River Creatures is an adaptation of the Beavering Around workshop, broadening its focus from beavers to the wider life of the river and its interconnected ecosystems. Delivered in two parts—first in a local school and later at the Forest of Imagination festival—the workshop created a dialogue between classroom learning and a shared public creative experience. Children encountered the ideas at school and then revisited and expanded them within the festival setting.

The workshop begins with beavers, often described as architects or engineers, but reimagined here as abstract artists. Rather than following fixed plans, beavers respond intuitively to their surroundings—listening, feeling, and adjusting to the flow of water, materials, and landscape. Through this messy, responsive way of working, they shape environments that support rich and complex ecosystems.

From this starting point, the workshop zooms out to consider the river itself—as a living system, a creature made up of many relationships. Together, participants explored the other animals, plants, and forces that inhabit and shape the river, and how these elements depend on one another. Children were invited to imagine and create their own river creatures, embodying the character, movement, and behaviour of the river and its inhabitants.

Through making, discussion, and imagination, River Creatures encourages participants to think about small actions and large impacts, and to reflect on their own role within shared ecosystems—as artists, makers, and active participants in the living world.