Creative Cookbook

Creative

Cook Book

by

[Type text]

Juliet Brain ARTSMONKEY January 2010

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www.artsmonkey.co.uk © 2010 Juliet Brain.

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time

space

imagine

THE CREATIVE COOK BOOK

THIS COOK BOOK HAS BEEN COMPILED TO HELP PEOPLE DELIVERING CREATIVE KITCHEN SESSIONS WITH IDEAS, TIPS, SUGGESTIONS AND RESOURCES AS WELL AS THOSE TO BE FOUND ON THE CREATIVITY4HEALTH WEBSITE

www.creativity4health.com

DISCLAIMER: Although every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information provided in this book at the date of publication, readers are advised to check that the information supplied has not changed since going to press. The information contained in this document is of a general nature and the author and publisher cannot accept liability for its use in conjunction with a commercial context or other decision, nor for errors or omissions. The information contained herein does not constitute professional advice. Readers are advised to consult their own professional advisor.

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WHY CREATIVITY? Creativity isn‟t just about art and craft. We can be creative in the language we use, the sounds we make, the clothes we wear... we use creativity to solve problems and think of new ways to deal with challenges,... to widen our horizons. It is important because it helps us to adapt and respond to a rapidly changing world...

From DCFS Why Creativity, 2005 BACKGROUND TO CREATIVITY4HEALTH Creativity4Health(C4H) was a groundbreaking three year project funded by the Big Lottery fund and Wellbeing Southeast and Arts Council England which saw 62 projects across the south east as part of Chances for Change from 2007 to Dec 2010. The C4H project was developed out of a growing body of evidence and research on the positive impact creative activity has on our emotional, mental and physical wellbeing. Key national policy developments across the UK emerging have led to an emphasis that all children and young people can benefit from developing their creative abilities, we have seen a rise in the promotion of creativity in education and it is a key component at the heart of programs and strategies to produce positive outcomes for young people outside of the education sector.

From Food Art programmes, „pimping your bike‟ projects, holding public art exhibitions that address the issues that young people face in the care system to taking part in young people‟s festivals and running Family Day picnics, the participating local authorities across the South East have provided creative events and activities across the region and looked at how they embed and sustain access to creativity for young people in the care system and their foster carers, to improve physical and emotional health and well being.

Here‟s a taste of the feedback: “Today was brilliant, I liked learning about all the different Arts. This is a good idea”” “Absolutely fabulous! Can we do it again PLEASE!. Thank you to everyone.” “”I really enjoyed today because I learnt something new”, “FAB” “Everybody worked together, I loved it.”

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CREATIVE COOKBOOK: RESOURCES, INSPIRED IDEAS AND TIPS TO ENCOURAGE CREATIVITY Creative Problem Solving & Team Building The Balloon Model: Troubleshooting Draw a hot air balloon on a sheet of A4 paper 

In the Balloon basket note: What will give it the gas to get it off the ground?

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Draw guy ropes from the balloon to the ground and along them note: What‟s tying it down?

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On the ground, draw grass and make a note of: What is it standing on i.e. what is the basis for this project/partnership/idea etc.

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Around the Balloon note: What will make it fly?

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The skies the limit – in the clouds note: Ideal outcomes

This is a clear process that will help you identify problem areas, in projects, ideas and much more

“It was good because of the cooking and the breakdancing, I really wish I could do it again” 4

Mind Mapping© Tony Buzan (On wall 10 minutes) The creative thinker might imagine a shopping list visually or by using mnemonics, they might even mind map the word „shopping‟ or „food‟ Another illustration of creative approaches is „mind mapping‟ the concept promoted by Tony Buzan again with such success. Here is a creative, if you like, artistic way of linking random, thoughts and ideas whilst focusing on a specific topic, problem or word or picture.

The key principle of mind mapping is image + association = imagination As an exercise it stimulates and frees the creative process of the brain.

On wall get participants to mind map together, also tearing words and images from newspapers.

NB: Don‟t allow people to get dragged into a debate on it‟s usefulness as a method of working, it‟s supposed to be challenging but fun by nature of its relative unfamiliarity.

PRECIOUS OBJECT YOU WILL NEED an empty box Hand a box around the circle ask people to say what‟s in it, tell them it is precious. Everyone must respond to it in some way, they can‟t simply pass it on without attempting to engage with the object in some way. This is a good stimulative exercise for opening up discussion on a theme or issue or where the group are finding it hard to inter-act and open up. It is easy to facilitate and can be adapted to say open up a debate on fears or worries or the box could contain memories of a good experience and be used to draw these out etc.

BUILDING A BOAT (SHED/BRIDGE etc.)

Repetitive drama exercise that can build from two to twenty people SCRIPT:

A: B: A. B.

What are you doing?

I‟m building a boat!

Can I join in?

Of course you can!

