5x5x5=creativity is an arts-based organisation dedicated to researching and supporting the creative development of children in early years and primary education. Through 5x5x5=creativity, artists, educators and cultural centres are researching children in their exploration, communication and expression of creative ideas, helping them to develop creative skills for life. 5x5x5=creativity is inspired by the celebrated Reggio Emilia educational approach in Northern Italy that respects children as strong, capable protagonists in their own learning.

Kindling aims to build partnerships between Arts and Cultural organisations and the Early Years Sector, develop creative and critical thinking for Somerset's under fives, advocate creative excellence in Somerset and disseminate experiences at a national level. The Thrive Early Years Specialist Lead Officers have been appointed as part of an Arts Council England funded initiative, Thrive Somerset, which is exploring the potential for greater shared and collaborative working for a core of sixteen arts providers from across the county. They are based at Take Art, one of the providers.

DepARTure Arts is Dorset County Council's arts-in-education agency, based in the Learning and School Improvement section of Children's Services. As a partner of the South West Arts Education Partnership, DepARTure exists to raise the profile of arts in education by developing links between early years settings, schools, artists and arts organisations in order to encourage high quality arts experiences for children, teachers, governors and parents both within and beyond the curriculum.

Folk South West is the folk arts development organisation for the South West of England - working to stimulate enjoyment, participation and creativity in the music, song, dance and traditions of the South West. FSW have run many early years projects, including extensive training for setting staff in order to build confidence, pass on good practice and encourage sustainability within the settings.

made (Music and Dance Education) has been managing, delivering and evaluating early years arts action research projects and programmes for thirteen years in Cornwall working very closely with Cornwall's Children, Schools and Families Service and Kernow Education Arts Partnership. made recently led artstart, a two year networking initiative across the South West, which is now the South West Earlyarts consortium group. made is currently developing The Big Little Picture a County-wide strategy for the arts and creativity in early years settings.

West Sussex County Council Partnership, co-ordinated by West Sussex Arts Service, is a network of local authority services, nursery settings and learning and cultural partners. Their work aims to enrich communities and demonstrate that the arts can make a valuable contribution to the county's cultural, health, economic, learning and skills landscape. The Early Years service in West Sussex already provides a range of training programmes in creative play, and a number of county run nursery and family centres have been rated outstanding by Ofsted, initiating programmes of work with artists or cultural organisations. West Sussex will build on the foundations of these partnerships, and of their CreatAbility programme, supporting artists' early years skills to work meaningfully with families and people with disabilities.

Half Moon Theatre aims to provide theatre-based participatory and performance projects for the very young, in a way that informs, challenges and shapes their artistic potential, placing these creative experiences at the core of Half Moon's policies and practices. Working with children in a variety of contexts, including drop-in centres, speech and language groups, toy libraries and other pre-school settings, their programmes are tailored to each centre and used as a stimulus the children's experience, with a focus on developing self-esteem and communication and encouraging creative and collaborative play.

Birmingham Repertory Theatre aims to develop, produce and present a range of theatrical experience of international quality that reflects the diversity of Birmingham and the surrounding region and that will entertain, enlighten and engage with the maximum number of people. The work begun through the REP’s Children project in creating theatre for the very young will be consolidated over the next three years and the aim is to establish the theatre as a centre of excellence for Early Years theatre provision.

BareToed Dance Company work with dance and movement play for young children, focussing on embodied play, creativity, developmental movement and opportunities to ‘step into the dance’. The company brings together the energy of three local movement artists who were keen to share skills, expertise and visions to create new work. Bare Toed offer training, conferences, bespoke residencies, regular classes at Dance City in Newcastle and performances which weave aerial dance, sensory images and participatory installations or workshops.

Jack Drum Arts is an award winning arts and social enterprise, aiming to engage individuals and communities in creative explorations using a wide range of performing arts and media. Jack Drum Arts believe that creativity works on lots of different levels, offering people of all ages and abilities the opportunity to discover new things about themselves and their place in the world. Their artists work with the community to inspire and enable young children and families to consider how creativity might work for them in both learning and life.

