Brain research is interactive and exciting at Be a Brain Explorer 2026
15 August 2026
On Friday 7 August and Saturday 15 August, more than 200 primary school-aged children joined researchers and volunteers to learn about the brain through a fun, hands-on activities.
Previously run as part of the Cardiff Science Festival, this year Be a Brain Explorer was funded by Hodge Centre for Translational Neuroscience and organised by Hodge PhD student, Olivia Squire.
Activities were run by 23 volunteers across the Division of Psychological Medicine and Clinical Neurosciences, and it was brilliant to see so many people from across the division come together to contribute to the event.
Olivia Squire, the PhD student for Hodge Centre for Translational Neuroscience who organised the event said,
It was a great day! I really liked seeing how engaged the kids were - watching them discover neuroscience in such an active, hands‑on way was fantastic. The feedback from families was incredibly positive, which made the whole day feel really rewarding.
Exploring how our brains work
The event included a wide range of fun and engaging activities exploring how our brains work.
Children and their families searched jelly brain moulds for foreign objects, using a brain scan to see which functions would be affected, and then performed surgery to extract the objects.
They used skill and precision to pipette like researchers and explored the connection between our eyes, brains and coordination by trying to hit targets with prism goggles that distorted their vision. There was also a brain bouncy castle, guess the animal brains, and illusions.
Getting creative
Guests of all ages got creative with Play Dough, colouring and poetry writing. These activities gave the children space to connect with their own brains, minds and thoughts and express this connection in a creative and mindful way.
Alice H wrote this cinquain, a five-line poem, inspired by her brain.
The brain
Smart and squishy,
Thinking, running, remembering.
Very nice,
Mind.
- by Alice H.
A great success
One attendee, age seven, said they ‘loved the brain bouncy castle and the chair illusion,’ and another said they wanted to be a brain surgeon when they grow up.
All attendees agreed they would return to another event, with one attendee saying it was, ‘really engaging, very informative and fun!’
Thanks to the Hodge Centre for Translational Neuroscience for funding the event and to all the volunteers who organised and ran the activities to make it such a successful event.
