Colourful Summer Camps at Little Red Kettle
July was full of colour, creativity and summer camp energy at Little Red Kettle.
With our regular weekly workshops finished for the summer, our camps gave children and young people the chance to come together in a different kind of creative space. Across drama, movement, arts and crafts, photography, poetry, storytelling and play, each group explored new ideas, tried new activities and brought their own imagination into the room.
From our Summer in Colour camps to our Culture Club summer camp, it was a brilliant few weeks of creativity, connection and fun.
Summer in Colour
Our Summer in Colour camps brought plenty of imagination and energy into LRK this July.
Across two weeks, children took part in a mix of drama, movement, arts and crafts, games and creative play. Each day gave the groups opportunities to explore different ideas, work together and use their imaginations in new ways.
The camps included playful themes such as time travel and wonderlands, giving the children space to step into different worlds, create characters, move, make and tell stories. Alongside the drama and movement, there was also lots of hands-on making, with arts and crafts giving the children another way to bring their ideas to life.
One of the lovely parts of the camp was the chance to connect with creative spaces beyond our own workshop rooms. During the week, the children visited Waterford Gallery of Art, where they took part in creative work connected to portraits and self-expression.
Culture Club Summer Camp
Our Culture Club summer camp was a busy week of creativity, exploration and reflection.
The week began with games, icebreakers and time outdoors in People’s Park, giving the group a chance to get to know one another and settle into the week. Back at Garter Lane, they explored blackout poetry, using existing text as a starting point to create something completely new.
As the week continued, the group visited GOMA for Sharon Murphy’s photography exhibition, Mise en Abyme, before taking cameras out around the city to do some photography of their own. They focused on noticing colour, texture and detail in the world around them, turning everyday places into creative inspiration.
The group also spent time exploring self-portrait work, including exercises at Waterford Gallery of Art and further creative work back at Garter Lane using fisheye lens selfies as reference images. This gave the young people a playful way to think about identity, perspective and how we represent ourselves.
Another highlight of the week was a backstage tour of Theatre Royal. As the theatre was in dark time, the group were able to spend time on the stage and explore parts of the building they would not usually get to see. They learned about the history of the theatre, heard about the renovations and even had the chance to go up to the fly floor and explore behind the scenes.
Later in the week, Culture Club returned to People’s Park for a photographic scavenger hunt before heading back to Garter Lane for more arts and crafts and journalling.
To finish the week, the group wrote their own scripts and performed them for one another. They also took time to look back through the artwork, poems, photographs and creative pieces they had made throughout the camp. Journalling at the end of each day gave them a chance to reflect on everything they had explored and created.
Why Creative Camps Matter
At Little Red Kettle, our camps are about much more than filling the school holidays.
They give children and young people time and space to try new things, meet new people, build confidence and express themselves in a safe and creative environment. Whether they are stepping into a character, making artwork, writing poetry, taking photographs or sharing ideas with a group, they are developing skills that go far beyond the workshop room.
Creative camps give young people the freedom to play, experiment and make choices without the pressure of getting everything “right”. That freedom is such an important part of the creative process.
This July, we loved seeing ideas being shared, new friendships forming, confidence growing and creativity taking shape in all kinds of ways.
Looking Back
A huge thank you to all of the children and young people who joined us for our camps this summer. Thank you for bringing your energy, curiosity, creativity and imagination into the room each day.
Thank you also to the families who continue to support Little Red Kettle, and to our facilitators and team members who make these creative experiences possible.
July was full of colour, creativity and camp joy, and we are already looking forward to more creative adventures ahead.