Everyone stands in a circle, two people enter the middle to start B. mimes a repetitive action A. comes up to B and asks “what are you doing?”

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B. replies “I‟m building a shed” (or boat or whatever) and A. asks “can I join in?”

B. replies “of course you can” and A. joins in - whilst changing the repetitive action. A copies B‟s action until next person C. joins in and asks “What are you doing?”

A & B reply “We‟re building a boat” C. “Can I join in?” A & B “Of course you can” etc.

The script must not change or vary, just the action.

Another version is to play this whereby A. enters expressing an emotion (angry, shy, sad, afraid) B. picks it up and changes their expression/mood to A‟s therefore the common action stays the same but the mood is constantly changing.

Building a Bridge Each team is given 3x sheets of A4, 6x paperclips and two chairs spaced just under an arms length apart and asked to work as a team to build a bridge across the space between the two chairs using only the materials provided in three minutes.

This is an example of working in partnership towards a common goal, ideally partners will be contributing their individual skills towards achieving this goal, such as encouragement, logistical planning, ideas, approaches, practical application, mathematical solutions etc. You can impose time constraints to highlight the importance of planning time and emphasise how even though the objective is achieved it is not to the satisfaction of all.

If your team achieved a bridge, how easy was it and why?

What obstacles did you have to overcome?

If your team didn‟t achieve a bridge, why do you think this was?

How would you approach it differently next time?

You can do a similar thing with a newspaper, sellotape and a paper cup. The Bridge will need to be strong enough to hold the cup filled with water (or dried peas if you want to avoid mess).

Or Helen le Broq from OYAP asks people to design a cradle/container for an egg, so that when the container is dropped the egg doesn‟t break.

“I loved all of the smiles and enjoyed it today. I love dancing. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.”

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Touch & Go YOU WILL NEED: A chair (or comfortable floor) Space.

One person sits, surrounded by rest of group standing in a circle. On facilitators command „TOUCH‟ others touch this person with one finger either on the arms, back or legs. On Facilitators command „GO‟ person in centre can try to tag as many hands and arms or legs as they can get without moving from their seated position. The people touching cannot move their feet but they can lean back from the person in centre to avoid being „tagged‟ - if tagged they must join the person in the centre and become part of an amoebic „tagger‟. Game continues until everyone is out. Facilitator „outs‟ people who move their feet or move before the command. This is a high focus game, great for calming down over excited groups and improving concentration skills – it‟s also a fun and easy ice-breaker.

Alien Exercise From Rosy Prue, Creative Agent YOU WILL NEED some pre- written postcards In pairs: A is the Alien and B is the host.

Give A a postcard which describes how they communicate and some relevant and non-relevant background info. i.e. You are Zog from the Planet Hoo you communicate by talking numbers, you enjoy eating baked potatoes and when you approve of anything you sniff a lot. You enjoy an unhealthy love of drinking water (not found on your planet) but it makes your skin turn blue and can cause memory loss.

Ask A & B to communicate for no more than a minute. Ask for volunteers to share with rest of group, discuss the effect on communication when two people don‟t communicate in the same way.

Extend this exercise by repeating but asking B. to discover specific information from A such as: What their favourite colour is, or where they come from etc.

This exercise has a chaotic and silly element it requires some trust from participants (are they able to look ridiculous In front of colleagues/friends) and needs to be set up with a group who are comfortable with each other, it is useful for stimulating debate on a range of communication issues and troubleshooting these issues.

Continuum or ‘Temperature of the Room’ (from Love to Hate) YOU WILL NEED Three chairs (or three people or three jumpers - whatever you can lay your hands on)

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1) Place three chairs in a row/line widely spaced apart.

Right chair equals Love or 10 and Left chair represents 1 or Hate/Detest and the chair in the middle represents 5 which is neither love/nor hate.

2) Facilitator asks group to stand in the place on the line or sliding scale you have created that best represents how they feel about the following subjects and themes you throw at them.

I.e. How do you feel about Heavy metal, Litter on the Streets, Speeding on the roads, Joy riding, homework, cats, Happy Slapping (whatever is relevant to your group and a few things that aren‟t) 3) Discuss why people went to where and show how diverse we are once we start to think for ourselves (instead of just going where you‟re friend went). There are lots of things you can draw from this exercise such as common ground, strength of feeling etc.

4) Develop exercise by asking group to respond to a mix of serious and silly statements, such as: Smoking in pubs should be re-instated, Art should be accessible to all, grey hair is chic, size zero models are cool, Chocolate should be subsidised by the Government, London is the centre of the universe, all people over the age of forty should be put in homes, Adults don‟t understand young people etc.

To which you ask people to respond by saying the Right chair denotes „strongly agree‟, the left chair represents „strongly disagree‟ and the middle chair represents „neither agree, nor disagree‟.

Anna Fruen, 22 year old English and Creative Writing student.

