In preparation for this article, I stumbled down a little rabbit hole. My mind kept circling around “A world without art”… and turns out, I’m not the first person to ponder this. 😅
You see, while most of the art and creative experiences offered in our classes are around making and tinkering with materials, art can take on so many other forms. Like, so many.
Words, arranged neatly like precious beads on a necklace. Food, prepared with careful thought and attention to detail. Music, the language that reaches where words can’t. Movies. Movement. Architecture. Performances. The design of your clothes, furniture, favourite products.
And this isn’t even an extensive list.
For one moment, I invite you to close your eyes and imagine: What would your day today, the moment right now, look like, without art?
If you’re up for a challenge, go one step further, and imagine what it would be like for our children, to grow up in a world without art, without creativity?
Tricky hey?
I found a short film made by some young Bristol artists that imagines exactly that. Viewing it, I enjoyed the balance between being dramatic and playful, and found it a powerful watch. If you have five minutes, it’s worth watching it, and might change the way you notice small things today.
Art is often framed as “nice-to-have”, something extra we squeeze in between soccer practice and homework (and seemingly don’t mind leaving out as adults). But imagine policy makers, schools, workplaces that never learned to value creating, experimenting, and storytelling. We’d be poorer at empathy, worse at problem-solving, and less likely to imagine positive futures.
For our tamariki, the stakes are simple and huge: practising creativity gives them tools for emotional resilience, for inventing solutions, for connecting with others. When we protect and celebrate creative time (and yes, that includes the messy, inconvenient sort 🙃), we’re investing in adults who can imagine, and create, better worlds.
If this resonates with you, here’s a tiny, practical thought to help your young artist keep the “I’m a creator”-identity they’re born with:
Ask about the story and process of their creation, rather than the final product. By doing so, we’re not just praising them, we’re teaching them that their ideas matter and are worth exploring. Because the way we talk about play and creativity matters.
Here are some simple phrases to replace the good ol’ “Oh, what did you make?”:
- Tell me more!
- Where/how did you start?
- What did you use to make this?
- How do you feel about it? / How did you feel when making this?
I recommend copying and pasting these into your notes app, or keeping a list on the fridge. Like changing any habit, with enough repetitions, using these will soon become second nature. 😊
If you’ve got a minute, I’d love to hear: what’s one small creative moment you noticed this week? Simply leave a comment or send me a message… awkward, fun, silly, or weird (no wrong answers here). I’d love to include some of your replies in our next newsletter. 🤗
And with that, happy playing and creating,
Franzi
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I’m Franzi, a teacher, creative, and a child-at-heart. I’m on a mission to spread joy through art and play, embracing mess and mistakes, and celebrating the real connections that bring us all together. If you enjoyed this post and want to support what I do, pick one of these right now:
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