Creative Sparks - Summer Term Highlights

By Callie Parmenter, Ignite! Intern

What is Creative Sparks?

Back in 2022, we opened the doors to our Creative Sparks after-school sessions, a free programme welcoming local children from St Ann’s Library. Since then, it has grown into a regular part of communities across Nottingham, with sessions running in Strelley Library, Meadows Library and with dedicated sessions for asylum-seeking families.

As we’ve expanded, so have the children’s confidence, spotlighting how the freedom to be creative can nurture a stronger sense of self. In a constantly changing world, children deserve to have the chance to slow down and explore their own ideas. Creative Sparks does this, providing a space where children are able to use arts, crafts and play to develop a sense of ownership over their own imagination.

With the summer holidays having finally arrived, we are looking back on a busy term for Creative Sparks and feeling very grateful for each group that arrives with different interests, energy and ways of expressing themselves.

Summer highlights

Summer is the time for relaxing, having fun and playing in the water, and this term we did all three. To soak up the sunshine, our incredible Creative Practitioner Catherine Gittens showed the children how to turn old dish sponges and bits of foam into their own boats. The children stacked, stuck and sailed, releasing the boats into the water to see which ones stayed afloat for the longest. We also played around a lot with clay this term. The children navigated the diverse texture by creating birds nests, charms and basketballs.

Another way we celebrated summer was by embracing all the beautiful flowers that the sunshine brings. In our

Strelley location, Claire Finn and Debi Maskall’s understanding of creativity combines excitement with mindfulness to unleash a magical array of activities. A real highlight was when the children were given glass mason jars to paint and use to display flowers. The children excitedly arranged flowers in their jars as the room burst into shades of purple, pink and blue. One little boy even took the initiative to re-purpose his own plastic water-bottle as another vase, doubling up on flowers!

While each session comes with its own energy, sometimes buzzing and loud, sometimes quiet and thoughtful, the same invisible string always runs through: the children love exploring the boundaries of their own imagination. One moment they’re tracing winding tiger kingdoms in the sand, the next they’re shaping a clay pizza shop while trying to decide which toppings work best.

We’ve watched children paint jars in careful strokes, press patterns into clay with their fingertips, and invent puppet shows where every voice has its own character and mood. At Creative Sparks, their confidence grows by doing. A child who once nervously fluttered around the edge begins to choose their own materials, ask for help and explain their ideas out loud. Children who worried when something failed will now try again, remoulding the clay until it stands on its own.

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Magic Moments

Despite only working with Ignite for a short period for my university placement, I’ve already witnessed so many magical moments as the children discover and overcome challenges in every session. My favourite moments are always found in the creating, watching children who feel less confident discover their voice by making things. Because I was such a new face, it felt especially impactful to see how art could empower the children to get to know someone unfamiliar.

One child who was extremely shy when I first met her began, little by little, to open up. She started by asking quiet questions, then by sharing small details about her day, and eventually became more comfortable around me which was really lovely to see. When it came time for me to deliver the workshop I had planned, making clay jewellery, she spent the longest creating an entire fashion line of pieces! She proudly talked me through the ideas behind every earring, necklace and bracelet she made, glowing with excitement about them.

I have lots of other magical stories like this as I had the pleasure of witnessing the children glow with pride at their own creations, illuminating them with a new sense of confidence.