Ark Children’s Cultural Centre, Temple Bar, Dublin 01-6707788 www.ark.ie

Paper windmills (by Laura De Burca) and butterflies (by Paula Henihan), a miniature roof garden (by Maggie Madden), ceramic bowls embedded in moss (by Moya Muldowney), beautiful close- up photographs of clouds, plants, sand and ice (by Daragh Muldowney).

That's just a sample of the exhibits at the Earth Explorersfree summer art exhibition at the Ark. The multimedia works are the core of the Ark's summer programme, which also includes drop-in workshops, family workshops and, for the first time, four-day summer schools for various age groups.

“We wanted to offer a more textured programme with the show open free for two months and activities under €5 such as the Garden Party that children could drop in to again and again,” explains Eina McHugh, director of the Ark. The Garden Party, which runs four times a day from Thursdays to Sundays, offers children a chance to make flowers, bugs and fruits which are then displayed in the “garden” in the theatre space at the Ark. The Ark has also teamed up with artist Jole Bortoli who is offering children a four-day summer course in environmental art, based in the Red Stables at St Anne’s Park, Raheny.