In Person Events - Booking Essential
Important Information for In Person Event Bookings
Additional Needs:
For events with set age limits and where availability remains, it is possible for children with additional needs to attend events along with their siblings where they feel comfortable in participating and a parent/guardian remains near by. As parents, you'll know what's best for your child/family.
Additional Needs:
For events with set age limits and where availability remains, it is possible for children with additional needs to attend events along with their siblings where they feel comfortable in participating and a parent/guardian remains near by. As parents, you'll know what's best for your child/family.
Ceardlann Cre le TJ’s Bounce Clay
Áras Sheáin Bháin/ Fintown
11am / 12pm
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Join TJ’s bilingual ‘Bounce Clay’ workshop for children aged 5+ and their families. Participants will have fun creating a special theme that they can bring home with them.
Playing with bounce clay is a stimulating process encapsulating all the senses. Learning by doing helps to reinforce a child’s development and education. Bounce clay provides the perfect hands-on learning tool through the use of clay modelling products and it looks fab, too. There will be two sessions , each lasting approximately 50 minutes:
Ages: 5 years + |
Pottery & Paint a Pot Workshops
Bundoran Community Library
10.30am / 12.30pm
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Always wanted to try pottery? Why not come along on Ireland’s National Day of Creativity for children to Bundoran Library.
There will be two portable potter’s wheels and we will be using plastic clay to do some hand modelling with, we will also have some dry stock pots for the children to decorate with various colours of decorating slip whilst waiting for their turn on the potter’s wheel. There will be a master of the craft, David from Tiger Ceramics in Ballyshannon and his assistant Chanelle who is one of the main decorators, they will give advice, tips and help with decorating the pots. Two workshops will take place:
Age: 7 years + |
Caibleadh – Voices Over the Water
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Join the Sea Collective for a special creative workshop at Fanad Lighthouse. Donegal’s waters boast incredible marine biodiversity and our coastal communities have a rich maritime history and connection to the sea.
Young people will choose Irish language phrases related to our oceans, and be given full reign of their creative expression to produce visual art installations using different materials, showing their interpretation of their chosen phrase. Age: 5 years + |
Glór Inis Eoghain – Magh / Muff
Muff Community Centre
10am - 1pm
gloriniseoghain@gmail.com
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Glór Inis Eoghain is an Irish Language advocacy group, promoting Gaeilge in Inishowen. Join them for a bilingual adventure at Muff Community Centre which will have a creative take on immersing young people in the Irish Language.
Enjoy all of the following bilingual activities once you book a place for the day:
Ages: Most suitable for young people aged 6-12 years |
Glór Inis Eoghain – Mhalainn (Malin)
Malin Head Community Centre
10am - 1pm
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gloriniseoghain@gmail.com
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Glór Inis Eoghain is an Irish Language advocacy group, promoting Gaeilge in Inishowen. Join them for a bilingual adventure at Malin Head Community Centre which will have a creative take on immersing young people in the Irish Language.
Enjoy all of the following bilingual activities once you book a place for the day:
Ages: Most suitable for young people aged 6-12 years |
Write on Track
Donegal Railway Heritage Centre
11am / 1.30pm
thewritestuff0@gmail.com
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Join Grainne McCool from The Write Stuff Kids Club for a morning of words and creativity where you will create various forms of poetic verse about all our communities and explore how we feel about them.
Each session will also explore the wonderful surroundings of a railway carriage in which the workshops take place. Imagine the people who have travelled in this carriage in years gone by and write about what you imagine them doing and where they were going. If you’re a writing buff and fancy a bit of craic in a carriage, this workshop is for you. There will be two sessions
Ages: Most suitable for children aged 7 years+ |
Sunflower Special Yoga – Parent and Child
Central Library, Letterkenny
10.30am / 12pm
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Special Yoga is grounded in love, respect and compassion for every child and young person who takes part in the session. It is about connecting with the child and helping them to feel calm, balanced, and relaxed. A space where they can be themselves and feel totally accepted. Gentle yoga poses and relaxation make up the session. Please wear suitable clothing.
