Our vision
We have built a diverse range of positivity-focused projects for schools (complete with the relevant National Curriculum links to help support lesson planning), families and communities, and we have many more planned.
Increasingly reflective of the diversity that creativity has to offer, from drawing and writing to role-play and technology, ootiboo projects teach children there is no right or wrong way to express oneself, and that making mistakes and trying again are a natural part of the creative process. Our focus is on encouraging experimentation and having fun, rather than producing the perfect end result.
Our inclusive projects are designed by expert in-house teachers and creatives to appeal to kids (and grown-ups) of all abilities and backgrounds. The team’s experience ensures we can deliver projects effectively within schools. In addition, teachers from our school advisory group provide valuable feedback to help refine the activities ootiboo offers.
The ootiboo team at Morehall Primary
Some of our projects also include free in-school workshops; these are always limited and on a first-come, first-served basis.
Designed and led by expert, professional educators, each workshop includes high-quality bespoke resources to use on the day.
We run three annual competitions: Easteroo, ootiBOO! and All Star, all of which have attracted entries across the globe, and offer a range of fabulous prizes kindly donated by our partners.
Competitions are inter-generational, open to any age, anywhere, and are designed to give as much freedom as possible in what is created.
Brian at 91 holding up his two entries
All our projects and resources are free: there's no catch and no hidden fees, and for teachers there is no subscription - signing up your school is completely free of charge.
To deliver our services free-of-charge to schools and families at home, we work with an exciting international network of partners in business, technology, and science to fund ootiboo.
We believe creativity needs to always be inclusive, not exclusive. Although creativity is recognised as a key future skill, it's often overlooked in education due to a lack of time, resource and money. Without schools focusing on creativity, it has the potential to become reserved for families with extra time and funds, excluding anyone without the necessary resources to discover their own creative aptitudes. To combat this and ensure creativity remains inclusionary and available to all, every single one of our projects and resources will always be free to schools and families at home, regardless of background or economic status.
Students designing their imaginary worlds
We use creativity as a vehicle to demonstrate and model important real-world skills. From workshops designed to bolster financial learning to projects looking at solutions for ecology issues, and smaller projects focusing on empathy and emotions, we've found creative ways for people to connect with essential life skills.
Creativity is a key future skill, as defined by the OECD; by providing children with the tools and opportunities to discover and embrace their creative strengths, we are encouraging a personal development that will aid and support their future careers - in any field.
Building landscapes outside
Creativity is essential for wellbeing and has been shown to positively impact emotional and cognitive child development. With the world changing and becoming increasingly complex and unpredictable, creative skills will play a major role in tackling the societal, environmental and technological challenges children will face.
By teaching children how to use their creativity to collaborate with others, we are giving them important social skills that will help them succeed and support their mental health in an ever-changing world.
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Creativity exists in all of us; it makes us human. It’s the state of being in which we dare to be curious and explore our imagination, invent new ideas and stories, problem-solve and create something new. Creativity can be found in maths, physics and a host of other subjects that are not perceived as creative and, although we may not overtly see ourselves as an artist, musician or writer, we are all inherently creative.
Our approach to playful learning appeals to children and also provides the opportunity for adults to rediscover their own creativity.
Have a look at the Projects we offer, and if you're interested sign up today - it's all free.
We're always keen to hear your feedback and share images of students (with photo clearance!) taking part in our Projects. Please feel free to tell us about your ootiboo experience via the simple upload forms within the teachers' area. We love seeing and sharing photos of the kids and their work - and your feedback also helps us to learn, grow and improve, as well as attract more funding to create even more Projects for you in the future.
Parents can explore activities with the kids at home for free, or check out the Projects your child has participated in at school - we always share the stand-out creations. If your kids' school isn't yet an ootiboo school, why not tell them about us? There is never any cost to schools for signing up; it's not a subscription, and there are no catches. The schools can benefit from our free resources, lesson plans and even workshops - and that will in turn benefit your kids!
We also encourage grown-ups to participate, whether you want to relax or challenge yourself. Our annual Easteroo, ootiBOO! and All Star competitions are great examples of our inter-generational collaborations, and will be joined by other projects throughout the year.
You can also check out our News page or visit the About Us page to find out more about our story and the people bringing ootiboo to life.
We are a community-interest company developing creative projects for free, because we believe creativity is an essential tool in building real-life skills, developing future careers, and fostering well-being.
We rely on funding from organisations who share our belief that creativity should be accessible to all, so we can carry on developing projects and running free workshops in schools.
There are different ways in which you can support us, and we would love to have a conversation: Get in touch
