Toothy Grins and Family Fun at Sydney Science Festival Family Day

Toothy Grins and Family Fun at Sydney Science Festival Family Day

21 Aug 2024

Over the weekend, our team joined our friends from the Powerhouse Museum at Sydney Science Festival Family Day in Parramatta Square for a day of space-themed exploration and fun for the whole family. 

Armed with a giant tooth mural and ready to run some cosmic creative writing workshops for young people and families, we spoke to hundreds of people throughout the day about our programs and finished with a galactic-sized community story.

In five mini-workshops throughout the day, young people explored the universe through their senses, writing a sensory poem about what they might see, smell, taste, hear and feel in space.

A Sensory Space Poem

The glowing stars,
A rumble, a little like cars.
Warm air, a few rocks,
Small comets, gold as shiny locks.
On my tongue, it’s salty but sweet.
My arms are warm and so are my feet.

— Hermione, Workshop Participant

Workshop leader speaking with an image of a galaxy on a television in the background
Sydney Science Festival Family Day, Story Factory workshops. August 17th 2024. Photos by Edwina Pickles.

Outside at the stall, our staff led young people through a community story inspired by artist and engineer Xin Liu, who sent her wisdom tooth to space in a custom machine built from robotics materials. 

Children and families imagined the journey of the tooth as it travelled through outer space, alternating between fortunate and unfortunate circumstances. Some of our favourite inter-stellar snippets from the story are below.

“Unfortunately, the tooth jumped to space and never came back. Fortunately, a spaceship came past and took it on board. Unfortunately, they decided to dissolve it in acid. Fortunately, the acid, the atoms and the enamel reacted and made the tooth come to life! Looks like the acid wasn’t strong enough!”

“Fortunately, the tooth activated some super power and broke out of the gold. Its powers were SO SUPER that the tooth broke out of the hole full of gold; glittery, shiny and stronger than ever! Unfortunately, the tooth was evil! Oh no!!!”

Two people dramatically posing in front of a tooth-shaped mural covered in writing.
Sydney Science Festival Family Day, Story Factory stall. August 17th 2024. Photos by Edwina Pickles.

Festival-goers also had a blast spinning our inspiration wheel and coming up with their very own star-studded space-themed stories. 

“It was really great to see some of our current students who came past the stall to say hi, and meet some new interested young people who have already signed up for some of our programs! It was also amazing to see how engaged everyone was with the space theme and how enthusiastic they were about the writing activities we had available.” — Craig New, Story Factory Operations Manager

A volunteer and student laughing together sitting at a desk.
Sydney Science Festival Family Day, Story Factory workshops. August 17th 2024. Photos by Edwina Pickles.

We had a supernova of a time exploring the universe with everyone who came along to the festival, and were so impressed with the infinite imaginations of everyone who joined in with the writing activities. 

“I was recently at the very cool family day in Parramatta Square. With a theme of science, and powered by the Powerhouse, the public square vibe was alive with curiosity, fun and families! The Story Factory tent was on the go all day! So good to answer questions in person; happily telling children and parents of the benefits of our in-class and online programs for them. Also great to have so many of the books by our students there, so we could show and sell!” — Norelle, Story Factory Volunteer