This event is suitable for children with ASD aged 8+ . Spaces are limited and one parent/guardian are asked join in on the session. Age: 8 - 18 |
Smarty Pants Role Play
Smarty Pants, Unit 7 Bonagee, Letterkenny
9.30am / 11.30am
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Let your young one's imagination run wild this Cruinniú with Smarty Pants in Letterkenny. This custom built facility will fuel your young one's imagination as they immerse themselves in role play, hand out with other children and flex their negotiating skills, empathy and their creative side.
Role play allows for creative expression from the earliest age and builds many skills that last into adulthood. There are two sessions:
New addition to the Cruinniú 2023 line up in Donegal due to demand for this age group and feedback from our voice of the child survey. |
Ealaíon: Éanacha Mara Mhachaire Rabhartaigh
Ionad Mhachaire Rabhartaigh
10am - 1pm
criostri1@gmail.com
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Ceardlann ealaíon leis an ealaíontóir Laura Ní Dhuibhir, áit a mbeidh deis agat do chuid buanna ealaíonta a thaispeáin agus triail a bhaint as rud éigin úr. Le chéile déanfaidh muid ealta de héanacha dathúil 3D ag úsáid sreang miotal, cairtchlár, páipéar mache agus péint. Nuair atá siad maisithe go deas déantar iarracht iad a chuir ag eitilt, ar dhóigh amháin nó dhóigh eile.
Art project with artist Laura Ní Dhuibhir, a workshop where you can show your artistic talent while trying something new. Together we will create a flock of 3D bird sculptures using metal wire, cardboard, paper mache and paint. Once beautifully decorated, we will attempt to make them fly, one way or another. Ages: Most suitable for young people aged 9-12 years |
Creating Characters
Cara House, Letterkenny
12pm - 3pm
info@carahouse.ie
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The Creating Characters Day at Cara House Family Resource Centre will provide participants with guided sessions in a variety of art disciplines using a theme that appeals to all age groups and levels of arts experience.
It will focus on promoting self-expression, play, confidence-building and inspiring imagination through physical theatre, creative writing and visual art. Physical Theatre/Clowning: This workshop will use physical theatre as a fun and interactive way for participants to explore character creation. Creative Writing: Using a mindfulness-based approach to creativity and expression this workshop will introduce participants to a wide range of writing prompts from video and photograph to physical objects and drama scenarios. Visual Art: Each participant will be guided and encouraged to represent the characters they’ve been developing throughout the day with templates, ideas and a range of art materials. Ages: Most suitable for children aged 0-12 years |
Drama Workshops
The Balor, Ballybofey
10am - 2pm
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Tap into your creativity and acting talents at a workshop at Balor Arts Centre!
Join The Balor Developmental Community Arts group for two drama workshops this June 10. Discover a world of creative writing, movement and learn character creation techniques, all of which will work towards producing a short performance on the day. Participants will get a chance to be creative, meet new friends and above all, have a super fun day. Snacks will be provided Ages: Most suitable for children aged 8-12 years |
Bringing Sound to Life Through Stories and Art
Aislann Chill Chartha/ Kilcar
10.15am - 11.45am
mariannejok@gmail.com
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Join Marianne O’Kane Boal for a musical morning of creativity. This bilingual event will combine a children’s story, arts and crafts workshop using found materials for children and their parents, grandparents and carer.
Marianne will begin this workshop by exploring sounds and music in picture books through reading and discussion. This will be followed by hands-on activity where children will use a range of materials to create their own instruments and paint them afterwards. Suitable for ages 3+ but babies and toddlers are also welcome to attend and can take part in the fun under supervision of parents/guardians. All materials will be provided and children can bring their instruments home following the workshop. Ages: Most suitable for children aged 3+ |
Circus Skills with In Your Space
Súile Centre, Raphoe
11am - 12.30pm
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In Your Space Circus are so excited to be coming to Raphoe to deliver some circus skills as part of Circus Explored, an all-island initiative, to bring circus to everyone.
