Nurturing Creativity
An Early Years Project at Coda
Nurturing Creativity, our evolving Early Years programme, is designed to grow new seeds of creative engagement with our youngest audiences and their families.
Supported by Arts Council England, and developed in partnership with Magic Acorns, this project brings together artists, educators and families to explore creativity through play.
We’re working with partners of international repute to develop Coda as a centre of excellence for Early Years creativity here in the New Forest. The project nurtures not only children’s creativity, but also the skills and opportunities of local artists - building connections across sectors, and creating accessible cultural experiences for our community.
Nurturing Creativity objectives
A Programme of Cultural Activity
With a focus on creativity, play and wellbeing, our programme is designed for early years children, including those with disabilities, and their carers. Welcoming world leading practitioners in dance, immersive theatre and music to perform and inform, we will offer sustainable activity for local families.
Skills Development Opportunities
Nurturing Creativity will offer development opportunities for both Coda, and our local artists and educators in partnership with Magic Acorns. We aim to create a centre of excellence for creativity in the early years here in the New Forest.
Non-Arts Partnerships
This project will assist Coda in expanding our network of non-arts partners - health and social care professionals, schools and early years settings, local authorities, businesses and more.
Coda will bring some of the most exciting international artists to the New Forest to ignite interest and inspire.
Including: Takeshi Matsumoto of Ichi Ni San, a dance artist specialising in work for young audiences; Oily Cart, who have pioneered the art of sensory theatre; Leap then Look, who create immersive exhibition spaces for audiences of all ages; And Magic Acorns, an arts organisation specialising in Early Years experiences and training.
Upcoming events
Image credit: Hugh Fox
Play Interact Explore
Interactive exhibition with Leap then Look
13th June - 2nd August 2026
PLAY INTERACT EXPLORE is an interactive exhibition by Leap Then Look that invites audiences of all ages to experiment with sculpture, sound, moving image, and performance.
The exhibition is designed as a space for curiosity and discovery, where visitors are encouraged to make, play, and collaborate in shaping their own experience.
PLAY INTERACT EXPLORE has toured extensively across the UK to galleries including Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art, Turner Contemporary and Tramway, reaching over 250,000 people and continuing to grow as a living, evolving project rooted in participation.
Throughout June and July, we’ll be welcoming local schools, nursery groups, and families into the space.
Come along to play with projection, sound, sculpture building, movement, ‘dress-up’ / performance, and more!
Open Mon-Fri, 10am-4pm until 2nd August.
Please note: the gallery will be closed on Fri 24th July
Come and Play
SENsory Gallery Experiences
As part of our Early Years programme at Coda, we’re exploring the use of our gallery space for sensory experiences with SEN groups from local schools.
These SENsory Gallery experiences have taken place within a range of exhibitions at Coda.
‘Hand & Earth’ exhibition and residency with Imogen Charleston
Clay sculpting, sound-making experiments and communal firing day
Drawing, painting and sculpting “Fire, Earth, Air, Water” workshop with Heidi Steller
‘Lightscapes’ exhibition with Tom Winter
Drawing to music with pianist, Carol Davies
Explorative visualisation and colour-to-sound 'synesthesia' play with songwriter, Esther Keappock
Soundscapes and experimentation with audio producer, Jo Tyler
Nurturing Creativity aims to
Todd Clarke, Club Origami at Coda, February 2026
Address a gap in provision for children in their early years, identified locally through research undertaken by the Creative People and Places programme in the New Forest and nationally by ACE and De Montfort University’s Talent 25 research programme.
Develop Coda’s expertise in creativity in the early years, increasing the range of people we engage, and broadening the types of cultural activity we deliver locally;
Make a positive impact on the well being of local families and provide accessible and sustainable creative opportunities in our community.
Forge new partnerships with new organisations, both cultural and cross sector, to increase collaboration and share learning and skills.
Make a greater impact on the local freelance economy – providing opportunity for local artists and practitioners and enhancing their skills through professional development opportunities.
Past events
Coda has brought some of the most exciting international artists to the New Forest to ignite interest, inspire communities, and train resident artists.
Our Early Years Programme will feature the following artists:
Takeshi Matsumoto of Ichi Ni San, a dance artist specialising in making work for young audiences; Oily Cart, who have pioneered the art of sensory theatre; Leap then Look, who create immersive exhibition spaces for Early Years audiences; And Magic Acorns, an arts organisation specialising in Early Years experiences and training.
Great Big Tiny World, with Oily Cart
October 2025
Settle in amongst hundreds of real plants, to watch, hear and feel the world come to life all around you.
A unique immersive experience for babies and their parents / carers.
With theatre company Oily Cart parents with 0-12 m/o babies were invited into a world filled with sounds, scents, music, shadows and sensory objects - where even the tiniest things played an important part.
Families described the experience a magical, mesmerising and beautifully grounding.
Club Origami, with Ichi Ni San
February 2026
Dive into the magical world of paper and play.
In this immersive and interactive show, children aged 18 months - 4 y/o were invited to discover new ways of thinking, playing and moving.
With dance artists Ichi Ni San, Early Years families experienced spirited storytelling and dance, seeing shadows appear on walls, and hearing live music and sounds.
Families described the experience as captivating, mesmerising, joyful and freeing.
Guardians of Play - residency with Magic Acorns
May 2026
Following a three-day intensive residency led by Magic Acorns, our ten resident Early Years artists - known collectively as the Guardians of Play - came together to experiment, learn and play.
Guided with care and curiosity, they created an immersive “garden” in our gallery space, designed with babies, young children, and their carers in mind. Throughout May, local families, nurseries and baby groups visited to play in the gallery space, and experience sensory sessions facilitated by artists from the Guardians of Play.
The Guardians of Play artists span across dance, music, and visual arts.