Creative Futures Cumbria works with creative professionals, including artists, scientists, architects, chefs and web designers, promoting the capacity of the creative and cultural sectors to work within education and across the community to put creativity at the heart of learning. As well as supporting the development of creativity in schools and the educational sector in general, Creative Futures Cumbria is increasingly involved in programmes which focus on family learning and providing access to culture and the arts.

Appletree Nursery School and Children's Centre is an expanding, best quality, innovative and creative service for children under 5 and their families. It has a strong commitment to working in partnership with others to inspire, provoke, challenge and provide fun and enjoyment for both adults and children in a creative learning environment. The school offers continuous provision to excellently resourced indoor and outdoor provision and has an active creative learning programme.

Manchester Children's Services has taken a new approach over the past five years to developing creative practice in early years settings, instigating collaborations between teachers, child practitioners and artists for periods as long as a year. They are moving away from defined projects towards a way of engaging with children and families which sees creativity embedded into everyday practice.

Royal Exchange Theatre is an award-winning Theatre in the Round. They believe that theatre has the power to broaden horizons and to build self-esteem, trust, team-work and powers of empathy. All their projects aim to give people an opportunity to explore and express their creativity and to make the theatre their own. The Education Department offers children of all ages, backgrounds and experiences the chance to explore every aspect of theatre, to get involved in creative projects, and to get as much out of their theatre experience as possible. In all of their work they seek to develop partnership links – with settings, schools, practitioners, other agencies and arts organisations supporting young children.

PLACES aims to promote people's understanding of architecture and the built environment. Their projects explore the ways in which the built environment is created and adapted to form the setting of our every day lives. From the outset PLACES have focused much of their work towards young children and their families in the belief that it is in the early years that an introduction to the culture of the built environment has the greatest sustainable impact on people’s lives. They share the belief of the Italian organisation Reggio Children that the built environment of towns, cities and individual buildings has the potential to promote creative co-learning in young children, their teachers and families.

MUSE - Manchester's Network for Creative Learning in the Early Years - is jointly planned by Manchester City Council Children's Services, Sure Start and Renaissance North West. The network exists to promote creative learning in young children in which abstract thinking and visualisation can be on a global scale but action and outcome take place in an environment that is integral to the process. The aim of MUSE is to provide inspiration to all those working in the early years to utilise the built environment and the city as a resource in their teaching.

Renaissance North West - Museums Hub is part of the Regional Museums Hub strategy with a remit to extend their learning programmes of museums and galleries to widen participation, with a particular focus on families and young children both through informal family learning programmes and through more formal early years services.

Cheshire West and Chester Council has a strong arts education development team working within the Achievement and Well Being section of the local authority children’s service, who are passionate advocates for the arts and for working creatively across the whole curriculum. The arts play a fundamental role in children’s lives from birth and are, for this council, central to delivering the five Every Child Matters outcomes. Through partnerships they maximise limited resources and through new dynamic, creative relationships the council aims to achieve high quality, exciting and engaging creative experiences.

Arts Learning Consortium is a network of local authorities, universities and cultural organisations that champions the entitlement of children and young people to high quality arts, creative and cultural learning opportunities. ALC works in partnership with CapeUK, an incubator for the development of ideas and practice in creativity and learning, and wholly committed to enquiry based collaborations that connect arts learning from birth through to adulthood.

Find Your Talent Leeds is part of a national programme to develop the most effective ways of connecting children and young people to high quality experiences and opportunities in arts and culture. FYT in Leeds operates as a partnership between the City Council (including the Early Years Service), Education Leeds (including Artforms and the Breeze Cultural Network) and the cultural sector. They are focussed on building the right relationships between professionals, to avoid so many young children missing out on cultural opportunities at a crucial stage of their development.