BBC Children in Need’s Royally Big Portrait in Schools
Take part in BBC Children in Need’s Royally Big Portrait and be part of history!
BBC Children in Need’s Royally Big Portrait is celebrating the historic coronation of King Charles III and children’s creativity.
The Royally Big Portrait is a giant digital portrait of King Charles III that will feature thousands of individual portraits of the King drawn by a record breaking number of pupils and students from across the UK.
Get involved before portrait submissions close on Friday 28th April!
Your pupils can join in with The Royally Big Portrait
Share their art with friends and family
After parents/guardians submit their child's portrait they will receive a special digital link to view their child's artwork in the finished digital portrait, which they can share with their circle
Visit The Royally Big Portrait at Outernet London
From Monday 1st - Monday 8th May children and families can see The Royally Big Portrait on Outernet London's immense, immersive screens, an exciting exhibition experience
Break a world record
By taking part in The Royally Big Portrait you will help us break a Guinness World Records title for the most online contributions to a digital artwork!
Download our extra teaching resources!
Teach your pupils more about King Charles III and Coronations with these fun lesson resources from our friends at Twinkl, including:
- King Charles III fact file activity
- Commemorative bookmarks for colouring in
- Count down to the Coronation poster
Pupils can see their art on the big screen…
The biggest screens in fact! If your pupils take part in The Royally Big Portrait their drawings could be featured in Outernet London’s exhibition of the portrait on their 360° cutting edge screens.
Outernet London is the official BBC Children in Need Home of The Coronation. Children and families can visit Outernet London from Monday 1st – Monday 8th of May, located opposite the Elizabeth Line entrance to Tottenham Court Road Tube Station, to have a uniquely fun and interactive experience!
Your pupils can be world record breakers?
When your pupils take part in The Royally Big Portrait, you are helping us in our attempt to break a world record! BBC Children in Need is trying to break a Guinness World Records title for the most online contributions to a digital artwork. Over 5,000 contributions from the general public are needed to break the world record, so we need as many schools as possible across the UK to get involved with this unique activity.
Inspire your pupils with resources from the National Portrait Gallery!
Ahead of the National Portrait Gallery’s reopening in June, they have shared paintings of famous kings and queens throughout history from their collection.
These can be used as an extra teaching resource to help your pupils learn about the monarchy and art from the past!
Discover the portraits to give your pupils some ideas for their own portraits of King Charles III and make sure they look out for these famous faces in the final Royally Big Portrait!
Draw to make a difference
The Royally Big Portrait is supporting more than 160 BBC Children in Need funded projects working with children and young people experiencing food insecurity.
Not having access to a healthy diet or proper nutrition has a significant impact on children and young people’s physical development and mental wellbeing, which is why in the last year we have supported over 27,000 children impacted by food insecurity and we will continue to help where it is needed the most.
Please consider donating so that BBC Children in Need can be there for children across the UK.
The Royally Big Portrait is being brought to life by artist Sam Barnett.
Sam says:
‘I became a full time artist after I started painting portraits of inspirational people with my daughters, to expand their horizons and show them they could follow their own paths. My path is a strange one – I trained as a lawyer, spent most of my adult life building technology companies and only had the courage to become a full time artist when I was 38.
What I’ve learnt from my experiences is that following your true path is hard. People around you will tell you to do what they think is right for you, but how do you find what is right for you? It’s even harder to find your path if, like many children in the UK, you live in poverty; you’re alone, lost or sad; your family is in crisis or you’ve suffered injustice.
That’s why we’ve launched The Royally Big Portrait – to celebrate every child’s creativity and give them the self-belief to achieve, to be part of history, and to support other children so they can overcome their challenges.’
