Creativity Time
School for Creative Thinkers is here to help you have fun while you are at home. 
​
Here at SfCT we want to stay connected with our family community so we’ll be uploading weekly themed architecture and design activities for children age 5 - 11 years old. 
​
All of our content encourages screen-free hands-on creativity and playful fun inspired by the built environment. From creating the London skyline to what we can learn from nature’s builders, we have created a series of tasks and activities that are perfect for working on at home. 

​We want to keep our community connected so please share what you make as you follow the programme over the coming weeks to instagram on @school_for_creative_thinkers​. ​​

3D Heart Structure 
Picture

Materials:
Cardboard
​Pencil
Marker 
Scissors
​Paint 
​1. Draw heart shapes in various sizes.
* Draw 2 of them bigger to be used as the base.
2. Cut out the shapes.
3. To create a base, cut the bottoms of the bigger ones, as shown above. Then cut off a line halfway down on one, and halfway up on the other. Attach them in a cross shape.  
 Picture
4. Cut off a line on each to help you quickly assemble them on top of each other.
* The Thickness of the line depends on the thickness of your cardboard. 
Picture

​ And finally:
Assemble them in any order.

​Remember to keep the structure balanced by adding the same weight of shapes all around. 

You can paint it in any colour, add family photos or some notes for loved ones. 

This Week's Lesson

Three-dimensional Shapes
The two-dimensional shape is flat, like this square shape below. By adding depth, it will look like a three-dimensional shape. Depth is the thickness from the front of an object to the back. 3D drawings appear to have space inside them.
Draw a shape. 
Add lines to show depth.
Repeat the shape.
Architects sketch buildings with this technique.
​
Picture
Activity  1
We can turn any flat shape into 3D by using this drawing technique. A square becomes a cube (or a dice), a circle becomes a sphere (or a globe).

​For this activity, find other objects around the room. First draw the flat shape and then turn your drawing into 3D.
Picture
Activity  2
Name each of the shapes below and name an object that each remind you of. 
We have created a dotted sheet for you to download and draw the shapes on.

Let's learn about shapes
Picture
Lesson 1

How are shapes made?

We have learnt that everything starts with a dot.
And if you connect two dots, you will create a line. 
Connected lines become a shape.
Picture
 
Lesson 2

Primary Shapes

Three basic shapes are: triangle, square and circle. 

A triangle is made by connecting 3 dots and 3 lines and has 3 sides and 3 angles.
A square is made by connecting 4 dots and 4 lines and has 4 sides and 4 angles. 
A Circle is made out of one continuous round movement. A circle has no angles.
Picture
Activity  1
Spot the primary shapes 
​
Take a drawing pad and draw any object you can find with these primary shapes. What shape is the plate? Or what shape is your room's door?
Picture
Activity  2
After finding primary shapes, now find shapes around the house that are not primary. 
Then, cut at least 5 of the shapes out of paper and create a collage with them. 
We have created a dotted sheet for you to download and draw the shapes on. ​

Let's learn how to draw

 Picture
Lesson  1

How drawing begins!

Everything starts with a dot on a paper. 
The mark that a pen creates on the paper is a dot. 
   
If you connect two dots, you will create a line. 
   
This line can be straight, or the line might be curvy or zigzaged. 
Picture
Lesson  2

Perspective Drawing

Objects closer to us look bigger than objects farther away; this is called perspective. Look at the image. The houses appear bigger in the foreground and smaller in the background.

​
Picture
Activity 
For this activity, choose two objects with the same size, place them next to each other and draw them. Then, place one farther away, and draw them as they appear to your eyes.
Picture
Activity 
One point perspective drawing
1. Draw a point in the middle of your paper. This is the vanishing point.
2. Draw as many construction lines as needed. Follow the image above. 
3.  Draw a set of objects between the lines, so  they are bigger in the foreground, and get smaller in the background. 
Picture
​
​Perspective can create a 3-D look from a flat image.
Picture
 Lesson 3

Outline Drawing
Picture
Activity
A drawingthat outlinesa form or shape of an object is called an outline drawing.
​
Start this activity by drawing one object at a time. Then create a composition by outlining a few objects in your home.
Let's take this activity to the next level. Draw the outline view from your window.

*Creating London's Skyline from our previous activity is a great exercise for practicing outline drawing.
Positive space is the space an object takes up; negative space is the space around an object.

For example, in a room, the positive space is the furniture, and the negative space is where there is no furniture or other objects.

​Considering the negative space helps designers to bring balance to a composition.
Picture
Activity 1
Create a negative and positive space by colouring in the furniture or space around it. 
​
​Download the activity from the link. ​
 Picture
Activity 2
Create a negative and positive space of the London Skyline. 
​
Materials needed for this activity:
Printer
Colourful pencils 
Scissors 

Download the activity below. 
Picture
Activity 3
For this activity, let’s use a non-permanent marker and find a window you can look out of.

​Start drawing the outline of the view. It might include buildings, nature or other objects. Fill in the drawing of the buildings and objects with one colour and the outside space with another.

​Now you can see both positive and negative spaces clearly.

The London Skyline
 Let’s create London’s Skyline by connecting the dots.
Can you name the buildings?
​
Materials needed for the activity:
​Printer
Colourful pencils
​
*To download the worksheet please click the download button here:
*For fun facts and the name of each building, please download an example here:

The City of Your Imagination
Picture

​Buildings:
1. ​Download and print the colouring sheet from the link below.

