No Rules Rain
Dream Together Set
A shared space for imagination, where possibilities are explored before judgement arrives. In the Spark stage of practice, we shape possibility together by asking what could this become? Children (4-10) and adults work as creative partners, building confidence through shared exploration and making. There are no right or wrong answers, only infinite ideas to explore. Start with what you have, right where you are.
Practice
Time guide: 10-20 minutes.
As you grow
4-6 years: Enjoy imagining playful, surprising, and impossible versions of the world. Focus on delight, surprise, and “what if” thinking.
7-10 years: Experiment with expanding ideas into full imaginary systems. Explore cause and effect inside impossible worlds.
Mixed aged children: Everyone contributes ideas at their own level, building shared imaginary worlds that evolve through conversation.
Start
Sit together and think about the rain.
Now imagine if, one day, the rain forgot how to be rain?
Really take a moment to picture it. You may like to close your eyes.
Make
Now, begin exploring what would happen.
You do not need to draw or build anything for this practice Instead, you make the world together using imagination and conversation.
Each take turns coming up with ideas of what the rain would it look like, feel like, sound like, would it be called rain? What would people do differently? What would nature do differently?
Play
What if it rained glitter? What if it rained upside down? What if it rained quietly instead of loudly? What if it rained tiny toys? What if it rained only in certain places? What if rain fell upwards instead of down?
For each new version of rain, ask what would it look like? What would it feel like? What would it sound like? What would people do differently? What would nature do differently? For example: What if wind had colours? What if shadows behaved differently What if gravity stopped and started? What if night arrived at different times for everyone? What if sound could be seen? What if trees could choose where to grow? What if water remembered things?
Variations
Take turns extending the world. One person suggests a new ‘rule’ for rain. The other builds on it. For example: Rain that turns into music when it hits the ground. Rain that only falls on trees. Rain that arrives before clouds. Rain that grows things instead of watering them. Try not to return to regular rain too quickly. The goal is to stay in the imagined world and explore it fully.
Notice
How did the world change as new ideas were added?
Which versions felt surprising or funny?
Did any imaginary rules start to feel real?
How easy was it to stay inside the imagined world?
What new ideas appeared that you didn’t expect?
Practice Notes
Dream Together Set: Designed around divergent thinking and draws on how creative thinking develops in practice. Spark opens up possibilities and Switch builds on what is already there by reframing it into something new.
No Rules Rain
Mode: Shared imaginative thinking and conversational world-building.
Where possibility comes from: Possibility comes from breaking the expected rules of how the world works. Familiar systems (like weather and nature) are imagined behaving in unexpected ways, creating entirely new imaginary worlds.
Creative habit: Challenging assumptions about reality and exploring how changing “how the world works” generates new ideas and possibilities.
Practice inspired by: Childhood imaginative play, improvisation, and creative thinking techniques used in design and storytelling to explore counterfactual systems and world-building.
Builds
Capabilities (what the practice builds internally): Imaginative thinking, systems thinking, curiosity, flexible thinking, narrative development, and creative confidence.
Future skills (what the practice develops externally): Systems thinking, storytelling, innovation, adaptability, and creative problem-solving (aligned with the World Economic Forum Future of Jobs Report 2025).
