Every year in October, the Harley Education Team pack up their craft materials and head to Worksop Library to take part in Worksop Fun Palace.
Fun Palaces occur across the UK, putting culture at the heart of communities. Inspire, the organisation that run libraries and learning services in Nottinghamshire, organise the Worksop Fun Palace. They invite a range of local cultural organisations to take part, all of whom offer a free activity. Fun Palaces are noisy, joyous, creative occasions. They are brilliant opportunities for families to have fun, try new things, and learn more about what’s on in their local area.
In 2024, the team chose Margaret Cavendish’s insect candelabras as inspiration for their activity. Margaret was an avid collector and commissioned these candelabras in 1757 to celebrate her love of insects. The candelabras are currently on display in the Harley Museum.
The team chose to work with natural materials and air-dry clay: this proved a popular combination! Over the course of the day, more than 120 children built their own bug. Ladybirds, worms, snails and bees – and a few imaginary creatures too – soon filled the library with their squelching and rustling.
Every child took their creation home in a special Harley Gallery box, to keep it safe from accidental squashing. These gorgeous boxes proved almost as popular as the activity, with families approaching the table towards the end of the day asking, ‘Is this where you get the boxes?’
Air dry clay is easy to mould and can be painted when dry. Children who enjoyed using it were pointed towards the Harley Foundation’s Family Clay courses, which take place in the Harley Pottery Studio and use earthenware clay (which needs to be fired). The team also run regular sessions for young people and families in the Harley Gallery and Harley Education studio. See what activities and workshops we have coming up for families here.