26 Stories of Family Arts
The Herd
Counting Sheeps
Audience Impact & Innovation Winner
“Excellent in every way: calm, soothing, interesting, inclusive, educational and funny. Loved it all.” — Audience Member
Counting Sheeps is a show for 0–3-year-olds and their grown-ups – a musical adventure filled with physical theatre, puppetry, sensory play and performed with minimal spoken language.
A new, hyper-local, touring model to 18 venues in Hull over six months, returning to two key venues every month, Counting Sheeps reached families in their comfort zones, and in areas of extremely low early-years arts provision.
When early-years theatre pops-up it’s often for a day, visible to those in the cultural-loop. This project was different: a radical, regular, local offer, supported by a new audience-development role and a new weekly play-group, underpinned by a grassroots, relationship-centred approach to marketing family art. Ahead of the show, a dedicated audience development producer attended existing baby/toddler groups, developed conversations and handed out invitations.
The show was co-created over ten weeks of baby sessions in 2023, in Bransholme with Back to Ours (who deliver cultural community in Hull) and over 50 families. The Herd explored how babies connected to theatrical forms, considered what carers needed , and gathered anecdotes about bedtime for the narrative. This making period was supported by childhood academics from the University of Hull, helping the team better understand the behaviours in the room.
Why we think it’s Fantastic For Families:
“This is a groundbreaking, hyper-local model for early years theatre, built on deep community consultation and co-creation with over 50 families. By touring regularly to 18 venues in areas with little early-years arts provision, and shaping the show around the real needs and experiences of babies and carers, it delivered exceptional local impact and made high-quality theatre part of everyday family life.” — Maya Cross Odemudia, Manchester Family Arts Network Ambassador
The Herd makes space for childhood. Rooted in Hull, and acclaimed nationally, they collaborate with young children to dream up shows, installations and programmes of play that ignite joy, celebrate child creativity and nurture family connection. The Herd believe in the radical power of the arts to reimagine a world with more space for early childhood, a world where children thrive and communities flourish.
In 2016, the team co-created a play with children at a pupil referral unit, performed at Hull Truck – with that The Herd was born. Since then, they have reached an audience of over 94,000 people and worked with over 5,000 children as participants.
You can discover all 26 Stories of Family Arts here. If you’d like to discover more fantastic organisations that meet our Family Arts Standards or Age-Friendly Standards explore the Fantastic for Families Directory.
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26 Stories of Family Arts
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Image credits:
All photography by Hollie Mateer, Wild Child Photographer.