This class will give you a chance to play games and learn circus tricks all while having loads of fun! Learn to spin a plate, learn to juggle or try taking a spin on a unicycle. Come along and try it out! Age: 5 years + |
A Play in a Day
The Exchange, Buncrana
12pm - 4pm
themusicboxireland@gmail.com
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In a dynamic day of collaboration, young people will have the opportunity to enjoy all aspects of musical theatre including performing it before a live audience, all in one day! Working to a deadline, learning the script, music, setting up the stage and creating a short musical play in the space of a few hours.
Based on an adaptation of a musical about the Leave No Trace environmental movement, written by Bernie Doherty of The Music Box. Under her guidance, this event is sure to be packed full of fun, creativity and learning for all involved. The day will start at 12pm where participants will meet to begin the session and at 4pm, parents, guardians and families and the public are invited to attend the performance. Ages: 8 years + |
Carndonagh Creates
Spraoi agus Sport, Carndonagh
10am / 12pm / 2pm
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Join in on the Creative Fun at Spraoi agus Sport in Carndonagh as they bring some very tactile and creative workshops for children aged 7 years +.
10am – 11.30am Creative Stitch with Bernie Murphy Textile Artist/Designer This is a wonderful opportunity for children to explore their creativity at the ‘Creative Stitch’ workshop with Bernie Murphy. Bernie loves to design sewing projects for children that will give each child the opportunity to let their creativity shine. 12pm – 1.30pm Arts and Crafts with Art Farm Join ART FARM for a carnival of artistic activities such as dreamcatchers, weaving, masking making, and silk painting. Children will explore new arts and crafts and get to take their special creations home. 2pm – 3.30pm Pottery Classes with Lorraine O’Carroll The pottery workshop will create a layered wall ceramic piece reflecting the geography of the peninsula. It will involve moulding clay and includes slip-trailing and springing. If time allows a second project will be folding 2D clay slabs to create a 3D functional piece with embossing and decoration. These events can be booked separately. Age: 8 years + |
In Person Events - Turn Up & Play
There are lots of events taking place that do not require booking, just turn up and play on the day. See below for more details and locations.
Snack Box Theatre
An Grianán Theatre, Letterkenny - Between 1pm and 4pm
An Grianán Youth Theatre present Snack Box Theatre, a series of short performance pieces inspired by 80s TV favourites. Expect some audience participation as students aged 5 to 18 perform in different spaces both inside and outside the theatre. Leg warmers optional!
Performances will take place both in the theatre and around the entrance, so pop in between 1pm and 4pm to add a little bit of drama to your day!
Performances will take place both in the theatre and around the entrance, so pop in between 1pm and 4pm to add a little bit of drama to your day!
Wood Crafts on Moville Green
Moville Green - Between 2pm and 4pm
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Get messy making fat balls and learn some new woodcraft skills making fun feeders for wild birds and making planters for pollinators.
Join Moville Tidy Towns on Moville Green from 2pm-4pm in one of the shelters between the playground and Inish Adventures to get crafty to support our pollinators and wild birds. No need to book, just come along on the day. Make sure to dress for the weather as this is an outdoor event. Age: All Ages |
Full Steam Ahead
Donegal Railway Heritage Centre, Donegal Town - Between 10am and 4pm
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Roll into the Donegal Railway Heritage Centre FOR FREE this Cruinniú na nÓg between 10am–4pm for an unforgettable adventure.
Explore the museum at your leisure, take part in interactive facilities where you can learn how to operate a steam engine, and more. Weather permitting, you could have a ride on the train. Suitable for all the family – just turn up and play on the day. Age: All Ages |
Discrimination and Inclusion
The Loft, Letterkenny - Show starts at 2pm and ends at 2.45
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World Wide Voices is an international group made up of students hailing from all around the world, who want to make it easier for young people to integrate and feel part of the community here.