“My favourite creative activity is colouring in. Using chunky black outlines and bright wax or pencil crayons. It’s a simple way of switching tracks from analytical to creative. It requires no deep thinking, it relaxes the brain. Just pick a colour and get going!”

Carpet & Parachute YOU WILL NEED Four sheets of newspaper, one sturdy table or some chairs. Space.

This is a version of a team building exercise based on an obstacle course where teams of six or less have to complete an obstacle course using two carpet squares as their only point of contact with the ground and involves passing under a parachute spread out on the ground.

Ingredients In this mini version carpet squares are replaced by two sheets of newspaper (bigger but less durable) and the parachute is a table which depending on its type and sturdiness they either have to get round or under or over.

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1) Mark a starting point and an end point, place an obstacle half way.

2)

The teams take it in turns to get from start to finish and are timed.

Their objective is to work as a team to get across the floor and round (over/under) the obstacle to the end in as short a time as possible and by only standing on the sheets of newspaper (seconds will be added for contact with the floor other than on the newspaper sheets).

Simple, fun, don‟t forget the Health & Safety announcement and a swift risk assessment of the room and equipment used.

Cooking time: ten minutes to set up obstacle course and fifteen minutes for two teams to complete course

Fruitbasket Everyone sits in a circle and the leader goes round each person giving them the name of a fruit, just three or four so you have several of the same kind ie. Orange, apple, banana, plum. The leader then calls out the name of a fruit and people have to swap places with someone of the same „fruit‟. Last one to sit down is out (although not for the first few goes) and their chair is taken away. When the leader calls out „fruitbasket‟ everyone has to swap places. The leader is keeping an eye out for people who go back to their original chairs, in which case they are the one who „goes out‟ for that round.

VISUAL ART Origami If you can get hold of some nice square paper (or cut your own) making a pig or a cootie catcher or a boat can be fun –and everyone gets to take them home. Lots of templates for origami shapes can be downloaded from the internet.

A - Z book from Beatrice Cole, the Stade Education Officer, Old Town Museum, Hastings YOU WILL NEED A scrap book, some old wrapping paper, glue, scissors, coloured paper, old cards, magazines This is something my granny used to do with me and my sister, Ruby, when we were little and went to stay with her.

She had a scrap book that she covered in gold paper. On every other page she stuck in the letters of the alphabet.

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She had a box of pictures from newspapers and postcards that she'd get out for us. She used to give us glue and scissors and we would cut out pictures and put them under the letter of the alphabet that they related to. So, for example, if there was a postcard of a painting from an art gallery and there was an angel in the picture we'd cut this out and stick it under A for angel.

We used to do this all morning and then she'd give us a slice of cheese on toast cut into triangles, with a tomato slice on top for lunch! I can still remember some of those pictures now, all these years later.

Newspaper Costumes Stephanie Jalland from Hoodwink Theatre Co. Once came and worked on a project with me where she got young people to use newspaper to make vegetables, hats and flowers, Iâ€&#x;ve been using newspaper to make things ever since.

YOU WILL NEED Old dry newspapers, sellotape, imagination

INGREDIENTS There are no rules to doing and making things with newspaper, you have to experiment.

Newspaper will crush, roll, fold and crumple to make great shapes, you tear or cut it into strips and curl the ends to make a wig, fold and sellotape sheets to make dresses, or trousers, which you can decorate with newspaper flowers or origami swans and pigs (there are loads of templates for origami and paper folding on the internet). First time around, the less you think and the more you just play with the newspaper trying to get it to make shapes or to resemble things by folding and crumpling and sellotaping the more imaginative the results will be.

If you want to get really clever, you can glue several sheets together by laying them one on top of the other, glueing with pva mixed with a little water and drying them flat to get a stiffer (but wrinkly) paper to work with. Great for making comedy hats!

Cooking Time From two minutes to make a cabbage, to half an hour to make a simple hat (or a newspaper wig) and costume.

Instant Collage/Five Minute Arts Project: YOU WILL NEED Back copies of magazines, newspapers, glue sticks & A4 (individuals) A3 (in groups) sheets of paper

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Give out A4 or A3 sheets and ask individuals/groups to cut and tear images and words from a pile of newspaper and magazines that says something about themselves, they can add stuff in with pen. Give them five to ten minutes.

Then get everyone to look at either their own or someone else‟s work and say what they see, put them up on the wall for the rest of the day.

This is also a great exercise for getting quick evaluations or using in groups to get some bonding going as it can be done as group.

This exercise works particularly well with young people who can be very innovative about what they find around the room to add into their collages!

STORY TELLING & WORD GAMES Story Telling Is a wonderful way to learn to express your thoughts and emotions either in abstract through imagery or through learning to explore and play with words. You can use puppets, or cartoons, make short films with mobile phones. You can use the mapping exercise to tell the story of a journey or your life or an aspect of it.

