Scribble Bumps
Dreamer Deck
A space for imagination, divergent thinking, and exploring possibilities before judgement. This sits in the Spark section, where every practice begins with the question, What could this become? Children aged 4-10 and parents or caregivers explore together as creative partners. There are no right or wrong answers, only infinite ideas to explore.
Practice
Time: 5-10 minutes.
As you grow
4-6 years: Enjoy transforming surprise marks into playful new ideas.
7-10 years: Experiment with adapting unexpected shapes, building stories, and discovering new possibilities through chance.
Mixed aged children: Everyone responds to surprise marks in their own way, discovering where unexpected lines can lead.
Start
Choose paper and something to draw with.
Begin drawing anything you like.
At an unexpected moment, your partner gently taps or bumps your drawing arm, creating a surprise mark.
Make
Pause and look closely.
What could the new mark become?
Keep drawing, letting each unexpected scribble lead your imagination somewhere new.
Take turns creating bumps and discovering new possibilities together.
Build
Give your drawing a title.
Can you still spot the surprise marks?
What did they become?
Play
Swap drawings after each bump and continue each other's ideas.
Draw with your non-dominant hand for even more surprises.
Choose a theme before you begin, such as underwater, outer space, insects, or imaginary worlds.
Add several bumps to the same drawing and see where they lead.
Notice
Which unexpected mark became your favourite?
Where did a surprise take your imagination?
Did anything become something you hadn't planned?
What might you discover next time?
Practice Notes
Inspired by: Creative practitioners who welcome chance as part of the creative process. Unexpected marks often become the beginning of ideas that could never have been planned.
Builds
Capabilities (what the practice builds internally): Adaptability, creative confidence, flexibility, experimentation, and comfort with uncertainty.
Future skills (what the practice develops externally): Creative thinking, resilience, adaptability, and innovation (aligned with the World Economic Forum Future of Jobs Report 2025).
