Price: Free
The Leeds Phil & Lit is taking part in the Be Curious Festival 2026 at the University of Leeds.
Curious minds are invited to the University of Leeds for a day packed with exciting activities. The occasion, launched in 2016, is aimed at young learners, but there is also plenty for adults to appreciate and engage with. Topics presented by research students and academic staff in 2025 included human health, cutting-edge science and technology, engaging with the natural world, as well as science at home, lasers and the science of chocolate.
The 2025 event was the Phil & Lit’s debut. We wanted to add to the range of attractions by offering activities that would appeal to children while also promoting the aims and benefits brought to Leeds by the long-lived Society spanning sciences and the arts.
We chose to set out our stall on the concept of ‘colour’ – a running theme for several Phil & Lit events over recent years and one that can be approached from many perspectives. In this case, it also enabled us to present an alluring appearance to the young visitors and a range of simple activities that proved to be absorbing. That was doubly true in the case of Christine Holdstock’s chromatography demonstration: each child could choose a coloured felt pen to make a mark in the middle of a circle of special cellulose paper. When water is added, the constituent colours of the ink separate out across its surface. Christine also prepared some ‘optical illusions’ using coloured paper to demonstrate how our eyes and brains can be ‘tricked’ into drawing incorrect conclusions, depending on how different coloured elements of a pattern are laid out. A couple of activity sheets were available for children who preferred this as a learning method and we had a sphere that demonstrates the concepts of hue, saturation and lightness.
Using a light box and coloured acetates, we demonstrated the difference between mixing paints and overlaying transparent colours. (A few visitors, especially those who have had the expensive responsibility of buying printer inks, knew the names ‘cyan’ and ‘magenta’, but it was news to many.)
We were busy from the moment the diverse family groups started to come through the doors into Parkinson Court. The first hour was reserved for families with children who fare better in a quieter and less crowded environment. Then as the clock on the Parkinson Tower struck 11, more families started to surge into the hall. During the day, several other Phil & Lit members came to take turns with running the stall, including our Secretary Jane Mitchell, who wore a black and white striped jumper that made for a great contrast with the busy visual effect of the rest of our offer.
We had some interesting conversations with parents and other adults about more philosophical aspects of science. The younger participants provided some particularly memorable moments. A very small child, far too young to grasp the concept of ‘a theory’, was shown the basis of the illusion and started hypothesising very plausibly about why it worked. When the simple basis of an optical illusion was revealed, a young boy who had been ‘taken in’, struck his forehead with his open hand and exclaimed: “Mind blown!”
‘Be curious’ is a great opportunity to connect with the next generation of scholars and the accompanying adults, who are obviously supporters of learning and may in future engage in other ways with the Phil & Lit. It was full-on, fulfilling and fun to be part of this popular event.