They will be in acting a dramatised play that shows discrimination and inclusion within black and minority groups, talking/acting about their experiences and telling their story through acting and music. Some people will be talking about the struggles of living in the IPASS centre and what challenges they face. Feeling you do not belong in a society that is unforgiving can be hard and the struggles of attending college, getting jobs, when you have very little, contributes. Being included in projects like this is what we need as mostly you feel excluded in events that target BME communities. This event was born out of a group discussion, where the young people were divided into two groups and they came together with an idea of a show/musical. This was entirely their idea/voices and they had facilitators to help facilitate the process. |
All Ages - Live Music with Adore, Polxroid & Arn
Regional Cultural Centre, Letterkenny
7pm - 10pm
This Is Art
Public Libraries accoss the County
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RTÉ and Creative Ireland have teamed up again to present This is Art!, Ireland’s national young people’s art competition.
This celebration of visual art invites youth artists of all abilities and ages, individually or in groups, to create an original piece of art. The theme for 2023 is ‘This is Inspiration’, encouraging artists to show us what inspires them and sparks their creativity. All of Donegal’s 92 entries will be displayed in a digital gallery in library branches across the county, so drop in during library opening hours to view all the work created by Donegal’s brilliant young artists! The artwork will remain on display until 1 September.
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Fully Booked Events
Sensory Explorers
Donegal County Museum, Letterkenny
1.30pm / 3pm
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Join a sensory explorer’s expedition to Donegal County Museum, where little ones aged 0-4 along with their parents/guardians get to explore art, the senses, and utilise their bountiful imagination.
The event will be guided by the watchful eye of Arty Fox, Feena McBride who will lead creative activities showing parents that art and visual expression is something that can be done easily at home. Fuel their imagination by bringing them to different textures, sounds and the freedom to explore the museum. There will be two sessions: 1.30pm-2.30pm 3pm-4pm Parents/guardians are required to accompany their children while at the event and all participants are advised to wear suitable clothing. Ages: Most suitable for children aged 0-4 years |
Portrait Workshop with RCC Curator-in-Residence Daniel Nelis
Regional Cultural Centre, Letterkenny
2pm - 3.30pm
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A portrait workshop with a particular emphasis on the importance of looking, children will craft continuous blind contour drawings in pairs and finally create colourful individual sgraffito self-portraits.
The workshop will celebrate the creative and expressive potential of portraiture, while at the same time instilling an appreciation for the significance of light and colour in their work. Ages: Most suitable for young people aged 8-14 years |
Eithne’s Woodland Adventure
Drumboe Woods, Stranorlar
11am / 12pm / 1pm
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Join Eithne the intrepid adventurer and her team of explorers on an exciting adventure through the mystical Drumboe Woods in Stranorlar.
This interactive and theatrical journey will take you on a guided tour of the woods, encountering magical characters along the way. With a focus on leave-no-trace practices, you’ll learn about the importance of preserving the natural environment. Bring your hiking boots or wellies and a sense of adventure as you explore the wonders of Drumboe Woods with Eithne and her team. Ages: Most suitable for young people aged 3-10 years but suitable for the whole family |
Scoil Scairte na nÓg
Ionad Garradh Cholmcille, Falcarragh
Times in blurb
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Artist and large-scale mural creator Ciarán Dunlevy will oversee a project with Club Óige Tuatha Dé Dannan and volunteers from Pobail Le Chéile CDP.
Workshops 10th & 11th June Time Day 1: 11am - 5pm Time Day 2: 11am - 2pm Cruinniú na nÓg event 11th June Time: 3pm – 5pm. Open to the general public no booking needed. Age: 8 years + |
Digital Creative Lab
Buncrana Community Library
10am / 12pm
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Join Paul and Elena from the Digital Creative Lab where children will get an opportunity to build their fun experiences with STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics) for ages 7-14.
