Becoming a child scientist
Hi! We are the Imagination Team. We do activities with children of all ages to learn about their thoughts and imagination. We ask lots of children to do activities with us so we can learn as much as possible about young minds!
This page tells you everything you need to know about doing an activity with us! You can find out what happens at each of our locations and what happens before, during, and after the activity.
If you visit us at the University of Kent:
To do an activity at the University, make sure your parent/guardian signs up on the “For Parents” page first.
Our team member will meet you and your parent/guardian in the car park and show you to our waiting room. There you can play with any of our toys (we have lots!) or do a drawing while the team member explains what you’re going to be doing. You can take as long as you like to play and get comfortable before the activity.
The room where you will do your activity is just next to the waiting room and your parent or guardian can wait for you while you do the activity. We will only go to the activity room when you are happy and comfortable and ready to begin!
If you are doing an activity at your school:
We will introduce ourselves to the class and explain to everyone what we are doing in the activity. We will then take you one at a time to a quieter room in the school to do the activity, if you are ready and happy to do it! We only visit some schools so if you want to get involved you should ask your parent or guardian to sign up to activities at the University of Kent!
If you are doing an activity at The Beaney Museum:
We have a desk upstairs in the museum where you will find us. We will introduce ourselves and explain the activity so you can decide if you want to get involved. Your parent or guardian will stay with you while you do the activity. We only visit the museum sometimes, so you might not always see us there.
About our activities
We are a team of scientists that want to find out more about how children think, feel, behave, and learn. As we are adults, it is sometimes hard for us to know. You are experts in your own brain so it would be very helpful to us if you took part in some of the activities we have made for you. Most of our activities are made so that we can see how your imagination works. We would like you to come and do an activity with us! Lots of children have been asked to help us and many come back for more activities because they have so much fun. If you want to be a part of our activities we will ask you some questions and fully explain the activity before you do it.
At any time you can tell us if you want to stop doing the activity. We want you to feel comfortable and have fun!
Assent form for children
If you are signed up to an activity, your parent/guardian will have already read all the information and told us that they are happy for you to take part. We will then make sure you are happy to take part by telling you the information and giving you the opportunity to ask us your questions. Once you know all the information about the activity you can fill out the assent form, with the help from your parent/guardian or one of our team members. This form is to make sure you fully understand everything we have told you and are ready to take part. You can look at the form by clicking on this link:
If you need this assent form in a different format, please ask your parent/guardian to contact us to let us know, and we will be happy to help.
After you have finished your activity, we might ask you if you would like to do another one at some point in the future. There are always new activities being created for lots of different ages of children, so if you had fun we would love to have you back. You can always say no if you do not want to do another one, and you do not have to tell us why.
During the activity
All of our activities are stories, games, or puzzles. The activity will be quick, fun, and easy to do. All of our activities take less than 30 minutes or have breaks. You can take breaks whenever you like and stop doing the activity if you don’t want to do it anymore. Our activities are not tests, so you don’t need to prepare or worry about making mistakes as there are no right or wrong answers–we just want to know what you think!
At the end of the activity
At the end of all activities, you will receive a prize and a certificate with your name on it that says you are a young scientist as you have helped us to learn about imagination!
Thank you for reading all of the information! If you have any more questions please ask your parent/guardian to contact us. They can click here to contact us:
Imagination Research Group 