If you’ve been with TinkerLab for a bit of time, you may remember when I introduced the Creative Table Challenge a few years ago. Since then, I’ve posted a series of Creative Table prompt ideas as inspiration for setting up provocations and invitations to create at home and school.
Since then, I’ve received a lot of questions about these prompts, so I’m pulling a couple exciting projects together around this idea. I’m excited to share them with you soon!
Popular Creative Table Questions
I want to make the Creative Table resource more useful, so I’m gathering all of your big questions around it. First I’ll share some of the questions I get, and then I’d love to hear what questions YOU have!
Do you set these provocations up for your children every day?
Yes and no. I’ve gone through phases where I have set these up daily, and then other periods where I won’t set them up for a few days. It all depends on the rhythm of our family at the time. For example, when my children were both getting up VERY early, I would set up our Creative Table™ the night before so that they would have an engaging activity waiting for them when they awoke. I also find that summer is a good time for us to have daily prompts because there’s not a mad rush to get out the door early and we can ease into a morning of making. As my children get older, they still enjoy prompts, but they’re also driven by their own ideas and enjoy finding the materials they need in our self-serve maker zone.
Where do you get your supplies?
We order a lot of art supplies through Amazon, such as our liquid watercolors (affiliate – these are a must-have) and black kraft paper for covering tables. We also spend time at Michael’s, but it’s dangerous for me to bring my kids into the eye-candy bonanza of that store. 🙂 We gather a lot of found materials for projects such as foam printmaking and natural supplies on walks and hikes for projects such as this prompt with leaves and glue.
Where do you get your ideas?
I’ve been teaching art since 2000, and many of the ideas come from my own teaching practice. I’m also active online and find great inspiration ideas from favorite blogs and the #creativetable hashtag on Instagram. Other good Instagram hashtags are: #invitationtoplay #invitationstocreate and #30invitationstoplay
What questions do YOU have?
What burning questions do you have about invitations to create and provocations for the Creative Table? Maybe it’s about setting it up, making time for it, the age of your child or children, or the challenges you face with this type of project. Anything you have to share will be useful, and your name with be kept in confidentiality unless you give me permission to share it.
Thank you so much for taking time to fill this out!
Aww, thank you so much, Carrie!