Speech Bubbles Find a picture in a newspaper or magazine that means something to you, put it up on the wall.

Once you have a selection of pictures, cut out a speech bubble from coloured paper (or you can pre do this) and stick them on the picture, then the other person (or group) has to fill in the speech bubbles. It is interesting to make objects and not just people talk, such as doors or lamp-posts. The bubbles don‟t have to be complicated, they can say things like “ouch!” or “Oh no!” or “uh-oh” This can lead to drama games where you act out the scene, or create the scene that happened before the picture or the one just after.

RECIPE: F is for FOOT From Jon Potter, Director of Company Paradiso YOU WILL NEED Big sheet of paper, thick pens, blue tack for sticking it on wall and scissors if you want to cut individual feet/hands out.

On a big piece of paper laid on the floor in the middle of the room, each person puts a foot down and draws around it. Or if you prefer, you can place the paper on a table, take your shoe off

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and draw around it. Inside the footprint you write something, words about a step you have made in your life or about a time when things changed in your life.

This is part of a series of creative writing exercises, starting with A and going through the alphabet, this one comes near the end of the first session when we get to F. It has been the inspiration of a number of poems.

You could also try „H is for Hand‟ and draw round your hand, filling the fingers in with words about yourself.

COOKING TIME: 5 mins to trace and write, 5 mins to share or cut out and place on wall to make an instant gallery plus extra time to develop results into a poem or song or story.

Story Bags YOU WILL NEED A pillowcase, random but interesting (non precious) objects ie. a wooden spoon, a teddy bear, a toy car, a stone etc.

Put some objects in a pillow case and use it as inspiration for making up a story. As the objects are taken out of the story bag, they become part of the story.

COOKING TIME: 5 mins to fill a pillowcase, 10 to 20 mins to tell the story.

State of Being YOU WILL NEED A Flip chart, a room with „stuff‟ in it.

Get participants to verbally list words and phrases that describe what they think Being imaginative is i.e. to be imaginative, ingenious, innovative, resourceful, inspired, inventive in the ways you express yourself, your thoughts, ideas, teachings…it isn‟t just using the arts to express yourself, your thoughts etc.

As a group find objects around the room and use them to form a „imagination‟ sculpture or use a large sheet of paper to create an expressive picture of that state of being.

You can also use feelings, such as scared, hungry, happy but choose with care and be aware of your group when doing so.

Scrabble Art On a board arranging words that mean something to you in a crossword style (like a scrabble board) or in a way that draws the eye. It produces instant art, also it can help draw out

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emotions, and hidden feelings, anxieties. If you can get hold of old scrabble boards, or similar puzzle board games in a charity shop you can use them to make your piece of „art‟ exploring the stories that come out of the words used.

Or you can just write each single letter on a sheet of card or paper and have fun linking your words with someone else‟s.

Word Ping Pong In two groups, draw a line with chalk or tape or use a scarf. People take turns to step up to the line (one from each team) You choose a letter from the alphabet and the players take turns to list as many words beginning with this letter, the winner is the person who has the „last word‟ and their team earns a point.

For shorter „duels‟ you can do the same with emotions such as Love or Hate or topics such as sport, art, famous people.

The teams can either self adjudicate on if a word counts or not, or you can appoint two referees.

You can also add in difficulty levels like occasionally asking them to add an action to their word for a bonus round. You can also do this as a one to one activity. It is a good story telling warm up.

Yellow Taxi Easy story games are circle games where you tell a story as a group by using only one word or short phrases. Except for when someone is stuck and they can either say “Full Stop” Which means a new train of thought or story line can begin or the leader can call out “Yellow Taxi” whereby the next person tells the story to its conclusion which must involve a Yellow Taxi. Then you go back to one word per person again.

You can also use a random object, which the story teller holds, and becomes the subject of the story, you can only speak once you have the object in your hands.

HAIKU HAIKU From Dwayne Wyatt, Artist & Poet YOU WILL NEED: You need to spend some time, watching and listening, absorbing what you saw. A haiku can feel like a statement, or a thought. Its briefness is like a „twitter‟ it can be funny, direct, make you think about something differently, see it in a new light.

Pen and paper, an idea or something you‟ve seen that inspires you to create a haiku about it. I put mine up on a blog, the good the bad and the ugly. A lot of the subjects are very personal themes.

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INGREDIENTS Writing Haiku‟s: The poetry form of haikus originated in Japan and consists of three lines which in total contain a maximum of 17 syllables, in a form of 5-7-5 syllables, haiku poems don‟t necessarily have to rhyme but a certain rhythm of syllables are part of the structure.

These short poems are often moments of (human) nature observed and written down, haikus are about what you see and not what you feel.

My approach to haiku writing is the same as if it were a tanka poem which is more or less the same format as a haiku, always try to use the last line to answer what has been asked or observed in the first two lines (in a tanka the rule I use is to use the last two lines of 14 syllables to answer the first part of the poem - in total a tanka is 5-7-5-7-7 syllables).

