Artists & Authors

Thank You Cards

This is a creative workshop where children will learn how to design and make their very own thank you cards! In this hands-on session, each child will receive a blank paper to fold into a card.
Being thankful helps children develop empathy and kindness by encouraging them to recognize and appreciate the good things in their lives. When they express gratitude, they not only strengthen relationships with others, but also build a positive mindset that fosters happiness and a sense of connection. Learning to say “thank you” through creative activities, like making cards, gives children a meaningful way to practice and share their appreciation.

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IMAGINE Sculpture
Help make our 15th anniversary one to remember by participating in decorating our cardboard sculpture!

*Limited to supply.

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Nature Wands
Discover the beauty of nature to create by using sticks, string, ribbon, beads and feathers, kids can create their own nature wands to use in imaginative play. 

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Paper Quilling Bookmarks
Kids will learn the fascinating art of rolling, shaping, and gluing paper strips into beautiful designs.

During this hands-on experience, children will: – Learn basic quilling techniques such as rolling and shaping paper strips. – Create a variety of basic quilling shapes like tight coils, loose coils and raindrop shapes. – Design and create their own unique paper quilling bookmark to take home.

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Bee Kind!
This is a fun spring art project highlighting one of our most important pollinators- bees. The children will paint a golden beehive, cut it out then glue it onto a piece of black paper. Very effective representation of a bee’s habitat. Then they will draw and colour at least one, or maybe several bees. Those too will be cut out and glued underneath the beehive. Underneath their artwork we will write “Bee Kind”, as a gentle reminder to be kind.

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Life of Insects
A heartwarming and imaginative workshop where children reimagine their family as a charming family of insects living in a magical forest. Through a guided drawing session, kids will learn how to transform their loved ones into whimsical insect characters, each with unique shapes, colors, and personalities. This creative activity helps children explore self-expression and family connections through art. As they design their “insect family,” participants will discover how nature and imagination can come together to tell a story full of warmth, humor, and love.

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Mini Acrylic Painting
In this fun and creative mini acrylic painting workshop, children will explore colours, shapes, and imagination. They will also learn simple painting techniques such as color mixing, brush control, and layering while creating their own artwork on canvas.

Limited to 15–20 per workshop

Participants can choose from several original painting samples for inspiration or create their own unique design. I will guide the group step-by-step and walk around to provide individual support and encouragement. The focus is on creativity, confidence, and having fun with art. No prior experience is required!

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Eco-Friendly Jewellery
In this hands-on workshop, participants will create their own jewellery using “creative reuse” with items like bits of cardboard, recycled or repurposed beads from broken jewellery, naturally dyed pasts, and even some items from nature, all of which would be provided. This activity is not only fun for young artists of all games, it also encourages them to think about more purposeful art making habits, as well as the positive impact they can have on the environment while being creative. 

Join Jessica at the Storytelling Tent at 3 pm for a reading of her book!

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Fairytale Adventures
Fairytale Adventures is where we take kids through an entire fairytale beginning to end using puppets, dance, song, and storytelling. It is an interactive way of sharing a story with kids that allows them to participate and be a part of it. 

Catch their thrilling rendition of Peter Pan at the Bandshell at 12:25pm!

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Paper Craft Kits
Children will be able to pick from 2-3 different paper craft kits, as well as an open imagination station. All materials will be provided to complete a craft to take home. They will be puppets or crafts to engage in creative play!

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“What is a Friend?” Painting

Participants will contribute to a large community mixed- media mural by creating their own panel illustrating what it means to be a good friend to others. Materials would include construction paper, glue, safety scissors, poster board, markers, and stickers.

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Pottery Discovery!
Get your hands dirty while opening your creative mind! Children will be guided through a series of hand pottery creations throughout the day.

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5-Minute Story!
Write a 5-minute story! Children’s author, Lana Button, will guide young writers through the writing process of choosing a setting, creating a character, developing a problem and finding a solution. Picture books are so much fun to write! Let’s get started on writing yours! 

Listen to Lana’s story in the Storytelling Tent at 1:30pm!

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Film Process Art
Children will create on photo film strips using paint, and can then watch their creations as they are projected!

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Self-Love Suncatchers
In this radiant workshop, children will craft their very own self-love catchers, a vibrant visual art piece that celebrates their inner light and individuality. Using translucent tissue paper and sticky contact paper framed by bold shapes, each child will design a stained-glass- style artwork featuring their personal self-love affirmation.

Meet us at the Bandshell on Friday at 5:30pm for a fun, silly time!

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Ballet Basics

Learn the basics of popular dance forms like ballet! Perfect for little ones to see if they would like to continue learning traditional dance types.

