Making History is a research project developing creative ways to include young people in history, heritage, and archaeology in North East England.
Making History is run by Henry Collingham, a researcher from Northumbria University’s Design School, in partnership with Redesdale Archaeology Group (RAG), Kids Kabin, and North Tyne Youth, inviting young people to get involved with our shared regional history.
Our group has been designing and making things together to support this activity throughout the project, and are working towards delivering a piece of furniture to display archaeological finds in the community museum at Rochester, as a record of the project.
Making History is part of the Centre for Digital Citizens Research Project funded by UKRI Engineering & Physical Sciences Research Council (Project code EP/T022582/1) The project has been given approval from Northumbria University’s Ethics Board (Project ID 8021)
Below, you can download the information booklet for the project. Please get in touch with Henry directly with any questions: henry.w.r.collingham@northumbria.ac.uk
The Making History Logo by Lennox and Harley from Kids Kabin
The (Brief) Story So Far...
Digging with RAG
September 2024
RAG invited Henry out to join them at a dig. They were uncovering the walls of a Roman military structure in the hills above Rochester, at the site of Bremenium Roman Fort. It was incredibly inspiring to see the group in action.
I was struck by how energetic, creative, and imaginative the processes involved were. I loved seeing the RAG members leaping in and out of the dig, speculating about what finds could be, and working away with all manner of carefully chosen tools to uncover the story of what they were finding beneath their feet.
Roman Catapult in Otterburn
November 2024
The first group workshop at Otterburn RTC was a vibrant mix of creativity and connection, bringing together young people from both youth projects, North Tyne Youth and Kids Kabin for the first time.
With 21 young participants and support from Redesdale Archaeology Group, Newcastle University volunteers, and Kids Kabin staff, the evening was a bit of a whirlwind of learning and getting to know each other.
The kids dove into a range of engaging activities, including stone carving, Roman tile making, pizza making, and digging-up 3D printed replica artefacts. Highlights included building a giant Roman(ish) catapult - where flying cabbages stole the show - and the calm, focused creativity at the clay-making station.
The variety ensured something for everyone, balancing high-energy and quieter moments. Bob, Keith, and Annette from RAG even brought along some real archaeological finds for the kids to see up close, and interact with.
More than just activities, the workshop was designed to start fostering connections between the rural and urban groups, the kids got on really well, and naturally bonded through shared activities. Moments of collaboration highlighted the power of making to bring people together which we hope to build on throughout the project (and beyond).
RAG members - Bob, Keith, and Annette - brought expertise and passion to the workshop. Whether introducing stone carving or sharing precious historical artefacts, their generosity and enthusiasm enriched the session, leaving a lasting impact on the project.
(Not So) Big Walker Workshop
December 2024
Kids Kabin had been planning to host the North Tyne Youth group in Walker for the first time, but sadly this was curtailed by storm Bert... The plan was for the kids to run each session: ceramics, woodwork, cooking, and art for North Tyne Youth, and for Henry to run a design activity for the project. Lennox and Harley painted a giant sign for the project, to welcome North Tyne Youth, and for us to use in the planned activity.
Once we'd realised that NTY weren't going to make it, due to the snow, we pivoted, and ran the day as a tester instead. Kids Kabin kids ran their sessions with grown-ups as their test subjects, teaching us how to do everything.
Luckily, Ian from RAG was able to make it to Walker. He and Henry ran the design activity as planned, and started to collect ideas from the kids about historical artefacts, ways to show them off to people, attaching stories to objects, and magical machines. Ian was super impressed with the ideas the kids came up with!
At the RTC in Otterburn
December 2024
Henry packed-up the design activity, along with the Roman Tiles from the Walker workshop for a trip to Otterburn for another North Tyne Youth session. Here he was able to run the design activity with NTY kids, again getting some unbelievable ideas, the more weird and wonderful the better!
After running the activity with both groups, we've got lots of ideas and stories to tell. Lennox and Harley's giant board is covered in beautiful drawings, and the next step was to start bringing them to life!
Tug of War, The Egg Game, and AI Archaeology at The Roundhouse
February 2025
RAG, Kids Kabin, and North Tyne Youth all made it up to The Roundhouse in Rochester on a bleak Saturday in February. This was the first chance for most of the group to see the Roundhouse and the Cafe, both spaces our members are designing and building things for in the future.
We got stuck in with a few outdoor games, throwing eggs in pairs as far as we dared before they cracked (apologies to Bob) and some epic games of tug-of-war.
Will led a group woodworking session, helping the young people build the beginning of a giant Making History sign, to mimic Harley and Lennox’s painting from the previous Walker workshop. This is due to be finished off in upcoming workshops (maybe away from the rain too) and decorated ahead of our final project exhibition!
