Story Curators Summer Skills

Summer workshops for young people on storytelling and exhibition design.

Our Story Curators summer workshops invite young people to dream up immersive worlds through storytelling and exhibition design. Hands-on sessions blend creativity with practical skills — from prop-making and set dressing to crafting unforgettable story experiences.

Come along for three days of free, hands-on, immersive workshops for 11–16-year-olds at The Story Museum, exploring ways to design and create characters, worlds and atmospheres inspired by our immersive gallery spaces. Working alongside our exhibitions team, you’ll be introduced to different design and technical skills from costume making to sound design.  

Bring your imaginations and clothes to get messy in. Come for a day - or even better - stay for them all!  This summer's theme is Heroes and Villains and you can find a breakdown of each day below:

 Monday 24th August: Designing worlds…
Explore our immersive galleries, from The Portal - our travel bureau into story-worlds, to Mystery Academy: School for Young Detectives, the snowy realm of Narnia and more. Working with the team that designed and built them, find out how worlds are created, then, inspired by what you’ve seen, try your hand at designing a new environment for an imagined world of heroes and villains using drawing, modelling and collage skills.

 Tuesday 25th August: Costume design and making
What makes a hero? Or a villain? What stories and worlds do they live in? Start the day imagining epic stories and dramatic encounters, before going on to design the heroes and villains that inhabit them. Then have a go at some of the practical skills of costume & prop making to create a cape, mask or prop for one of your designs.

Wednesday 26th August: Sound design
How do we create drama and tell stories through music and sound? Explore the tools, skills and techniques sound designers use to build tension, change the mood and manipulate how an audience feels, as you work as a team to create the soundtrack to an epic battle between heroes and villains. If you play an instrument, please bring it along!

This event is free to access. To apply for your place please contact [email protected] for an application.

For ages 11-16