Curious Creatures Abound in School Holiday Workshop

24 Jul 2024

These winter school holidays, a great group of primary school students took part in our Creature Feature workshop held at our Parramatta centre, a one-off program all about creating curious and creepy characters.

The stage 2 and 3 students started off their workshop hearing some spooky stories from our very own Storytellers, Carol and Marcus, who delved into their own past encounters with creatures mythic and mystical to inspire students’ imaginations. 

Students were on the edge of their seats as Carol and Marcus regaled them with thrilling tales of bunyips and salamanders, and couldn’t wait to get started on their own weird and wonderful creatures. 

Students started by drawing and labelling their own marvellous creatures, before creating a story plan and composing a piece of writing all about who their creature was and how the students met them. 

Drawing on the concept of surrealism, the idea behind the workshop was to help young people build narrative elements, like setting and tone, and to elicit emotional responses in the process.

From echidna-quilled panthers to magical mirror mouths, lots of fantastical characters were created. By the end of the workshop, even the most reluctant of students was busy writing a story using complex language and ideas to describe their character.

The day was topped off when the students were able to share their special creatures and their stories with their returning parents and caregivers.

In all the laughter and delight at their creations, a number of students were keen to get home to continue with their stories!