We offer free evening and weekend workshops designed to foster creativity, strengthen writing skills, and provide students with a forum for executing projects they might not otherwise have the support to undertake. Workshops range from the playful to the practical, and all are taught by volunteer writers, artists, educators, and publishing professionals.
PLEASE NOTE: Due to increased demand, enrollment for workshops are now determined by lottery. Once you have signed up for a workshop, please look for an email from workshops@826nyc.org, verifying that we have received your request. If you have not heard from us after 48 hours, feel free to call.
Our workshops are limited enrollment and often generate wait lists. With this in mind, please only sign up if you can make every session of a workshop. Thank you!
Make 'Em Wait: The Art of the Cliffhanger
4 Tuesday sessions: September 22, 29, October 6, 13 (2009)
6-7:30pm
Taught by 826NYC
For ages 9-12
Heroes are born. They win our hearts with their wit and their compassion. We want more than anything for them to win and win big. But now they face the biggest challenges of their lives - dangerous predicaments, astonishing revelations, a plot to end all plots! What will become of our daring heroes? Will they triumph? Or will they despair? You'll have to take this workshop to find out.
The last session of this class will be celebrated with a reading and book release party for the much anticipated, yet-to-be-written cliffhanger anthology, as well as Mac Barnett's Brixton Brothers mystery, The Case of the Case of Mistaken Identity.
Bust Open Your Brain
3 Sunday sessions: September 13, 20, 27 (2009)
12-1:30pm
Taught by Meghan Keys
For ages 6-9
Have you ever had one of those days when you've worked so hard that you feel like your brain might explode? Well then, this class is for you! We will use the art of pinata making to break open some highly creative characters within that stressed mind and develop stories around these characters. Come prepared to get messy as we will be making these characters come to life!
Please note: Students must attend all three sessions of this class
Once Upon a What??
1 Sunday session: August 2 (2009)
2:30-4pm
Taught by Sarah Jaffe
For ages 6-10
We all know the classic stories: Goldilocks, Cinderella, Jack, his beanstalk, the Three Little Pigs, and all the rest. But what would happen if just one thing were different? What if Cinderella had been a terrible dancer, or Snow White lived with a bunch of zombies, or the Big Bad Wolf had the flu? If you've had enough of happily ever after, or if you were there and want to set the record straight on what really happened, this is the workshop for you! Grab your magic beans and head over to 826 for your chance to rewrite your favorite fairy tales with a twist. Watch out, Sherwood Forest - Brooklyn is coming for your stories!
Dream Up a Dream Room
1 Sunday session: July 19 (2009)
12-1:30pm
Taught by Gary Rudoren
For ages 7-12
If you could have the coolest bedroom in the world what would it look like? Put your bed in the middle of a skating rink? Or maybe you sleep on a bed of chocolate milk and there's a straw that comes out of your pillow so you can have a swig when you wake up? Or how about a half-court basketball court in your room? All this is possible when you dream. In this workshop you'll get a chance to design, draw and tell us a story about your dream bedroom - let your imagination run wild. . . and best of all, you don't have to make your bed if you don't want to! (Just imagine robot maids, that's all)
You Must Be At Least This Tall
6 Monday and Wednesday sessions: July 13, 15, 20, 22, 27, 29 (2009)
3-4:30pm
Taught by 826NYC
For ages 9-12
There are plenty of manuals and guides for adults on how to do pretty much everything. Isn't it time for the ultimate kids guide to making things that every kid should know how to make? Do you know how to make a kite? How about a triple-decker sandwich? Or a super-secret handshake? Well, it's time to share that knowledge! Each class of this workshop will be devoted to a different hands-on activity. At the end of the workshop, students will have compiled a complete How-To Manual for kids everywhere!
Please note: Students must attend all 6 sessions of this workshop.
Fiction for the Canine Audience
1 Sunday session: July 12th (2009)
12-1pm
Taught by Sophie Fels with help from the Good Dog Foundation
For ages 6-9
Chillers, thrillers, adventure, romance: every dog loves a good story. And - whether they can tell you so or not - so does every goldfish and great ape. Especially if it has animals in it. Do you know any pets who need custom-written stories, posthaste? We do: 826 has agreed to provide fiction to several story-deprived dogs, and now we need your help writing for them. Come meet our canine clients, and dream up something to make them, and your pets at home, bark with joy. If they enjoy it, they'll leave you a pawprint of approval.
