind, I was very excited to arrive in Norwich and spend a full day on a Magic Acorns training session with Sophie Fox and Natalie Willis and eight other participants. The aim was to learn more about listening more deeply, connecting more playfully and get to know more about musical play and sensory environments. It was unlike any other training I'd done before, with an immediate fun and relaxed atmosphere. Gone were the usual introductions of our name, job title and work background as we instead went round the group and said our names and something that we liked, integrated into a collective song. Exclamations of "My name is Meg and I like crinkle cut crisps" and "My name is Phoebe and I like cats" felt like an invitation to connect with the childish side we were aiming lean into. An appropriate and refreshing start which put me at ease and removed some of the usual training session awkwardness.

Exploring sound massage

The first activity we did was a sound massage, where we worked in pairs to take turns creating a 360 immersive sound experience for our partner. An inviting table was laid out, full of calm and mostly colourful everyday objects. We chose pairs of objects at a time, testing them in our own ears and then making gentle sounds around someone's head. We did this for what felt like at least 15 minutes at a time - it's not often that I sit still, close my eyes and have someone else creating this experience for me. We were told to listen with our whole body, lean into sensations and noises that we were hearing from the direct sounds but also external sounds from other partners and outside. Some people found it really relaxing, others with more sound sensitivity found it quite abrasive - it was helpful to reflect in this way afterwards and talk about it.

Tuning into each other

The next part of the day involved lots of mirroring and copying activities, involving sound and movement, in one group and then smaller sub-groups. With time, I think we all learnt to overcome self-consciousness and lean into being very silly - something that definitely helps make people great Early Years educators. The concept behind the activity was Intensive Interaction Training - tuning into behaviours, listening with all your senses to that person, having an available look and making them feel validated, seen and heard. Essentially - joining children in their own world.

We then did a peripheral vision exercise, whereby we were like a shoal of fish, walking around each other, not talking, but communicating with our looks and movement. We tried stopping together and then starting at the same time, without it being too obvious who might have started this. Having a peripheral vision and knowing what's going on around you at all times is vital in the early years sector! After this, we did some more dramatic exercises, handing a basket around and pretending something really wonderful was in it and then handing it round again and pretending something really disgusting was in it - pulling faces, showing emotions. It really felt like I could finally enjoy drama a bit more than I probably did in school...

Exploring objects

Then it was time for the musical and sensory objects to come out! We went round the room, testing how things sounded when hit with thin mallets, again no talking. We joined pairs and silently came up with games together, our facial expressions and body language as well as the sounds we were making helping to guide the play. I reckon some of us forgot we were adults for a bit. For the final part of the day, we split into groups and created sound and play gardens for each other. It was fun watching people connecting to their childish side and playing with the different instruments, materials and creating games with each other and looking for patterns in play.

Time and space to reflect

The whole vibe of the day was to take the time and space to do the activities, feeling as present as you could be and not rushing, with lots of reflection. I really appreciated this, and time away from screens, time to really connect with new people and discover a different way of working. We explored listening with our whole bodies, moving and vocalising to form connections and open-ended musical invitations. A lot was packed into the day, but there was heaps of laughter along with some brilliant reflections from all who attended. Thank you Magic Acorns!

 

Woman smiling playing with green material with happy baby in a group project
resources

Meet the Energiser Fund Recipients

Meet the 11 inspiring recipients of Youth Music’s Energiser Fund! These groundbreaking projects empower young children to co-create music, art, and movement, shaping the future of early years creativity.

energiser fund flyer
funding

Energiser Fund

Offered grants of up to £120,000 to organisations in England to celebrate and energise creative practice with 2-4-year-olds. Delivery runs until 2027, sign-up to our mailing list to stay up to date with the learning from this work. 

Fund closed.

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