Come along and join the fun playing with gears, make your own battery, learn basic coding and how to control a robot. You’ll be surprised what kids will learn with hands-on, fun and engaging activities. There will be two sessions on the day: 10am -11.30am 12pm -1.30pm Ages: Most suitable for young people aged 7-14 years |
Online / At Home Events
Create a Comic
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Marvel at your own creativity by creating characters and an exciting world in your very own comic book. Each pack contains a blank comic book to create, with guidelines and prompts to inspire. There will also be colouring pencils to help you on your way. Fun stickers of speech bubbles and signs will add a pop of colour. Log in to a dedicated YouTube tutorial for inspiration and guidance.
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Circus at Home
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Calling all young circus enthusiasts who fancy learning to spin a plate. Your parents needn’t worry about their precious crockery as we have the Irish Street Arts, Circus and Spectacle Network who have prepared kits just for you.
Sign up for a pack which includes free branded props and a QR card to tutorials, which is everything you need to get started. Sign up and select which library branch in Donegal you want to collect it in before June 10. We have 100 of these packs up for grabs so be quick once bookings open. Age: All Ages |
Light up a Robot!
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For this activity, you will get a paper circuit robot template with easy to follow instructions. You can get creative with colouring before building your electronic circuit to bring the robot’s eyes to light.
This is a practical, hands-on creative STEM activity that will allow children and young people to explore how circuits are made. When you sign up to receive this pack, the ‘Light Up a Robot’ kit will be posted to your doorstep and will include detailed written instructions and images on how to assemble. Get creative and colour in your robot with crayons and markers before assembling the paper circuit. A pin or pen tip may be needed to poke out the holes for the LEDs. Age: 8 years + |
Other Events - Booking Not Possible
Screen Printing and Design with Mevagh Youth Club
Mevagh Family Resource Centre
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Learn about the process of screen printing and design your own swim bag to reflect our natural environment.
Two workshops will take place in advance of Cruinniú: The first design workshop will focus on the young people creating their designs which will take place at Mevagh Family Resource Centre. The second workshop will focus on the printing process with Pixalili. Participants will see how the print process works and create their own personalised swim bags. Please note, this event is for a closed group and booking is not possible. |
Rhyme Island
Letterkenny
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In May we worked closely with young people in direct provision to support them to write lyrics (rap, song or poetry) and record a group song exploring their stories to be released for Cruinniú na nÓg.
The recording will be available on Cruinniú Day. Pop back on June 10th to see what they got up to. |
Creativity Unleashed
Letterkenny
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Children in the Foster Care System will have the opportunity to participate in fun workshops, programmes to show off their creative sides while learning new ways to express creativity.
The programme for the day was developed in consultation with the children and their carers and devised based on the children’s voices. Dance, Art and Science reigned supreme and will provide much food for thought as their creativity is unleashed. This event is organised specifically for children in foster care with Five Rivers Fostering and their foster siblings. Booking is not possible |
Wellbeing Collective
Letterkenny
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Donegal’s Youth Diversion Project run by Foróige will focus on wellbeing with a dedicated day of fun, fitness and a little bit of friendly competition.
This event was developed in consultation with young people involved in the project who were adamant that a sporting activity such as football be a component, followed by a creative expression workshop withIn Your Space Circus, and an arts and crafts workshop in the form of a collective mural. The day will include activities designed to give young people new ideas for activities they could take part in or do at home, which will have a positive impact on their wellbeing and their future. |
Make the most of your day out and stop at a playground en-route ...
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We had an amazing storytelling workshop in the run to to Cruinniú with young people aged 12–18 from ethnic minority backgrounds, including young people living in Direct Provision and young people from the Irish community. Check it out. Full details in the YouTube description.
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Young people from the Dunfanaghy area had a blast creating short films inspired by the resources around them in recent weeks. This is the result which we're sure you'll agree is fab. Full details are in the YouTube description.
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This year, we had a Cruinniú na nÓg Ambassador from Donegal. Check out this short video of Faith-Leigh Bomah from Letterkenny and why Creativity is important to her.
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