See & Do

Early years activity

Mini Moore: Collect

Wednesday 27 May 2026

11:00–13:00

Learning Studios, Sheep Field Barn

Studios & Gardens, Hertfordshire

Included in an annual ticket

Part of Early Years Programme: Collect, Make & Rearrange

A child holding up a sculpture in each hand, made from stones and plasticine.

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About this event

Calling all mini Moore enthusiasts! Join us in the grounds and Learning Studios in these new exploratory sessions with artist and sculptor, Dr Ellie Barrett.

We will be running six sessions focusing on collecting, making and arranging found objects. This encourages micro-looking as a way of establishing ecological awareness in children aged 3-5 years, increasing our connections to the land.

Ellie will guide our early years participants through their very own mini sculptures, and explore materials and natural objects to make new artworks. We encourage families to return to each of the three sessions: Collecting, Making and Rearranging to get the most from Ellie’s direction.

Children are already avid collectors of objects, and Moore used this practice as a way of increasing his awareness of three-dimensional form. As adults, looking at the world through children’s eyes can help us feel more curious, imaginative and creative.

Collect

Wednesday 27 May & Wednesday 26 August

In this session, join Ellie in the grounds to explore and take inspiration from our beautiful gardens and natural environment, following in Moore’s footsteps. We will gather objects to form a new archive which tells us more about the surrounding landscape.

Making

Wednesday 24 June & Wednesday 23 September

Mini Makers are encouraged to instinctively transform the collection of natural objects into new sculptural works using new materials, creating new forms by embedding, covering and imprinting.

Rearranging

Wednesday 22 July & Wednesday 21 October

Collaborating with other Mini Makers, we will use the sculptures as objects for play. Using playful processes such as rearranging and disrupting, we will create a pop-up archive of new sculptures. This draws inspiration from Moore’s curation of his own natural objects in his studio.

About the artist

Ellie is a sculptor, practice-based researcher, writer, academic and artist-mother. She produces object-based artworks for exhibition and delivers socially engaged projects.

Ellie advocates for artist-mothers using material engagement as a means of activating different circumstances and experiences as sites for making.

This series connects with Ellie’s ongoing research into intergenerational adult and child collaborative practice.

elliebarrett.com

Tickets

Entry is included in an annual ticket. This event is drop-in, so there’s no need to book. Children must be accompanied by an adult.

If you already have an annual ticket, just come along on the day and bring your annual ticket with you.
If you don’t have an annual ticket, you can buy one online or from the ticket desk when you arrive.

An annual ticket lets you return to Studios & Gardens as often as you like, during open season, for 12 calendar months.

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Safety & accessibility

Children must be accompanied by adults, to ensure the safe use of the materials on offer during these sessions, as well as safe collection of small natural objects found and collected around the gardens.

Please be aware this series of activities will handle natural objects such as shells and stones, which may be sharp. Child safe scissors and tools will be available for mini Moores to sculpt with.

Expect to get messy with a variety of sculptural materials in these sessions, so please come dressed in clothes that you don’t mind getting mucky!

Activities can be altered based on the needs of the participant. Please speak to a member of staff in the Learning Studios to request any necessary adjustments.

Get in touch

Still have some questions about what to expect at this session?

Get in touch with a friendly member of our learning and engagement team by filling out the form below.

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What’s on

Find out more about what you can see and do this season at Henry Moore Studios & Gardens, Hertfordshire.

See what’s on

The Art and Life of Henry Moore

A black and white photo showing an older man in shirt and tie working with a mallet and chisel to carve a sculpture from a large piece of wood.

The Art and Life of Henry Moore

This exhibition in the newly-opened Sheep Field Barn Gallery presents over eighty sculptures made between 1922 and 1986, alongside photographs and archival materials from the Henry Moore Foundation Collections.

Henry Moore: Shelter Drawings

A drawing of four adults and a small child huddled together under blankets. The figures are primarily drawn in white and yellow chalk, with some orange and red highlights, and are surrounded by darkness.

Henry Moore: Shelter Drawings

Our special display for 2026 focuses on Moore’s Shelter Drawings. Created during the Second World War, they are among the most powerful and widely recognised works of Moore’s career.