Developing empathy through design and making in primary schools helps children to understand that the future is something we are making together.

Children and teachers at Halstow Primary School in London designed and made gravity machines and automata which explore compassion alongside the concept of renewable energy in a playful way as part of the United Nations Global Goals initiative.

The aim of ‘Theatre of the Imagination’ workshops is to foster self-efficacy and self-regulation through design and making to promote cognitive acceleration (Shayer & Adey, 2002). This approach embeds three key features into the classroom: cognitive conflict (the mind develops in response to stimulation), social construction (dialogue with others is essential), and metacognition (reflecting on how we tackle a problem).