Join us for a morning of play and discovery, inspired by 3D shapes and big buildings. 'Seeing Shapes’ is a research project with UCL.

Seeing Shapes: A research project with UCL Institute of Education

Tuesday 25th August 2026, 10.30am-12 midday

For families with children ages 4-5 years. Siblings welcome.

Free, please register.

Activities will take place in The Children's Library at Southampton Central Library.

Join us for a morning of play and discovery, inspired by 3D shapes and big buildings. 'Seeing Shapes’ is a research project by University College London (UCL) and Royal Institute of British Architecture (RIBA).

For the project we are asking families with children aged 4-5 years old to join us for a series of fun, interactive activities focusing on shape recognition in the built environment. Participants will construct their own buildings from 3D paper shapes, through to playing guessing games through touch alone.

Be part of the fun shape-based research at Southampton Central Library! This session is free, but please book a place.

‘Seeing Shapes’ is funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council. For the research, we would like to take photos of participants hands as they explore the activities. We will be asking for parents and guardians for signed consent at the start of the event.

About the researchers:

Penny Lawrence, Associate Professor in Early Childhood at the Institute of Educations, UCL.

Charis Voutsina, Associate Professor in Early and Primary Mathematics Education, at the University of Southampton.

Penny and Charis will be joined by Edie Parfitt and Lil Adams from RIBA’S Learning Team. Edie is an architectural designer and educator; Lil is an artist and educator.

Accessibility

More information on visiting Southampton Central Library can be found on their website.

Terms and Conditions

Under 18s must be supervised by an accompanying adult ticket holder at all times.

We reserve the right to alter the advertised content of events.

In the unlikely event we need to cancel we will contact all ticket holders as soon as possible. We cannot reimburse or compensate for travel or other associated costs.

By accepting an invitation or selecting a ticket you consent to being photographed as a visitor attending the event. You will be asked to sign a consent form on arrival.

On entry to the event you agree to accept and abide by any venue rules; the RIBA reserves the right to remove participants who behave inappropriately from events.

Description supplied by the event organiser.