10 activities that inspire creativity alongside children, without extra prep work or fancy supplies. Give a child the gift of your time and imagination, and grow closer together.
Meaningful interactions with the children in our lives can be hard to come by when life is so busy.
Especially if you want to be creative. You have to spend a certain amount of effort to prepare an activity or craft. You can get stuck if you don’t have the right materials on hand. And if the children aren’t interested or resist whatever you’ve prepared, you either have to coax them into it or just give up.
We’ve been there—both in classrooms of kids and with our own children.
And that's why we created this course for you...
The Creative Hour workbook and online course walk you through 10 flexible experiences to connecting creatively with children without any extra prep time or materials.
When you give a child the gift of your time, you both grow closer together.
What's included in The Creative Hour?
This course is arranged as 10 creative explorations. These are not one-and-done activities. We intentionally created activities that do not require a lot of materials, prep work, money, or space. They are meant to be adaptable so that you can use them anywhere, any time, with children of any age—and you can keep doing them in different forms, depending on your situation.
Exploration 1: What’s In a Name?
This activity helps children build confidence and ownership over their own story. It also gives them an opportunity (if you want to take it) to learn more about you as a person.
Exploration 2: Let’s Make a Map
This activity is a sideways door into what a child prioritizes most in their life. You get to peek into how they view the world and let them show you around.
Exploration 3: Mail Day!
This activity gives children reminders of why they are loved. By doing this exploration with them, you will help them practice writing memories to build the story of their own life.
Exploration 4: Favorites Day
In this exploration, you can discover what matters to each other in ways you might not always pay attention to. Together, the child/ren you're working with will strengthen both a sense of independence and a feeling of belonging.
Exploration 5: I Am an Author
This exploration takes the pressure off writing and turns storytelling into a funny, humorous, delightful activity that you can do together. You'll both practice silliness, spontaneity, imaginative play, and collaborative fun.
Exploration 6: A Time When I Was Happy
The child/children in your life see your time together differently than you do. This exploration activity helps you see where they are coming from, and may reveal surprises to you about their point of view.
Exploration 7: Walk and Collect
This activity helps you interact with your local environment in positive ways that build confidence and ownership of the experience. Like the other explorations, this one can't help but be different every time.
Exploration 8: Understanding the Other
Empathy is a skill and this exploration helps children to practice it in a low-stakes situation. This creative exploration is an ideal setting to talk about differences between people in a way that brings us together.
Exploration 9: The People Before Me
Children can forge a stronger sense of resilience and identity when they consider who they are connected to. This exploration reveals unexplored stories between you and helps children look back into past generations.
Exploration 10: The “What If…?” Game
We are not silly often enough, and sometimes all we need is a little nudge. This exploration can be a full-blown activity, or fit into the everyday spaces of your life. You'll foster spontaneity and sense of humor for both children and yourself.
While we believe you can share creative time with all ages, the activities in this course work most easily with grade-school children. Ages 5-10 is the sweet spot, with 11 years old being the upper limit (unless you’re working with a particularly earnest pre-teen). All activities can be adapted for children younger than 5. The course encourages creativity from you—not just your children—and we give you tips on how to adapt.
Do I need to buy a course for each child I want to do activities with?
No. One course purchase will give you all the resources, ideas, and encouragement you need, whether you’re working with just one child, or leading a group of children in creative exploration.
What kinds of crafts will I end up with at the end of this course?
In this course, the process and the relationship are more important than the final product. But if you do the exploration activities, you and your child/ren will each end up with a drawing of your name, a personal map, letters to each other, a collection of found objects, a story you create together, multiple pictures that you both draw or create, and other mementos of your time together. These projects are meant to be low pressure, so you can keep the final products or let them go after your creative exploration is done.
When does this course start and finish?
This is a self-paced course. That means you get instant access to all the curriculum as soon as you purchase, and you can go through the material at your own pace. You have unlimited and continued access to the course.
Can I purchase this course for someone else?
YES! Parents, teachers, and other caregivers could use a course like this! Use your own email address when you purchase the course (so the receipt doesn't go to your gift recipient). Then email us at minetotellcourses@gmail.com with the gift recipient’s name and email address. We’ll personally help you get course materials and emails sent to the right person. What a nice gift you’re giving!
What kinds of supplies do I need to buy in order to use this course?
Ideally, none. Some of the explorations require no materials. Others do call for paper and writing/drawing utensils. If you have those on hand, you're all set! The kind of paper and writing utensils do not matter. We recommend using whatever you have available over buying fancy materials that add pressure to make fancy art.
What if this course isn't the right fit for me or my kids?
If you start the course and find it’s not the best fit for you within 30 days of your purchase, we’ll refund your money in full—no questions asked. (Though we really would love to know why, so we can improve the experience for others.) Please contact us within 30 days of your order for a refund.
To be creative with children, you don’t need special supplies or creative know-how. You just need this course, a child you want to spend time with, and a willingness to explore together.