​2. Paint the houses in your favourite colours. 
​
* You can also sketch your own designs.
Picture

​ The city:
1. Cut a paper diagonally.
2. Take one triangle and fold it in three.
3. First fold it to the left side.
4. Then fold the second part to the right side. 
* The diagonal cut gives height to your city. Use the front piece for shorter buildings and the back piece for bigger and taller ones. 
​
Picture

​ And finally:
Glue or staple the houses on the paper.


​Fun Facts
  • Tokyo has the most people in the world. 
  • Bolivia is the highest city in the world. 
  • The coldest city in the world is Yakutsk in Russia. 
  • Amsterdam has more bikes than people.
  • Toronto in Canada has tunnels underground so it is possible to live  without ever coming out from underground!​
Picture

Want to make some paper trees for your city?
Follow the steps below:
1. Fold a paper in half
2. Draw a tree shape 
3. Cut out the tree
4. Open and fold the tab to easily stick it on a paper. 

Let's learn about colour 

Colour is an important and crucial aspect of our world, not just in nature but also when shaping and designing our cities and environments. 

One of the ways that children observe and categorise what they see is by colour. We have provided you with some fun and educational activities that encourage children to observe and define their surroundings through different colour palletes.
​
All our activities below can be played indoors as well as outdoors, using toys, household items and imagination! 

The activities encourage children to design with different colour palletes or make their own, using photos and magazines.

Picture
Activity
Let's start with some colouring. 
*To download the worksheet please click the download button here:
Picture
 Lesson 1 
 Colour Wheels

What are primary colours?
Answer: yellow, red and blue

Fun Fact

Isaac Newton's experiment with light led to his theory that red, blue and yellow are primary colours. 

What else can you find out about colour by doing some research? Send in your finds and we'll share them with the community. 

​

By mixing equal amounts of two primary colours, you can make secondary colours. 
Orange = Yellow + Red 
Green = Blue + Yellow
Purple= Red + Blue 
​
Picture
Inspiration

​Let's learn about colour wheel from Eadie

Are you creating your own colour wheel?
Let's take a look at a video from one of the little architects at SfCT to learn it step by step. ​
Picture
Activity 
Play with colour wheel
Go around your room or garden and find objects, toys, or plants
​that match every colour on the wheel. Place the items next to the colour that they represent. Take a photo and send it in!

​What is your favourite colour? What items in your house have that colour?

See the example below of a colour wheel created in a garden.
*To download a printable colour wheel please click the download button here:

No printer?

Let's make a colour wheel using the rim of a round object and trace a circle onto a paper. Then, draw straight lines to make six, or 12 equal pie pieces and colour them with the primary and secondary colours.
 Picture
Activity 
Make your own colour pallete
Choose an image from around the house. It can be a family photo or a poster hanging on your wall. 

Create a colour pallete by choosing at-least five main colours in the photo. Using a combination of coloured pencils, or other mediums like cut-outs from magazines, try and put together a colour palatte that matches the image.
For example look at the photo below. 
Picture
Activity 
Create a pixelated image
Another fun way of exploring  usage of colour is to make a pixelated image from a photograph or painting.
*A pixel is the smallest element of an image that can be individually processed in a video display system.
​
For this activity, use an image from a magazine or print out a photo.
Step 1:
Apply a grid on top of the image. 
Step 2:
​On a separate sheet of paper, apply the same sized grid. Then go square by square and paint each square in the grid  with its main colour. 

See the example below.
Picture
 Lesson 2
 Design with other colour palletes

Rainbow

Picture
Activity 
Make your own rainbow
Make your own rainbow by rearranging the books in a book shelf in rainbow colours. 

Did you know that  you can only see a rainbow if the sun is behind you and the rain is in front?

Fun Facts

  • The first colour a baby sees is red. 
  • Pink is the most relaxing colour.
  • Colour affects taste and yellow makes you hungry. 
  • Mars gets its red colour from iron, the same element that gives blood its red colour. 
  • Mosquitos love blue. 
  • The colour orange used to be called  “geoluhread,”  which means yellow-red until 16th century in England. The word “orange” was adopted after the fruit was brought to England from Asia by the Portugese.​
  • Purple is rare in nature and represents meanings like wealth and wisdom. 

Monochrome

The use of shades of one colour is called a monochrome colour scheme.
Picture
Activity 
Let's try some interior design work
Go around your home and choose objects with the same colour and then arrange them in one place, or create a drawing or collage in various shades of one colour.
​
​By limiting your colour palette what have you learned or observed?

Fun Facts

  • The male bowerbird is one of nature’s most colourful designers. He will spend a long time collecting objects to decorate his home.
  • Every bowerbird has his own personal decoration style and favourite colour.​​​
  • As you can see in the photo below, the bowerbird has designed his ‘U’ shaped home with shades of only one colour - blue.

Social Media

Please send us an image of your children's illustrations to share in our next newsletter and social media.
​

Donations

Creativity matters, so here at SfCT we are taking our regular design and architecture programme online and we  have created some fun and creative online education activities. 
If you have enjoyed our activities, please donate to the Museum of Architecture's School for Creative Thinkers to enable us to keep posting. 
School for Creative Thinkers™  ​© 2020