Community Costumes: Building creative skills into the core curriculum

Exploring playful, sustainable costume-making skills linked to literacy ahead of World Book Day activities with London College of Fashion
About this Event

Community Costumes: Building creative skills into the core curriculum

Wednesday 9th December 2026, 10.00-14.30

A hands-on workshop for KS2 primary school teachers exploring playful, sustainable costume making skills linked to literacy ahead of World Book Day activities, with London College of Fashion (UAL).

This event is open for primary school teachers and community practitioners working in the following London boroughs: Hackney, Newham, Tower Hamlets and Waltham Forest, with a couple of places for wider East London boroughs.

This is not open to UAL students or staff.

Please use your school/institution email address when booking a ticket. If a non-institutional email is used, you will be contacted to check your eligibility to take part.

Overview

This workshop will focus on sustainable costume making and storytelling ideas, to be used in the classroom to enhance creativity and literacy learning at KS2 level. We encourage teachers to consider this as a sustainable approach to celebrating World Book Day and other dress-up celebrations in schools.

What you will learn:

• Playful, low-cost techniques for encouraging imagination and storytelling through costume making.
• Sustainable use of everyday materials in creative projects.
• Linking skills to a range of costume options inspired by characters in literature.
• Process-led approaches to build confidence and curiosity in students.
• Introduction to materials and upcycling ideas with LCF Materials library

Lunch will be provided in the LCF canteen.

Who is delivering the session?

Year 3 BA Costume for Performance Students

Over the past two years, LCF have been building a relationship with Brampton Primary School and local organisations in east London to encourage an imaginative and sustainable approach to costume making in the classroom. Our Community Costumes programme has seen staff and students lead workshops inspired by the lead up to World Book Day (WBD) celebrations. This year, we invite you as practitioners to learn some unique approaches to low cost costume making that can result in a community approach WBD, where children can celebrate their creative skills and imagination alongside their core subject learning.

Emily Millard is a 3rd Year BA Costume for Performance Student at LCF. As a designer she is passionate about storytelling, imaginative world-building and sustainable creativity. Emily loves transforming everyday objects and materials into stories, characters and worlds through playful experimentation and creative thinking.

Jennifer Hayton, Pathway Leader, BA Costume for Performance (London College of Fashion)

Jennifer is a Performance Designer, Maker, Educator and Researcher with over 20 years of experience teaching in Higher Education and leading costume-focused Knowledge Exchange projects with industry. Her practice explores devised and site-specific performance, dance, sustainability, archives and social engagement.

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This is an East Ed event.

is a cross-organisational effort between the world-leading East Bank partners: BBC, UCL, UAL's London College of Fashion, V&A and Sadler's Wells. The programme also features collaborations from other incredible local partners.

Together, we link local young people and educators to the exciting institutions, universities, and sectors unique to Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, offering access to programmes exploring creative, digital, design, and careers. We aim to provide educators with professional development opportunities as well as provide a space for wider discussions around careers, well-being, and work culture.

UCL East Campus, Sadler’s Wells East, V&A East Museum and Storehouse and London College of Fashion, UAL are all now open at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park with BBC Music Studios due to open in 2027.