Explore sculpture in the landscape with your class at Yorkshire Sculpture Park. Discover new ways to look, question and discuss sculpture with your students.

We provide an innovative learning programme for educational groups including schools, colleges and universities. Our skilled team of artist-educators deliver unique and meaningful tours and workshops to inspire critical thinking and deeper understanding. We cater for all key stages, from Early Years Foundation Stage to Further and Higher Education. Alternatively, book a teacher-led visitand explore our indoor and indoor galleries at your own leisure.

If you would like to receive information about new workshops, teacher CPD and opportunities for your school, sign up  to our schools mailing list and tick the 'schools, colleges and universities info' box.

How to book an artist-led session

Please download the relevant booking form below for the session you would like to book, complete and email your completed form to our Learning Programme Coordinator learning@ysp.org.uk. Please note that your booking is not confirmed until we respond with a confirmation email.

If you are not able to email us or have an urgent enquiry related to your booking, you can phone our Learning Programme Coordinator on +44 (0)1924 832528 Monday–Friday from 9.00–17.00.

Artist-led session options

Early Years

Our EYFS workshops centre on child-led and open-ended exploration. Pupils explore materials, mark-making, stories and movement amongst the sculptures in the park. Our Early Years outdoor learning site, The Hidden Forest, provides a safe space for exploration and play. All sessions are delivered by artist-educators with experience of Early Years learning.  

Little Movers and Makers

Suitable for: Foundation Stage
Half day: 10.00–12.00 or 12.30–14.30 (Timings flexible)
Cost: £185 +VAT

This session is led by specialist artists, with experience of working in Early Years settings and of Early Years pedagogy. It is an outdoor, artist-led session which takes children on a creative journey through the Park, responding actively and imaginatively to sculpture and the natural environment through artist-guided activities. Children immerse themselves in the materials and stories of sculptures and the natural world through movement, talk, mark-making and play. 
 
Although predominately outdoors, a ‘Little Movers and Makers’ session may include activities in our indoor exhibitions as part of the session. 
 
Download an information pack to find out more.

Make a booking request

Little Sculpture Wonders

Suitable for: Foundation Stage
Half day: 10.00–12.00 or 12.30–14.30 (Timings flexible)
Cost: £185 +VAT
Full day: 10.00–14.30 (including lunchtime)
Cost: £250 +VAT

This session is led by specialist artists, with extensive experience of working in Early Years settings and of Early Years pedagogy. It is an outdoor, artist-led session based in the ‘Hidden Forest’; an enclosed outdoor learning site specifically designed for very young learners. Through artist-designed activities, children immerse themselves in the materials and stories of sculptures through movement, talk, mark-making and child-led play.
 
Children have opportunity to explore sculpture, the natural environment and materials through stacking, sorting, moving, moulding, constructing, mark-making and den-building, using natural and found materials and the inspiring environment of the 'Hidden Forest'. Activities help young learners develop confidence, collaboration and problem-solving skills as well as imaginative play.  
 
The session is inspired by sculptures at YSP and starts with the group visiting a few nearby sculptures with the lead artist to contextualise activities; the rest of the session comprises child-led exploration within the ‘Hidden Forest’. The ‘Little Sculpture Wonders’ can be extended into a full-day workshop, offering a broader and deeper exploration of the Park, with children directly responding to sculptures in the morning through artist-guided creative activities in the open-air. A full-day workshop enable children to transfer their thinking and ideas from the morning into their own sculpture-building in the afternoon. An indoor lunch space is provided with the full-day workshop.

Download an information pack to find out more.

Make a booking request

KS 1-4 & Further Education Groups

We offer a vibrant and creative range of workshops and tours to engage your class with our changing programme of exhibitions and Collection in the outdoors.

Walk, Talk, Make

Suitable for: KS 1–4 and Further Education Groups
Half-day: 10.00–12.00 / 12.30–14.30 (timings flexible)
Cost: £185 +VAT

Bring your class on this outdoor, artist-led, interactive walking tour to build your classes confidence in looking at and responding to contemporary sculpture at YSP. Through questioning, making and drawing, your class develops their creative and critical thinking skills and develops their sculptural vocabulary. Class-led discussion and experimentation with materials (wire, clay, card etc.) raises curiosity, and identifies lines of enquiry supporting learning about contemporary art. Explore YSP and support your class to make relevant connections between contemporary art, the world around them and their place within it.

