The Imagine exhibition pack can be used in a number of ways. A few are suggested below, but those teaching young learners will probably think of many other ways of using it. You will also be able to get ideas from the teaching materials and resources for each title.

• Use it as an exhibition of books and prints in its own right
• If you are planning to borrow the Magic Pencil exhibition (or if your pupils have visited it), you could think about using Imagine as  a contrast to this, eg up-and-coming illustrators in contrast to some of the more established names featured in Magic Pencil.
• Running a series of sessions exploring each of the four sections in Imagine (Animals and creatures, Long ago and far away, Faeries and forests, Families and friends) in more detail
• Using a particular book as the focus for a storytelling session, pulling out themes from the teachers’ resource materials. You may also like to use the storytelling teaching materials published by the British Council Argentina. If you still don’t have a copy, please contact Teresa Fernández  (teresa.fernandez@britishcouncil.org.ar) so she can mail you a copy.
• Using the activities suggested in the Illustration teaching materials published by the British Council Argentina. All illustrations featured in these materials are taken from the Imagine and Magic Pencil exhibitions. If you don’t have a copy, please contact Teresa Fernández  (teresa.fernandez@britishcouncil.org.ar) so she can mail you a copy.

Teachers felt that the exhibition allowed for creativity so the more resourceful ones developed their own events around the exhibition:

• Artists guided the children around, focusing on the different styles and techniques used by the illustrators.
• Parents, teachers and older pupils used the Barefoot books for storytelling sessions, allowing pupils to choose the story they wanted by looking at the pictures.
• Some groups used the same techniques as the illustrators and then ran their own Imagine exhibition.
• Others worked on e-book techniques to experience publishing their own work
• Interdisciplinary work around Imagine took the shape of a writing project called Draw me a story, I tell you my picture and of a book fair called Learn to see, see to learn.
• A group of teachers used it for their seminar on literature and teaching
• An Argentine writer presented her book during one of the exhibitions at a school.

Suggestions from the Imagine exhibition at Manchester Art Gallery

• Having a ‘reading area’ with cushions and chairs. In the original exhibition they put the books that related to the pictures in a box to allow children to root through them, a small shelf unit where the books could be displayed face out, but still accessible so children could work better.
• Child size tables and chairs next to the Jack and the beanstalk picture. The activity suggested for this picture is to prompt children to think about ‘who do you think lives here?’. At the gallery they had provided building blocks on a table for an additional activity to build a home or castle from them.
• Lots of paper and pencils/crayons made available. One activity involves colouring in Cleo the cat but additional activities could be anything that fuelled imagination through drawing and/or writing.
• Post box or bulletin board to allow children to leave what they’ve drawn or written, if they wish.
• The gallery had made a central ‘storytelling tent’ in which they played audio books on CD that were available. They also had a ‘storytelling chair’ which they used for live storytelling sessions, but which could also be used by parents to read with their children at other times. There are a number of storytellers in Argentina who can tell stories in English, you might like to contact them.
• Try to hang the pictures at a height which allows children to look at them easily but that doesn’t mean adults are crawling on the floor!
• Toys and dressing-up clothes that could be related to any of the pictures. In practice this is probably too costly but you may have some existing resources in this area or you might like to develop them as part of the project.
• When Barefoot Books worked with Manchester Art Gallery they ran a story writing competition. You might think of doing something similar.