Introducing arts from birth in Aberdeen

Starcatchers is delighted to be working with Aberdeen Performing Arts in the run up to Christmas giving babies, young children and their families in Aberdeen the opportunity to engage in artist-led creative play sessions.

The initiative extends Aberdeen Performing Arts’ hugely popular Music Hall Babies project, which introduced arts from birth to a group of 50 babies born in the North-East in December 2017, many from areas of multiple deprivation.

The babies and their parents attended weekly music, movement, sensory and visual art sessions throughout 2018, some delivered by Starcatchers’ artists, to encourage cognitive development through the arts, widen access to cultural activity and help strengthen parent/child bonds.

An independent evaluation of the project found that parents’ confidence to participate in creative activities with their babies grew considerably.

Music Hall Babies continued through 2019 and now, as the original group of babies approach their second birthday, performance and early years artist Heather Fulton will deliver a colourful, fun and creative programme of activities culminating in a Christmas Special in Aberdeen’s newly-renovated Music Hall.

Sessions will also be offered to the wider community in Seaton in a bid to engage more families in areas of deprivation, who may not normally have the opportunity to engage in arts and cultural activities.