Haikus are a very good creative tool, as they are quick, teach about structure and flow, which leads on to further interest in writing, but also observation, how you see the world you live in as well.

I like writing haiku‟s as they have a very set and rigid structure yet you have as much freedom as you like within that structure. They may only be a few lines long and many of them are just throw away poems but then there are a few that do make you stop and think and look at the world around you in a different way, even if it is just for a few seconds.

Cooking Time It can take ten minutes or an hour or a day, or a week to write one.

Kim's Game An old favourite, as described by Beatrice Cole This is a game that my mum used to play with me when I was little. Sometimes we used to play it in bed on a Sunday morning with my little brother. All you need is: A tray, a tea towel, some objects - about 10 The objects can be any little things you have around your house, things like a lipstick, a toy car, a pencil or a needle.

I found: A biro A bee toy A bottle of perfume A little mouse A pair of scissors A tape measure

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A cotton reel A pair of sunglasses A basket The letter B You lay the items out on the tray and give the other person 10 seconds to look at them. They use the 10 seconds to try and memorise all of the objects.

Then cover the tray with the tea towel. Move the objects around and take one away and hide it.

Take off the tea towel and see if the other person can tell what's missing. It doesn't take long to play the game, just a few minutes to play once. But you can take it in turns to play it over and over. Make it more or less difficult by adding or taking away more objects or giving less time to memorise. It's low energy, and just takes concentration. The beauty of it is that you don't need anything special and can just use whatever's in your house already.

An Afternoon with Eric Carle From Helen Cadbury, writer, Theatrestudy Publications Look closely at any books by Eric Carle (The Very Hungry Caterpillar is the most famous) and you'll see that the pictures are actually collages of colour. You can start by reading the story out loud to the children. Choose a character or an image that they like. This is a good activity for a mixed age group which includes very young children or those with less fine motor skill coordination as it involves covering pieces of paper with colour, whatever way the child wants. If it's paint you'll have wait for it to dry, then cut them out and stick them onto another piece of paper where you, or an older child, has drawn the outline shape of the character/image chosen earlier.

The butterfly at the end of Hungry Caterpillar is one of the easiest because you can just draw a big outline of a butterfly, it doesn't have to be detailed just make them matching on each side.

I've done this with four or five children at a time and they all love the fact that their bit is on the final picture. Boys especially like being able to create something colourful, where they are allowed to scribble or be messy, which turns into something beautiful. There's no right or wrong.

If the child just wants to cover the paper with black for example, you can still use these sections. Rocks, mountains, a road, could all be black. What they make might also become a different story, 'look the caterpillar is going up the road towards the mountains, what's he going to find...?'

Bedtime Storytelling From Helen Cadbury Children love being read to but what if they've had the same book over and over and you really can't face it again?

Make one up. This is easier than it sounds because you can borrow from the best children's books around. The template I often use is based on the original book of „Where the Wild Things Areâ€&#x;.

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INGREDIENTS Once upon a time there was a little girl/boy called...(name of child you are talking to) who lived.... one day when she went to bed the most incredible thing happened, in the corner of her room a ship appeared/ a horse walked in ....off she sailed/ rode until she came to an island, on this island there was...(all her favourite things/ a hungry monster...at this point she might start suggesting things) she might defeat the monster or eat so much cake she feels sick, whatever you and she decide but eventually she felt very, very tired so it was time to get back in the boat/ onto the horse and sail/ride home (you can steal from Going on A Bear Hunt at this point, if you think she/he might like a few obstacles to get through) and arrived back in her very own room where she climbed sleepily into her bed, snuggled down and fell fast asleep where she dreamed of a boat/horse and an island until the morning came.

OUTDOORS: Collecting twigs, leaves and grass stalks to make small sculptures or pictures ((your inner child for example) or by weaving them together with grass (or you can buy rafia from florists and craft shops + online) You can also buy willow which you can weave into tall sculptures adding in things from a garden or woodland walk, You can also use masking tape to bind willow together to make a frame to be covered with fabric or paper machie to make large shapes and sculptures.

Outdoors you can make large one dimensional pictures on the ground using things you find.

Water painting If you have a large flat outdoor space available like a car park area, using old paintbrushes and buckets of water you can paint large pictures without causing any damage and on hot days it‟s a quick fun activity.

CLAY If you have access to clay (potters supplies or local school art department might help you source some) then working with clay is a calming and engaging activity. You will need water to keep the clay wet and workable and a cheese wire to cut clay from the block it usually comes in – you will need to keep the cheese wire safe and out of harms way before and after use.

We usually get sheets of thick card from the „scrap store‟ to use as boards or tape plastic sheets down on tables. Everyone will need old shirts/aprons to protect their clothing and access to water and soap as working with clay is invariably messy but very therapeutic and relaxing.

