Every so often, people do things with the Artefact Cards that make me go YES, GODDAMN IT, THAT'S AMAZING, WHY DIDN'T I THINK OF THAT..???
I was chatting to Abi Green of The Conscious Project on email the other day, and she mentioned that just in time for the summer holidays, they'd been creating the most amazing thing to do with the kids... I'll let Abi explain...
Hi Abi - so, tell us what you've been up to preparing for the summer holidays?
I’ve got 3 boys age 10, 7 and 4 and I see the Summer holidays as a brilliant opportunity to do all the things I like doing with my kids - I mean the fun, silly stuff, outdoors time, and things they often get no chance to do at school. So I’ve been scratching out a set of Artefact Cards with a pick-and-mix of activities for them, for those moments when they say ‘I don’t know what to do, I’m bored!'
What got you started on this? And why use Artefact Cards?
Uh, in the moment, when one of my children tells me they’re bored, my mind goes blank! I wanted to catch my ideas as and when they came to me. The cards are the perfect tool, They feel nice, a great size for children, and we’ve used words and pictures on every card so they work for my youngest who is pre-school. I could go on… the whole point is that ideas don’t disappear so once written in permanent ink, the water bomb card can still go back in the pack after all the bombs have been thrown. I’m planning to present them in a treasure box which makes it easier for the children to shuffle and pick something they fancy, and emphasises that a great idea stays great… so you can do it again!
How difficult was it to make a whole pack?
We’ve been collecting ideas for a week or so now- our ideas and theirs- and recording them on some fantastic bright green Artefact Cards. We haven’t quite finished the pack yet but the lovely thing now is that they’re contributing more and more of their own ideas about what they’d like to do. I’ve got some fabulous ideas from Pinterest and various blogs as well.
So, imagine you're a parent reading this and want to give it a go - what are your top three tips for getting started.
(1) Keep a note of things your children like to do but never get enough time to see through (e.g. craft projects, junk modelling, recording their own songs...)
(2) Have a look in cupboards, shelves and drawers for toys or games that could be re-invented/refreshed or just taken outside (e.g. draw a chalk maze on the pavement, make an old sheet into a pirate ship sail, take paper aeroplanes to the park)
(3) Include some ideas based on what you’d like to see them doing! (e.g. Phone Grandma, FaceTime your cousins, make someone a card and send it)
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Right, I'm off right now to do some, err, urgent important work stuff or something....
*goes and gets kids*...