I started Space to Be after many years of working with children in educational settings where I felt that the structure of learning did not align with how children naturally express themselves or engage. Many children struggle to connect, participate, or feel confident within traditional approaches and a lot of times their potential is overlooked or they are labeled as disruptive.
I wanted to create a different kind of learning space for children. One where they have the space to explore who they are, express themselves, and feel a genuine sense of safety and belonging. Over the years of having this project, it naturally evolved into a creative process that supports self-expression, emotional awareness, and meaningful engagement and the positive feedback from children and parents made me realize how special it was and that I had to keep it going.
In practice, Space to Be takes place in community based settings, where children come together outside of school hours to participate in creative sessions. These sessions use drama, visual arts, film, movement, music, and mindfulness to explore themes such as identity, kindness, and belonging.
The approach is designed to work alongside traditional education by offering children a space where they can build confidence and feel a sense of safety and belonging. Through these experiences, children can carry that confidence back into their school environments—so even if their potential is not always recognized, they know it exists because they have already experienced it by exploring who they are in a place where they feel safe.
Space to Be has grown organically through community based work and word of mouth. Each term, I begin by bringing together a small group of children who I feel would benefit from the sessions, and then create a space where we can work together. As the group develops, more children often join, and the process evolves into a shared creative project that is presented to families.
Over the years, this has been repeated with many different groups, and the work has continued to spread through parents and communities, as well as invitations to lead projects in other settings.
Over time, I learned to adapt my work by really listening to the children. At the beginning, I had a clear idea of what I wanted the work to look like and would feel frustrated when it didn’t go as planned. But I started to notice that when I simplified things, the children became more open and engaged.
In many ways, they taught me what I was trying to teach them, to let go, trust the process, and not aim for perfection. This led me to shift towards a more child-led approach, which has made the experience more meaningful and empowering for them.
To try Space to Be, you would start by gathering a small group of children and find a child friendly space where they can meet regularly. Introduce an open theme and guide them through creative activities using drama, arts, movement, music, and mindfulness and maybe adapt the theme according to their needs.
As the sessions progress, allow the children to shape the direction of the work, supporting them in developing their ideas into a shared creative outcome, such as a performance or presentation or an initiative, which may or may not have an audience, again, according to what the group decides.
