Classic FM Arts & Kids Week
Posted 20th October 2009 15:58pm
Hundreds of events are being staged in cultural venues around the country for children and their families this autumn half term. For the seventh year running Classic FM and The Prince’s Foundation for Children & the Arts have teamed up for Classic FM Arts & Kids Week to encourage families and young people to unleash their creativity in partnership with their local theatre, museum, orchestra and gallery.
Running from the 24th October to the 1st November, Classic FM Arts & Kids Week is an opportunity to involve your children in the full spectrum of the arts right on your doorstep. By visiting www.childrenandarts.org.uk/events you can find out about the variety of art events taking place in your local area, from plays to painting, storytelling and music workshops to film making.
Over a million children in Britain have little or no access to the arts. By the time they leave school, they may never have set foot in an art gallery, watched a performance in a theatre or listened to an orchestra play. The Prince’s Foundation for Children & Arts strongly believes that by being denied access to the arts, these children are missing out on the benefits our shared cultural heritage can bring.
Far from being a luxury, or the preserve of a cultural elite, involvement in the arts can play a unique role in the development of every child. It improves social and intellectual skills, self-confidence, self-esteem and team ethos, and has a concrete impact on a child’s attainment across the curriculum, as well as inspiring creativity and imagination.
On air, Classic FM Arts & Kids Week 2009 will include extensive advice on how to get to an arts event near you; special Arts & Kids Week programming looking at child prodigies and music inspired by children; nine Arts Daily podcasts looking at the work Children & the Arts do across the country; and an interview with Jeremy Irons, an ambassador for Children & the Arts. The week will culminate with the broadcast of The Children’s Hall of Fame, counting down the most popular children’s classics as voted for by Classic FM listeners.
Quentin Blake, Ambassador of Children & the Arts said, "As a schoolboy said recently: Shakespeare looks boring but when you're in it, it's fun. Much the same is true of a great deal of the arts, which is why everything that Children & the Arts does - and Arts and Kids Week in particular - is so important. Introducing young people to the arts is introducing them to something that they can understand once they're immersed in it. And the life rewards are enormous."
Darren Henley, Managing Director of Classic FM said, “Children & the Arts lead the way in bringing all art forms to youngsters who otherwise wouldn’t encounter them in their everyday lives. Classic FM Arts & Kids Week is a brilliant opportunity to introduce children to the arts and show them how they can be part of everyday life.”
