About Earlyarts

Earlyarts is the largest professional development network for people working creatively with children and families in the arts, cultural and early years sectors. The network provides a range of resources to develop the appropriate skillset for building creative learning environments and to embed a playful learning culture.

What do we offer? Ten Key Services:

• Earlyarts Professional Development Days, (4 per year) with case study presentations on creative practice in the region, speed networking, policy and curriculum updates, publications review, latest research, skills training in creative approaches.


• Earlyarts Resource Bank with hundreds of publications, videos, toolkits and case studies on creativity and children, covering impacts, benefits, approaches, funding, learning materials, policies, case studies, networks and agencies, and latest research. The resource bank receives an average of 62,453 page hits or 6,733 unique visits per month.


• Earlyarts E-bulletin (6 per year, 4500 subscribers) packed with opportunities for international conferences, case studies, exchanges, training, projects, funding, learning materials, policies, case studies, networks and agencies, plus the latest research. All news items are published weekly in the newsflash section.


• Earlyarts Advertising promoting opportunities for training, jobs, conferences, seminars, publications and research on Earlyarts Newsflash or in E-bulletin. Adverts must be relevant to creativity and early learning, and are subject to Earlyarts Acceptable Standards and T&Cs.


• Earlyarts Artists Database promoting artists, creative practitioners and cultural organisations who are trained in, and experienced with, early years environments. The artists database is extensively used by settings looking for creative approaches. Registered artists automatically receive invitations to bid for projects created through the Brief Builder Toolkit, provided they pass checks for CRB disclosures and previous testimonials.


• Earlyarts Brief Builder project planning toolkit - a quick and easy toolkit to help design the framework for your creative project. The brief can be submitted to any artists on the database, for their response prior to selection, and returned to at any time for editing, evaluating, and reporting back.


• Earlyarts Bookshop (from April 2010) with full reviews of latest research and publications, toolkits and practical learning materials. The review group includes esteemed academics in the field, who review one publication per month. Currently for sale: Creative Play postcard packs to stimulate discussion with parents. Four beautiful designs focusing on different aspects of children's learning and development, and parent-friendly activities. Designed to help parents understand the links between creative play and important areas of development in their children.


• Earlyarts Conference and Seminar Series including an annual conference on international good practice in arts and early years, and opportunities to develop higher level thinking around current provision. In addition, Earlyarts is represented at several key events around the country, providing opportunities for advocacy, debate, knowledge sharing and increased membership. We can provide support for your creativity or early years event through dynamic presentations, practical workshops, creative leadership coaching or networking activities.


• Earlyarts International Exchange Programme enabling members of Earlyarts to work with colleagues from two of our main international partner organisations, Earlyarts USA, and the European Small Size network. Exchange programmes involve extensive learning, discussion and sharing for earlyarts members, plus opportunities to present thinking and practice at annual international conferences.


• Consultancy Services including evaluation, research, critical friendship and training in specific creative approaches that can help to meet different needs of young children and families. We also have a series of training programmes available that can be tailored in partnership with you to meet the particular needs of your staff, families and children. NEW for 2010: Relational Dynamics Coaching for Chief Executives, Senior Managers, Leaders and Consultants in Creative, Cultural or Childrens Services.