Catherine was showing off some of the concept sketches and prototypes we’ve been working on behind the scenes to bring some of the young people’s ideas, getting their feedback - both in writing and by using emoji stickers to vote for their favorites. We will be developing the favorite ideas into reality in upcoming workshops…
One of the main ideas that has come up so far has been connecting the two groups with cameras, or video. Mixing this idea into the unusual ways our archaeologists have to interpret images, our young members had a chance to play around with an 'A.I.-archaeologist'. This little system looked at photographs of artworks made by the young people and then created mini ‘field-reports’ to describe what it had found, as if they were novel archaeological finds. Our young members were given an AI-generated field report of another artwork from the session, and asked to make an artwork in response. This threw up some interesting areas for expiration, and signaled novel ways we can build digital connections between the groups, across space (and time)...
Getting Creative in Walker
March 2025
Kids Kabin hosted everyone for a fantastic creative workshop in Walker. It was North Tyne Youth’s first chase to see Kids Kabin’s home base, so the session started with Kids Kabin members giving bespoke guided tours.
We ran a few creative activities, making, doing, thinking, and talking around the ideas that have developed on the project so far.
We’d put together a little 'zine' (which you can download here) showing all of the artworks and AI field-reports, dubbed ‘echographs’, from the previous workshop up at the Roundhouse. Fritha facilitated reading and reflection, getting the young people’s feedback on how the AI interpreted their work, and vice versa, and suggesting ways to improve it. The general consensus was to lean-in to its ambiguity, make it more weird, and in the words of one North Tyne Youth member, more ‘folkloric’...
Cameras have featured in most of the concepts from young people so far, so we knew we would be incorporating them into the project somewhere. However, we wanted to probe when and where they would be used, in the context of creativity and deciphering what objects could ‘mean’. We made a creative activity that let members build their own mini-cameras (zero-tech viewfinders) which they could decorate to show how and why they might be used, before picking ‘photos’, little art-challenges to complete and put inside their cameras. These challenges asked kids to think about the things around them i.e. things you could make, things you wouldn’t find in a museum… and let us see through their eyes.
Rickard took the lead on woodwork, giving North Tyne Youth a chance to do some building in the woodwork room for the first time. Members continued on with the giant Making History sign from the Roundhouse workshop, with beautiful attention to detail. They got the whole sign finished, ready for decoration!
The Roman Tiles from our first workshop, last November, were all finally decorated, glazed, and fired. Will led what we thought would be a quick activity, glueing them down to a board of wood ready to be exhibited, but we accidentally uncovered our own mini mystery… One of the pieces of the puzzle was missing! In a creative stroke of guerilla archaeology, an intrepid North Tyne Youth member took it upon herself to use the data she had available to recreate the missing piece. This resulted in a beautiful mixed-media hodge podge, ceramic tiles enriched by a beautiful colourful wooden recreation to complete the piece. Inspiring stuff!
Digital Building
May 2025
Behind the scenes, Henry has been working with genius designer and technologist, Tommy Dylan, to develop working versions of the technologies the young members are designing. We hope to develop these into open-source projects that young people can build on their own, beyond our current participant groups.
In Walker, Henry got the chance to test an early version of the design for some interactive cameras with young members. Kids Kabin were about to follow the instructions to connect all the electronics needed, and then assemble the 3D cases around each camera, getting them up and running.
These simple cameras allow kids to take photos of their creative work from their youth projects and upload them to a secure server where they can be approved before being turned into AI field-reports for the other groups to decipher.
The group had lots of feedback to take on board for future versions of the design!
Cameras at North Tyne Youth
June 2025
Henry made it up to two youth sessions hosted by North Tyne Youth at the RTC in Otterburn. While the groups held their usual busy workshop, Henry found a quiet corner to do some participatory making.
Five separate groups got a chance to have a go at building the latest version of the interactive cameras, following the feedback gained from the last session with Kids Kabin.
The young people were amazing, following the step-by-step guides really keenly, patiently, and precisely. Each group also gave more great feedback about how to make the kits even better, as well as lots of great ideas about ways the groups could personalise their own cameras. All of the groups did amazingly, some of the members had never even built a circuit before, and some of them seemed amazed at what they were able to build!
What's Next...
Upcoming Workshops: Summer 2025
Our young members are continuing to design and build both the new technologies to connect the groups together, and a large-scale furniture piece for the Roundhouse in Rochester.
Building Technologies: We will continue to run workshops in normal Kids Kabin and North Tyne Youth sessions over the summer months, letting the young members continue to make the technologies which will connect the groups together in future.
Designing Furniture: With our furniture piece still to build, there will be lots of hands on designing, prototyping, and making to do ahead of the project finish in August.
Visits to Rupert’s Wood: Kids Kabin will be heading-out to Rupert’s Wood for some camping trips, getting to spend more time in and around the history of the area, and meeting up with our friends from NTY and RAG!
Visiting a live RAG Dig: One of Kids Kabin’s camps will coincide with another RAG dig, this will give a chance for a new Kids Kabin group to meet the archaeologists and get their hands dirty on a live dig.
End of Project Celebration: We are aiming to host a meeting for all of our participants, friends and family, to show off the work created through the project towards the end of August 2025.
Please get in touch with any thoughts, questions, or creative ideas!
Thank you to all the staff and volunteers from Kids Kabin in Walker, North Tyne Youth in Otterburn, and Redesdale Archeology Group, as well as all of our young participants, their friends and families and all the staff working behind the scenes to support this project.