‘Art Jumpstart’ - A project in response to the Covid-19 Pandemic.

At the end of March 2020 it became obvious to everyone that schools were going to have to close. During the final week they were open I was working at a school I’ve been to many times in Leamington Spa and during those few days I began to receive emails postponing or cancelling all of the workshops I had arranged and planned for the following three months. Initially this was obviously incredibly challenging, not only financially as a business but also mentally. As a creative person I have spent almost 30 years constantly involved in the preparation and delivery of art projects and so the idea of being stuck at home forced me to come up with a creative solution.

I knew from very early on that there was a way in which I could help. I knew that many parents would be searching online for creative things to keep their children occupied and I was also aware that teachers would need suitable ideas using limited resources to send out to their pupils for ‘Homeschooling’. As a result of this I decided to post one idea every day during ‘Lockdown’ on my Twitter account. These would be simple ideas created using only tape, scissors and a range of basic household or recycled items. Each idea would be presented in the form of a ‘recipe’ with photos and simple instructions to go with them, each project would also be adaptable, both in terms of the materials it used and also the option to simplify the techniques involved. I decided to call this project ‘Art Jumpstart’ with the intention of completing 50 different projects to go out on 50 consecutive days.

So far the response to this project has been incredible. I have been sent artwork created by children in many different countries. Schools that have been looking after the children of ‘Key Workers’ have devised whole ‘Art Days’ based on my activities and many teachers have contacted me online to thank me for creating the resources that they have used to enhance their own home-learning lessons.

These ‘Art Jumpstart’ ideas are now collected together on this website for teachers and parents to use as a resource for future creative play and learning.