Clay Tiles Roll out clay with a rolling pin on a board until ½ inch thick. Cut into square tiles using a cheese wire or palette knife. You can use string, textured fabric and ends of pens or rulers to make patterns in tiles. If you use air dry clay you can leave them outside to dry and decorate an

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outdoor space with them. If you work with a professional artist, you can get them glazed and make a tiled display that can be mounted on an outdoor wall.

Tree Faces Using clay that you keep fairly wet, make faces and leave on trees. Eventually the clay will crumble away but you can have great fun bringing trees to life, giving them faces and altering the silhouette of the tree. You can also use twigs and leaves to decorate.

Head Sculptures You will need a stand for this so you can create a neck for your head and so it supports the weight of the head. We use broom handles screwed into the middle of a cheap square of board.

Then you add clay and build up the head shape of your partner, observing first from side profile and full on, drawing a few basic sketches using an oval shape for the head and a cross inside it as a guide for where the eyes nose and mouth sit. Again the trick is to keep spraying the clay with water so it doesn‟t dry out. If you are lucky enough to know an artist who can come in and help with getting people started, anyone can do this and it is quite amazing to achieve a full head sculpture.

Food Sculptures Start with trying to get people to build a pyramid or tower with fruit and or/vegetables. See who can go highest and then using scissors and not overly sharp knives, ask people to create pictures and sculptures with the fruit and veg. Pictures can be one dimensional ie. Laid out flat on a chopping board or three dimension using cocktail sticks to join shapes together (like using a real potato, small tomatoes and grapes to make a 3D Mr Potato Head. If you observe good hygiene, you can encourage people to make a food picture that looks good enough to eat, and then they can do just that afterwards!

Pebble Pictures From Beatrice Cole Draw faces or pictures onto pebbles at the beach. Pencils or permanent markers work best, but you can use felt tip. It's fun to try and use the shape of the pebble to draw your picture. What shapes are in the pebble that look like a mouth or an eye? Leave the pebbles on the beach so that someone else can find them.

“It was the best day ever because I got to have fun”

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NOTES ON USING INTER-ACTIVE EXERCISES: Sometimes we lose the point to why we play a certain game or use a certain exercise, they serve so many different functions it is easy to get lost in the doing of and to forget the intention.

All games have a point of focus; to aid concentration, to develop team skills, co -ordination, imagination, to stimulate debate, ideas, images.

The key to a successful exercise, is knowing what YOU want people to get from it and why you want to play it. A high focus concentration game like Touch & Go can provide a leader with the opportunity to gauge the mood of a group, their ability to concentrate that day, to see how they are relating as a group etc. A MID focus, high energy game such as CARPET & PARACHUTE or „STUCK IN THE MUD‟ can be useful to let off steam on a rainy day or to develop coordination by imposing challenges on the playing of it.

Structure is key, just like a lesson plan. Some games develop on from another, some will take the session in a whole new direction so when combining games an d exercises thought must be given to how and why. But never be afraid to drop an exercise if it‟s not working and come back to it another day.

There are more ideas for activities on the Creativity4Health website

Visit www.creativity4health.com

BIBLIOGRAPHY Reading List: some ideas and suggestions Tony Buzan: Use your Head (also) Mind Maps Playing The Game by Christine Poulter for Macmillan (Games for young people) House of Games: Making Theatre from Everyday Life by Chris Johnston published by Nick Hern Books London Messy Play for Children with Special Needs by Tracey Beckerleg Curtains Up! Theatre Games and Storytelling by Robert Rubenstein published by Fulcrum Publishing Using Drama to Bring Language to Life: Ideas, Games and activities for Teachers of Language and language Arts by Sheila Robbie for Players Press It‟s All Talk: Speaking & Listening through Games & Drama (years 7 – 9) by Stan Barrett for Carel Press Impro for Storytellers by Keith Johnstone published by Methuen

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The little Book Series: The Little Book of Messy Play by Sally Featherstone and Liz Persse Last Child in the Woods: saving our children from nature deficit disorder by Richard Louv

Some Creative and useful Websites: The Childrens Commissioner

http://www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk

Arts Council England

www.artscouncil.org.uk

Arts Award

www.artsaward.org.uk

Creativity4health

www.creativity4health.com

Oxfordshire Youth Arts Partnership - OYAP

www.oyap.org.uk

OYAP Trust operates with a small but dedicated core team and work in partnership with artists and creative practitioners across Oxfordshire and the Thames Valley to enable young people to enjoy and participate in arts activities.

