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March 2025
Small size World Café
Making Early Years Work
Small size facilitated this open discussion as part of the professional exchange programme at the Théâtre Joliette in Marseilles as part of Assitej International's Bright Generations/Generations Lumineuses Festival in March 2025.
It allowed participants to explore not just how to make early years work itself but, literally, how to make it work logistically in specific national and international contexts. It was an intimate, fun, listening conversation rather than a teaching session and took place in an informal and relaxed environment.
There were five tables, each with a different provocation, a host from the Early Years performance community and six delegates from all over Europe and further afield, which gave an international flavour to the responses. The delegates rotated tables at the end of the round, so that they were able to input into several conversations and develop the argument.
This report gives an oral summary from each of the hosts (more about them at the end of this piece) as well as the key responses to the provocations at the tables themselves.
The conversation included participants from France, Belgium, Brazil, Wales, Canada, Greece, Japan, Ireland, Sweden, Finland, England, and Germany.
TABLE SUMMARIES
What makes early years work unique?
Table Host: Kate Cross
World view of early years children
We need to understand very small children's view of the world and early years development, and recognize that we can't reflect ourselves in the work. Our current experience as adults is necessarily very different from the developmental stage of an early years child. We need to pay more attention to the beautiful presence and possibility that a child brings into the room, especially their extraordinary capacity for contemplation, more so than most adults.
There's a different, divergent thinking that children happily and comfortably bring into the space, enabling us to use a multiplicity of languages and devices to draw them in. There’s a need for performers or facilitators, to be present and to be spontaneous and reactive with our audience.
Participation and form
We had some interesting discussion around story, versus no story. Strong debate about participation versus no participation…. all of these had been done by the people in this room. Also some lovely descriptors of the work, for example the notion that mostly early years work is quite short and therefore takes on the form of a poem. We talked about the value of multi sensory work, paying attention, multi disciplinarity of our toolkit, supporting the 100 languages of children.
Duration and structure
Current interest in making longer pieces of work for an audience that is free to go in and out, and in and out. This respects their physical needs at any moment, but also their attention span. What is the whole experience? Do we start with an interactive play session? Do we then have a play? Do we then have a post play? A participation session? So what's the whole package? How long or short does it need to be?
00:00 / 03:56
Does cultural policy support performing arts for early years?
Table Host: Suzana Schmidt-Vigano
General aspects
Our discussion about cultural policies for early years did not bring so much good news, which indicates that we still have a lot to demand and build in this field.
At our table, we had people from France, Brazil, Wales, Canada, Flemish Belgium, Greece and Japan. In all these countries, there is some kind of public funding for arts in general, but not specifically for early years. Mostly, support focuses on actions in arts education, or in other educational or health care where art can contribute somehow. When combining different agendas (such as education, public health, social work etc), it is easier to get to make art work with children.
00:00 / 03:21
Neoliberal issues
In some countries, such as France, national public funding for the arts and cultural action is a tradition. It seems much easier in Greece, for instance, to apply mostly for European funding.
Nevertheless, the picture has changed in the last 20 years. Neoliberal logic has come to public funding which has resulted in problems like:
● more and more children are demanded to make up the audiences (product logic);
● new territorial projects have been coming up, but they are also demanding for artists, who have to accumulate functions;
● artists have to work in multiple jobs, which makes it harder for them to work with the creative process;
● since the covid-19 pandemic, art has not been seen as an essential part of society;
● increasingly, work has been associated with artwork (such as animes, mangas, toys), to raise its commercial value.
On the other hand, some public funding is created as mandatory actions for children (to cooperate with different international regulations), which means that many artists start working for children, but are not necessarily interested in doing it, which makes art for children (and specifically early years) quite fragile.
Ways out
The participants also brought some good practices that can bring some fresh air and help to seed the field of performance art for early years:
● festivals and encounters like ASSITEJ’s, where we can meet and exchange our work, thoughts and propositions;
● in some countries, there are companies that are specially devoted to the early years, which raises a local audience and makes this artistic field more complex;
● theatres and other institutions like Thèâtre Massalia, which are specialized in working with children and young audiences, and this helps a lot too.
Cooperation and networking is also viewed as a huge force. Associations like Small size, ASSITEJ, Vincular and others can make artists stronger and help strengthen the field of art for early childhood.
Above all, you need time:
Time
● for a long creative process with early try-outs
Time
● for visits at kindergarten/ daycare centres
Time
● to get to know and understand the audience
Time
● to connect and collaborate with teachers/ parents to reduce fear and worries, to make the performance, the moment, possible and good
Time
● to welcome the audience in a calm and respectful way in the lobby and enter the venue together, creating a good transition-zone into the theatre experience. A good welcome is crucial!
What elements do you need to make early years performance?
Table Host: Sara Myrberg
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Time
● to breathe with the audience creating a collective moment from the start.
To create the best conditions for an artistic dialogue between the actor and the children (and adults) the actor and creator needs:
● Empathy
● Curiosity
● Courage
● Flexibility
● Patience
● Openness
● Playfulness
00:00 / 02:02
The dialogue should be human to human, not adult to child.
The performance should have strong artistic ideas and seek for simplicity in a positive way.
What is the place of/relationship with adults in early years work?
Table Host: Anna Sacchetti
In discussions about children's engagement with the performing arts, an important aspect is the role of the adults who accompany them - parents, teachers, and caregivers. These adults are not part of the creative team, but they shape the children's experience profoundly. This summary outlines key points from a group discussion that explored the role of these adults before, during, and after performances.
00:00 / 04:50
How can we make early years performance work in challenging times?
Table Host: Caroline Duval
Facing challenging times means recognizing that access to art varies around the world — due to war, economic difficulties, daily life, or limited audience reach.
In this context, we believe that building strong, collaborative networks is essential. By sharing ideas, listening to different perspectives, and acting together, we can find new ways forward.
More than just talking, we need to create — with and for our audiences. This means being present in real spaces, like kindergartens or festivals, and staying connected to people’s daily lives. Through collective effort and shared responsibility, we can keep our values alive and support each other, even in uncertain times.
Some current challenges
We started by identifying some of the challenges
facing society in general, for example:
● War, displacement
○ lack of security/ too much security
○ censure
● AI, screens
○ awareness of parents
● Audience accessibility
○ Rhythm of family life
○ diversity
● Position of the child in society
● Centralisation of culture:
○ less capacity to
■ support artists
■ be human
○ economic structures
00:00 / 03:37
Heartfelt thanks Cécile Mont-Reynaud of Cie Lunatic for language support and the Théâtre Joliette and staff for hosting us.
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