Summer Holidays: A Fertile Ground for Creativity. (Copy)
Summer holidays begin, and with them comes a rising feeling of panic. There is no space to breathe. The first few days, those disorienting hours of transition from school routine to summer freedom, are filled with a cacophony of complaints:
“I’m bored!”
“There’s nothing to do!”
If I want to get anything done, the easiest answer is to resort to the screen as a babysitter. But it's a false friend. The more screen time there is, the more it impedes the ability to play and create. I know that if I can hold out through that first tricky week, the summer will tell a very different story.
Setting the Foundations
So we begin, quietly laying the foundations — amidst the boredom and the whinging.
We start working our way through a stack of saved birthday presents that there just hasn't been time to explore.
A bug and butterfly stamp set, untouched for months, finally makes its debut. Alongside it, a forgotten pack of craft foam tumbles out of the dreaded cupboard of doom.
Waves on a rainy day
As rain begins to trickle down the window on the first grey day of the summer holidays, we explore marks and patterns — using pre-made stamps and making our own.
Rediscovering Play
A whole new adventure begins. I get to be seven years old again.
It doesn’t matter that it’s messy or that the colours blend into unexpected hues. The pure joy of discovery carries us through the afternoon.
“Regardless of whether or not we’re formally making art, we are all living artists.”
(From “The Creative Act. A Way of Being. Rick Rubin. p2)
“Regardless of whether or not we’re formally making art, we are all living artists.”
(From “The Creative Act. A Way of Being. Rick Rubin. p2)
Creativity in Unexpected Places
Through the play of children, it’s easy to witness the simplicity of creativity.
So although the summer holidays may initially feel like a time when art must be put on hold, they can actually become fertile ground — where ideas flourish and materials are pushed in unexpected ways.