Little Inventors: Myths & Legends

Join Little Inventors for the Lit & Phil Invention Challenge 2026 and invent your own myths and legends for everyday life!

Long ago, people believed strange creatures, magical places and mysterious inventions existed all around them, hidden in forests, wells, rivers and roads. These stories helped our ancestors understand the world around them. Today we face different challenges like pollution, loneliness, climate change and misinformation, so perhaps we need new myths for modern life. What mythical inventions, hidden places, or legendary creatures might exist around us today? What do they do? Who do they help? Where are they found? How do they change everyday life?

So come take part in this fun, creative workshop inspired by the legendary collections of the Lit & Phil. Together we'll invent, draw and make new myths for modern-day life!

About the organisers:

The Lit & Phil is Newcastle’s exquisite independent library, open to all and free to explore and browse. Founded in 1793, its purpose-built library opened in 1825 on Westgate Road, and is just yards from Central Station. It became a hub of learning and enlightenment long before the city’s universities existed and today continues to inspire minds, stimulate imaginations and confer a wealth of knowledge to young and old alike.

Little Inventors is a creative education organisation that inspires imagination by taking children’s amazing ideas seriously. Founded by artist Dominic Wilcox in Sunderland in 2016, it has since grown into an award-winning international programme which has seen children’s invention ideas presented at the UN and on the International Space Station, and in the permanent collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum.

This project is funded by the Reece Foundation