What’s Inside the Creative Double?
The Creative Double brings together two of our most popular packs for older children to explore their interests – the Artist’s Yearbook and The Curiosity Project Book. Please see descriptions for each activity pack below.
The Artist’s Yearbook:
The Artist’s Yearbook is perfect for all children. After all, every child is an artist! It is especially good for tweens and teens to work through independently. This beautiful 100 page resource is very much a template. It prompts, inspires and gently guides whilst leaving plenty of space for your artist to interpret everything in their own unique way. The pack can be worked through entirely at your own pace although there are twelve sections which would work well at a monthly pace. If you purchase the digital version we recommend printing the pack and putting it into a binder. You might also like our Mindful Me Journal and our Holiday Activity Pack
What’s in the Artist’s Yearbook?
Each section begins with an artist study. This will entail independent research and the recording of information to produce a profile. The artists covered in this pack are:
Albert Namatjira
Piet Mondrian
Andy Warhol
Rosa Bonheur
Banksy
Jackson pollock
Pablo Picasso
Dame Barbara Hepworth
Anthony Gormley
Georgia O’Keeffe
Katsushika Hokusai
Steven Brown
The section then moves on to invite children to look at two examples of the artist’s work. They will then need to find out about the pieces and make note of their thoughts and opinions. After looking specifically at the media and techniques used by the artist they will then choose and reproduce another piece by the artist.
At this point children are invited to create their own masterpiece ‘in the style of’ using all the information they have accumulated about the artist. Spaces intended for your artist to create a piece also have a small plaque for them to name and sign their work.
There’s then a gently guided art activity that focussing on using a particular media or using a particular technique. The activities in this pack are:
Aboriginal Dot Art
Lego Block Art
Pop Art Printing
Pastel Blending
Chalk & Charcoal
Marbling
Block Colour
Playdough & String Sculpture
Clay Sculpture
Musical Movements
Potato Prints
Colour Wheel
Each of the sections finishes off with two prompts which are intentionally very open ended. The pack contains twenty-four of these prompts. Some examples are:
Create a piece using only primary colours
Illustrate part of a book you have enjoyed
Use watercolours to paint a still life
Paint a picture using natural objects instead of a brush
Create a collage using different types of paper and material
The Yearbook concludes with a guided reflection which gives children the chance to look back over their work, identify successes and consider their challenges and areas of improvement.
In some cases your artist may wish to complete an artwork on card, coloured paper or other material and then stick the finished piece in. For some projects it will be appropriate to take a photograph of their finished piece and stick that in rather than the piece itself.
What age is the Artist’s Yearbook for?
The Artist’s Yearbook can be enjoyed by children of all ages and abilities. Younger children can have help with research and recording whereas older/more able children can complete the artist studies independently. Children can write in as much detail as they like and their responses to the art activities and prompts will be at their own level. This pack is ideal for older children who love art but perhaps need a gentle path to help them structure their interest.
The Curiosity Project Book:
The Curiosity Project Book is ideal for topic work; it is a template for children aged 8-16 to explore and delve deeper into any topic that they are interested in. You might also like to take a look at our Artist’s Yearbook {PDF}
The Curiosity Project Book allows children to have total freedom and complete control over their learning journey. We have purposefully designed it this way. They simply choose a topic that really interests them and use the learning prompts to complete their project. Our aim is that it inspires a thirst for knowledge, fosters self-motivated learning and encourages independence.
The Curiosity Project Book has been designed to largely be a ‘blank canvas’. We’d love your child to add to borders, to doodle as they think, to colour in their pictures and add whatever creative splashes of colour they feel like. It is theirs to personalise and we hope this gives them a sense of ownership and pride in their work. The activities can be completed in any order but it would make sense to end with the presentation once your child has had a good chance to fully explore their topic.
Children begin by choosing a topic and creating their title page. They then explore what they already know and think about what they would like to find out about with a mind map. Once they have gathered half a dozen or so relevant books and/or magazines they begin their activities.
Amongst other things children will record important facts from their texts, do detailed focus studies of things that capture their interests, create a quiz, prepare an interview for an expert and examine important vocabulary. They should (if possible) plan and take a trip linked to their project and follow it up with a host of activities. These include scrapbook style pages for photos and mementos, recounting their day and picking out/presenting what they learnt. You could consider taking a virtual trip if it would be more appropriate for their chosen topic.
As well as using their printed resources, children will be encouraged to watch a relevant documentary and review it. They will be guided through using the internet as a research tool, with explanations of cross-checking, skim-reading and note taking. Children will also have opportunities to draw detailed diagrams, consider a debate and conduct a survey. They can design a word search, produce a poster about an important issue/aspect and create cartoon characters for use in a comic strip to educate others. Throughout their project children are invited and encouraged to give their opinions and feedback in a variety of ways. They will also find a few blank pages near the end of the project in case they think of something they’d like to do that isn’t already included.
Their project will culminate with them preparing a presentation themed around their topic (there are several suggestions of the form this could take). Once completed, the project book becomes a great resource for children to use going forward. They will be able to refer back to it and because they created it, it will feel more relevant than a shop bought book. It’s also a lovely keepsake of their project work for the year.
What’s inside the Curiosity Project Book?
Your child will:
- Learn how to skim-read, cross-check and note take for their research
- Create a mind map
- Use scrapbook techniques to record their findings artistically
- Be encouraged to use the internet as a research tool
- Draw detailed diagrams about their topic of choice
- Use step-by-step processes to explore their topic
- Conduct a survey and create a graph
- Prepare and give a presentation in the style of their choice such as PowerPoint, recorded video or even stop motion animation
- Take a trip linked to their project and follow it up with guided activities
- Create a quiz
- Consider a relevant debate
- Prepare an interview for an expert in their chosen topic
- Study two key people
- Create some themed artwork
- Explore a relevant recipe
- Enjoy mindful colouring whilst they think
What age is the Curiosity Project Book suitable for?
Our age recommendation for this pack is approximately 8-16 years. It is suitable for children who would like to explore a topic or area of interest with guided activities. The activities have been designed to enable a wide range of ages to access them. Primary aged children can use it with support/supervision as is appropriate. Older children would be able to use it as a way of recording independent work.
Do I need anything else?
You will need to help your child gather books, magazines, videos and any other resources you can about the topic- this gathering is itself one of the activities in the Yearbook.
Is the Creative Double books or pdf file?
This product is available as three options- A4 hard copies, an instant download and a combo of both. You can pick your own postage to suit your individual needs at checkout.
If you purchase the digital file please be aware that not all pages require printing. Our packs are bright and vibrant to make them appealing to children and as such it may not be economical to print them in their entirety. Some pages are suitable to be read on a device without the need for printing.
The print quality of the hard copies is far superior to a home printer and they are professionally printed on 170gsm paper (Artist) and 120gsm paper (Curiosity) and wire-o-bound with thick, laminated covers.
PDF download links are available on screen immediately after purchase and in your confirmation email (please check your junk folder). Books are dispatched within two working days via your chosen postage method.
Anything else I need to know about the Creative Double?
Some of the activities in this pack may require the use of scissors, knives and hot cooking equipment so please ensure children are supervised appropriately. Some of our activities require resources that you may not have readily at home but can be purchased inexpensively online or at the supermarket.
| Weight | 1.1 kg |
|---|---|
| Dimensions | 34 × 23.5 × 2.3 cm |
| Format | Book + Instant Download, Instant Download, Book |
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