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Plaster Wall Hanging Decor

Bringing a new workshop this year, Nancy will lead children in a cast-your-own plaster hanging decoration in a flower shape, thanks to her newfound passion for casting!

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Printing Press Demonstration

While this isn’t our usual workshop design, children will be able to observe an original printing press in action! You will be able to take home a custom Imagine In The Park print to remember our time together!

*Child participation is at the discretion of the workshop operators. Please respect the facilitators and the vintage machinery! ❤

Hamilton Studio School can be found near the Artist Market & Family Resource Fair at our festival.

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Flemenco Dance

Discover the beautiful art of Flamenco. Stomp your feet as you learn about this powerful and fun dance form. Learn to perform flamenco footwork, move your hands, and practice flamenco rhythms and hand-clapping in this interactive workshop. Children will put all their learning into practice with a fun choreography at the end of the workshop. Learners will play with flamenco fans, castanets, and flamenco shawls.

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Bharatanatyam Dance

Discover the beauty of Bharatanatyam in this playful workshop where children explore rhythm, hand gestures, and dance storytelling while creating their own movements.

You’ll start with a playful warm-up, introducing the beats (taiya tai), proper posture (aramandi), and simple hand gestures (mudras) connected to things kids know like a Sun, Bird, & Flower.

Then you’ll put it altogether and showcase a beautiful story through the movements!

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My Superpower

Listen to an excerpt from Vassi’s newest book: Vlad A Vampires Secret. Then, children will create an affirmation art piece & frame showcasing what makes them unique like Vlad!

Meet me at the Storytelling Tent at 2:15pm for a full reading!

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Pete & Anna Music – 4:30pm

This musical show, is perfect for ages 2-10, & celebrates the urban natural wonders right around us! The themed music of this show is an inspiring and powerful blend of original songs and our arrangements of popular covers. It takes children on a discovery tour of amazing wildlife which is often seemingly invisible but lives among us in our local parks and even our backyards! Song topics include city birds, caterpillars, migration, turtles & frogs, mischievous animals grazing on your garden plants, and what to do about a spider in the bathtub!

Join us at the Bandshell at 4:30pm!

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Learning With Lexi – 5:30pm

Dance, wiggle, sing and laugh with us and the always energetic Learning With Lexi crew!

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Noise Pollution Rock School – 6:30pm

Enjoy some rock music for kids! Audience participation will be highly encouraged!

Lexy The Rap Dad – 11:20am

Everybody’s favourite rapper! We get kids up and dancing with songs from our chart-topping Rap-a-Long albums! Each song has a simple dance routine we teach the children to get them engaged and moving!

Join us at the Bandshell at 11:20am!

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Enchantment Theatre – 12:25 pm

You know the story; but you haven’t experienced it like this before! It’s an interactive musical with live instruments and audience participation. It includes four actors and one musician. It reimagines the fairytale and includes dancing, puppets, and more!

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Hi Blue Butterfly – 1:30 pm

I am a Brazilian-Canadian storyteller and artistic educator who weaves poetry, song, and puppetry into heartwarming performances for children. Through my project Hi Blue Butterfly, I create story worlds rooted in wonder, nature, and imagination. Inspired by Waldorf pedagogy and my work as a forest school educator offering nature-based storytelling and craft experiences, my performances invite young audiences to participate through rhythm, movement, call-and-response, and open-ended play.

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Mr. J & Cherry Lane – 2:35 pm

We are a family-friendly band that performs for all ages. We play covers and originals.

Our performance is a balance of energetic songs, relaxing songs and fun songs. Lots of stage experience, we will have your audience in smiles.

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Mr.Ben’s Music – 3:40 pm

Join Mr.Ben and his friends for a musical adventure to close out our day at Imagine In The Park!

Join us at the Bandshell at 3:40 pm!

Returning!!
You can listen to the stories written by the authors joining us this year! The festival gets so busy, that they are often just running workshops related to their books- and don’t have enough time for you to fully experience them! So now, you can listen to the stories- then join them in their tents for a workshop! Each author will be in the Storytelling Tent for 30 minutes!

Books by these authors are available to purchase in the Storytelling Tent.

Our friends at Telling Tales will also be joining us with three authors! Two are in the Storytelling Tent, and one will be in the Telling Tales Tent for their presentation!

Hamilton Public Library is returning to Imagine in the Park again this year, with our Bookmobile! In addition to providing traditional bookmobile services (browsing the collection of library materials on the bus, receiving a library card, etc.), they are also offering arts-based programming every 30 minutes.