Choose one of the following themes:
– Highlights: explore key artworks in the park.
– Materials: discover the many types of materials that sculpture can be made from.
– Abstraction: explore and discuss the meanings behind abstract sculpture.
– Identity: how can we express our identity through art?
– Art and the Landscape: explore the relationship between art and the landscape.
– Modern and Contemporary: Context and Impact (for KS3+): a study of art history through the 20th & 21st centuries.

Although predominately outdoors, the workshop may include a visit to our indoor exhibitions.

This interactive tour supports:
Arts Award Discover: Part A – Discover and Part B – Find Out
Arts Award Explore: Part A – Inspire and Part B – Explore
Bronze Arts Award: Part A – Explore the arts as a participant, Part B – Explore the arts as an audience member and Part C – Arts inspiration

Download an information pack to find out more.

Make a booking request

Outdoor Sculpture Building

Suitable for:  KS 1–4 and Further Education Groups
Full-day workshop: 10.00–14.30 (timings flexible)
Cost: £250 +VAT

This full day workshop extends the ‘Walk, Talk, Make’ interactive tour and your chosen theme (outlined above), to critically consider ‘What makes a successful sculpture?’. Alongside developing confidence in looking at and responding to contemporary sculpture, your class determines what makes a successful sculpture and considers the sculptural thinking skills needed by an artist.

In the afternoon your class puts their critical and creative thinking into action. Groups are set a ‘sculptural challenge’ based on their enquiry during the tour. Experimenting in small groups to create their own large-scale sculptural constructions, your class uses found materials, both natural and man-made, applying their newly defined criteria for success, (balance, scale, composition, light etc.). This workshop develops imaginative thinking, construction skills, such as stacking and balancing, problem-solving, team work, speaking and listening and physical engagement with large-scale making in the outdoors. Groups create their own ‘mini’ Yorkshire Sculpture Park, presenting their ideas and collectively reflecting on their classes’ sculptures. Your class develops their sculptural vocabulary and thinking whilst defining the unique challenges of sculptural making.

This workshop supports:
Arts Award Discover: Part A – Discover and Part B – Find Out
Arts Award Explore: Part A – Inspire, Part B – Explore, Part C – Create and Part D - Present
Bronze Arts Award: Part A – Explore the arts as a participant, Part B – Explore the arts as an audience member and Part C – Arts inspiration

Download an information pack to find out more.

Make a booking request

Poetry in Sculpture: Taking Words for a Walk 

Suitable for: KS1–4
Half-day workshop: 10.00-12.30
Cost: £200+VAT

Join writer, poet and performer Rose Condo on a journey through the park to explore sculpture through creative writing, poetry and spoken word. Students will develop their creative writing and visual literacy skills in a fresh and exciting approach to exploring contemporary sculpture in the landscape.

Using walking as a prompt for generating creative writing, students will reflect on what they notice in their surroundings as they explore the parkland. The session will include short writing prompts, collaborative writing activities, walking, observation and discussion. The combination of walking and writing will invite students to reflect on ideas as they move through the park and generate poetry and stories inspired by what they see.

Download an information pack to find out more.

Make a booking request

Screen Printing: Art & Nature

Suitable for: KS 1–4 and Further Education Groups
Full-day workshop: 10.00–14.30 (timings flexible)
Cost: £250 +VAT

Learn the art of screen printing inspired by the world class sculptures and natural forms, shapes and textures found in the landscape at YSP. Your class will explore the Park on an interactive artist-led tour and collect ideas and drawings which will inform the design for their artwork. Students will then learn the process of silk screen printing and put their new knowledge into practice by making their own multi-layered designs. Students will take home a final print on fabric, which can be displayed at school or mounted in a sketchbook.

Download an information pack to find out more.

Make a booking request