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 Creative Learning All ways Learning: www.allwayslearning.org.uk www.culturallearningalliance.org.uk www.teachertomsblog.blogspot.com www.campaign-for-learning.org.uk www.newwritingsouth.com www.creativelearningjourney.org.uk www.funderstanding.com/right_left_brain.cfm

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www.businessballs.com www.surfaquarium.com/MI/inventory.htm www.colormatters.com www.inspiration.com/vlearning/index.cfm Bursted Wood Primary School, Bexley www.thecreativelearningjourney.co.uk www.positivecomedy.com www.storynory.com

Creativity Culture Education http://www.creativitycultureeducation.org/ Transforms the lives of children and families by harnessing the potential of creative learning and cultural opportunity to enhance their aspirations, achievements and skills.

Wellbeing Southeast www.wellbeingsoutheast.co.uk An online source for practitioners working to promote healthier lifestyles including chances4change the umbrella project for creativity4health

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The Centre for Confidence and Wellbeing http://www.centreforconfidence.co.uk/flourishing-lives.php The Centre, based in Scotland, is a catalyst for change. Their focus is the development of confidence and well-being. Some excellent links and ideas under flourishing lives.

Centre for Excellence and Outcomes for Children and Young People http://www.c4eo.org.uk The Centre for Excellence and Outcomes in Children and Young Peopleâ€&#x;s Services (C4EO) aims to help those working in the sector improve the life chances of all children and young people, in particular those who are most vulnerable.

Dreamwall www.dreamwall.org.uk Dreamwall is a charity which has had significant success with supporting, developing and engaging vulnerable young people. Working with a passion borne from a commitment to improving the life chances of young people. Their services enable young people to develop and succeed through challenges in a supportive learning environment.

Muslim Youth Organisations Young Muslim Organisation UK - www.ymouk.com Young Muslims UK - www.ymuk.net Muslim Youth Helpline Other Youth Organisations Guiding Scouting UK Youth Parliament British Youth Council National Council for Voluntary Youth Services Duke of Edinburgh's Award National Union of Students NABC - Clubs for Young People Youthlink Scotland Artswork Carnegie Young People Initiative English National Youth Arts Network (ENYAN) Prince's Trust Sea Cadets UK Youth Young Explorers Trust European Network of Youth Centres (ENYC) Into the Net Looking Forward to Thursdays The Rural Media Company

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Track Off The Who Cares? Trust Youth Action Youth Justice Board Artswork Artswork is an independent national youth arts development agency, committed to generating creative opportunities for young people aged 12 -25, with a priority for working with young people at risk. They also deliver advocacy and support through the English National Youth Arts Network (ENYAN).

Email: info@artswork.org.uk Website: http://www.artswork.org.uk/ British Youth Council BYC promotes the active citizenship of young people and work with them to develop their skills and abilities to participate in decision-making and controlling resources, encouraging them to work together to take collective action.

Website: http://www.byc.org.uk/ Carnegie Young People Initiative Promotes the involvement of young people aged 10-25 in the key decisions that affect them. It is an independent think-tank, funded primarily by the Carnegie UK Trust, created to push forward policy and practice across the UK and Ireland. It is the only organisation to focus fully on participation and specialises on research, policy development and piloting innovative projects. And through its independence is able to bring key organisations and players together to share good practice.

Website: http://www.carnegie-youth.org.uk/

English National Youth Arts Network (ENYAN) ENYAN is a membership body designed to create connections throughout the diverse youth arts sector at national, regional and grass roots levels. ENYAN aims to raise the profile and support for youth arts within England, and by doing so create more opportunities for the creative and personal development of young people, especially young people at risk.

Email: hello@enyan.co.uk Website: http://www.enyan.co.uk/

European Network of Youth Centres (ENYC) Promoting Inter-cultural and International Learning. Website: http://www.eycn.org/ fsu: investing in families - one the UK's leading charities working with children and families.

Since 1948 we have been at the forefront of the development of modern day social work, creating new ways of engaging hard to reach, vulnerable and excluded families. At each of our fsu Centres our staff aim to engage with the most marginalised and excluded families. fsu's dedicated staff team invest in families to help them achieve positive changes in their lives.

Website: http://www.fsu.org.uk/

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Into the Net A new online, interactive exhibition of objects from the National Football Museum - developed for young people by young people from the NW Foyers. This project is a partnership between the North West Museums Libraries and Archives Council, the Foyer Federation and the National Football Museum. It has been funded by the New Opportunities Fund Digitisation Programme.

Website: http://www.intothenet.org/

Looking Forward to Thursdays The purpose of this website is to provide easily accessible, user-friendly facts, information and resources about the learning needs of young adults who experience mental health difficulties.

Website: http://www.lookingforward.org.uk/

The Prince's Trust The Prince's Trust is a large organisation involved in a wide-range of activities encouraging the social development of young people. The Trust is particularly active in promoting young people's business activity, volunteering, travel, and out- of-school learning.

