Craft Council: Craft School celebration event 2022

Crafts Council partnership: Craft School Material World

We've teamed up with Crafts Council who, from September 2024, are running a nationwide challenge for classrooms across the UK. The annual programme invites children, young people and their teachers to engage with the power of craft thinking and making.

Craft School: Material World invites learners to explore the natural and human-made materials around them and how they relate to their own heritage, community or the place where they live.

Visit Crafts Council

From September 2024, KS1 to KS4 learners are invited to make 3D works in response to three themes:

Renewable Materials
Making using found materials to explore local habitats and nature
Creative Mending
Explore ways to mend and combine materials to give them a new life
Reclaim and Reuse
Save materials that would otherwise become waste to tackle sustainability, climate justice and making practices from around the world

Each artwork should be submitted to the Crafts Council's Learning team.

Submissions will be judged by an invited panel of craft experts. Winners from each key stage will be selected for an award.

The challenge will culminate in a live, online celebration event in June 2025

Throughout the challenge, Crafts Council will provide free support to teachers and learners through a series of digital resources, videos and CPD sessions. Registered school staff will also be invited to attend online support sessions.

There is no limit on the number of submissions per school. Digital submissions should include:

Two A3 sheets showing evidence of the learners’ making journey and ideas in response to their chosen brief. This can include whatever captures their personal journey best!
Maker statement: written 100 words or an audio file/video of up to 1 minute.

Schools will be offered further guidance on how to submit work.

Crafts Council: Table full of crafting materials including fabric and paper

Crafts Council: Child enjoying crafting activity with educator

Crafts Council: Schoolchildren showing their submissions for a previous Craft School challenge

Crafts Council: Children taking part in National Festival of Making 2023

Crafts Council: A child focuses on drawing a picture as part of a previous Craft School challenge

Crafts Council: Children enjoy a crafting activity with an educator

Bran Howell - Eden Project Education Specialist

“ The climate emergency urges us look at our demands on resources, to be more creative, careful and ingenious in finding ways to live in harmony with the natural world. Craft School: Material World invites to young people to create unique and beautiful objects by using everyday items and by the power of thinking sustainably, creatively and imaginatively. ”