One of the most striking is Show of Hands at Yorkshire Artspace at Persistence Works as testimony of the work of more than 3,000 children from 12 schools in the Arbourthorne, Manor and Darnall area. Under the guidance of local artist Jane Avgousti a visually stunning display has been created from plaster casts of the space inside children's cupped hands.

This sea of tiny sculptures was the inspiration for the epic poem that complements the installation. Co-ordinated by poet Matt Black, the words are printed on one line on a 100 metre blue ribbon, which twists and curls its way around the exhibition space.

Festival manager Richard Johnson said the thinking behind the project was to create a piece of work which had a contemporary feel and to be something tangible that all ages from under three to 16 could get something out of.

Show of Hands can be appreciated on three levels – the 3,000 making up the whole piece, and then in groups of around 300 when divided up and put on display at the individual schools, and then as a singular piece that each child can take pride in.

Sculptor Jane Avgousti found that the children enjoyed the project in different ways. "The older kids mixed the plaster themselves so they had ownership of the whole thing while for the younger ones there was a sense of magic," she said. "Then when we went to Norfolk Park there was a different kind of participation.

"In that way each piece expresses the individual. At every school you would get some which are like a snowball because the person couldn't keep still while others barely breathed through the whole process, they were that intense.

"Then it was important to show how the individual pieces functioned as a whole and that they all had equal value. So that's why we arranged them in circles to also give a sense that art is for everyone."

Around each circle is a ribbon of words from groups of children at each of the schools.

They express the individual wish of each writer.

"We wanted words to fit the visual effect which we knew was going to be beautiful and moving with all the hands," says Matt Black."It's quite abstract so I thought it would be good to have words which were very real."

The result is a collection of ambitions which range from the touchingly personal – "I want to be normal" and "I want to be a dad" to the aspirational – "I want to be as clever as Stephen Hawking" or "I want a cinema in my home".

Show of Hands is on view at Persistence Works on Mondays to Saturdays until July 3.

Elsewhere there are series of exhibitions incorporating work from more than 1,500 children who have taken Place and Space as their theme.

At the Workstation the exhibition blends traditional art with more modern arts such as photography, sculpture, textiles, sound art and mosaic.

At Sheffield Assay Office in Hillsborough there is a display of silverware, created by children with the guidance of renowned local silversmith Katey Felton.

The Butcher Works is showing the results of three projects looking at the changing face of Sheffield and its buildings.

My Space Your Place at Bank Street Arts is running short films showing young people recounting their own stories about where they live. Visitors can record their own short films, which will be added to the exhibition.

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