Telephone: 0800 842 842 Website: http://www.princes-trust.org.uk/

The Rural Media Company The Rural Media Company works with young people and youth agencies throughout the UK. We develop projects and deliver training which promotes the innovative and creative use of media and new communications technology to empower local communities and enable young people to play an effective part in the democratic process. The Rural Media Company also produces learning and training resources for use within informal education and community settings.

Website: http://www.ruralmedia.co.uk/ StreetVibes UK Youth music organisation providing accredited educational programmes in urban music to disaffected young people in London.

Website: http://www.streetvibesuk.co.uk/

Track Off A campaign to educate people, especially young people, about the dangers and consequences of railway crime and inappropriate behaviour on the railways. The site provides information and free resources for schools and youth groups.

Website: http://www.trackoff.org/

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United Kingdom Youth Parliament UKYP aims to give the young people of the UK, between the ages of 11 and 18, a voice, which will be heard and listened to by local and national government, providers of services for young people and other agencies who have an interest in the views and needs of young people.

Website: http://www.ukyouthparliament.org.uk/

The Who Cares? Trust A national charity working to improve public care for around 60,000 children and young people who are separated from their families and living in residential or foster care.

Website: http://www.thewhocarestrust.org.uk/htm

The Trust has also launched a web site called right here, right now with information for carers and young people at: http://www.rhrn.thewhocarestrust.org.uk/

Youth Action Youth Action is a successful approach to youth volunteering. It enables thousands of young people across the country to become active in their own time, meet other young people, gain skills, have fun and put into reality their ideas and priorities that are of benefit to their own communities.

Website: http://www.youth-action.org.uk/

Youth Justice Board The Youth Justice Board for England and Wales (YJB) is an executive non-departmental public body. Our 12 board members are appointed by the Home Secretary. The YJB oversees the youth justice system in England and Wales. We work to prevent offending and reoffending by children and young people under the age of 18, and to ensure that custody for them is safe, secure, and addresses the causes of their offending behaviour.

Website: http://www.yjb.gov.uk/

Scottish Youth Parliament (SYP) The SYP aims to represent young people, aged 14 to 25, at a national level. It is the only wholly youth-led parliament in the UK and has a major role to play in stimulating debate amongst young people and presenting young people's views.

YouthLink Scotland YouthLink Scotland is the national agency for youth work in Scotland.

Young Scot

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Young Scot is the national youth information agency for Scotland. It aims to provide young people with a mixture of information, ideas and incentives in a variety of formats to enable them to make informed decisions and choices.

European Commission Youth - http://ec.europa.eu/youth/index_en.htm Connect Youth Education, Science and Society The British Council E-mail: connectyouth.enquiries@britishcouncil.org Website: http://www.britishcouncil.org/connectyouth.htm Bafta The BRITISH ACADEMY OF FILM AND TELEVISION ARTS - watch webcasts, explore the world of Film, TV and Video Games, plus find out about the latest BAFTA events www.bafta.org/ First Light FIRST LIGHT funds and inspires young people, throughout the UK, to make films reflecting the diversity of their lives. www.firstlightonline.co.uk British Film Institute There's more to discover about film and television through the BFI. Our world-renowned archive, cinemas, festivals, films, publications and learning www.bfi.org.uk/ *See education pages and features Shooting People FILM of the Year 路 UK FILM Council 路 Encounters with ... available on the web and beyond for independent film production and distribution. ... interesting site where you can see what filmmakers are doing, how film is used etc., shootingpeople.org BBC - FILM Network Showcasing new UK film talent by screening SHORT FILMS, profiling the people who made them and providing filmmakers with the tools to exchange advice, ... www.bbc.co.uk/filmnetwork/ Future Shorts - Adventures in SHORT FILM Future Shorts passionately believe in developing a wider audience for SHORT FILM. *Has a nice film making guide www.futureshorts.com/ UK Film Council

http://www.ukfilmcouncil.org.uk/

Fun Googles Creative learning or Creativity 4 Health

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Creativity for kids Bear Hunt Thanks to creative activity contributors: Company Paradiso

www.companyparadiso.co.uk

Beatrice Cole, The Stade Education Officer, Hastings Old Town Museum Hoodwink Theatre Co.,

www.hoodwinktheatre.co.uk

New Writing South

www.newwritingsouth.com

Helen le Broq, OYAP

www.oyap.org.uk

Rosy Prue, C4H Creative Consultant Helen Cadbury

www.theatrestudy.com

Matt Jones, Creative Director, Creative Hub for Young People Graeme Donaldson, Musician

www.synoiz.com

Dwayne Wyatt, Artist

www.theboywyatt.blogspot.com

Anna Fruen, arts student

http://thiefree.deviantart.com/

Nicholas Collett

www.nicholascollett.com

And to Helen Mason Discern2consultancy Alan from Alive With ideas www.alivewithideas.com for some early input to get it going.

All the Foster Carers from Southampton and Eastbourne who gave of their valuable time to help shape the creative kitchen sessions.

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