a drop in workshop and a screaming badge

Last Friday we ran a drop in workshop day with a group of Young Carers at the Peace Centre in Warrington.  We played with lots of ideas from our Boys Can Write collection, themed around Halloween, including scary stencil faces, grisly plaster poems, screaming badge making and nightmarish poetry making. You can see the results on our portfolio site at www.flickr.com


Thanks to Derek at Warrington Museum and Art Gallery for such a smoothly run event.

To make your own screaming badge..

You will need a red and black pen, scissors, something to create a circular shape and sticky tape.

1. What makes you scream? It could be a scream of excitement or joy, or something that makes you scream with terror.
2. If there are any spelling that you are unsure about, practice them on a separate piece of paper.
3. On card or thick paper, write with a red pen, holding it in your teeth.
4. Then with a black pen, write it again using your 'wrong' hand.
5. If you like you can repeat the words writing with your feet, or getting someone to shake the paper, or turning the paper around, or writing with the palms of your hands.
6. Find something to draw around, such as a mug or eggcup, draw a circle around your most marvellous piece of writing.
7. Cut out your badge shape, attach a safety pin with a bit of tape and wear with pride. You are now officially scary.

PS. For a completely different result with a similar technique, look at the beautiful meditative work of the American poet Bob Grenier at http://www.whalecloth.org