Our vision
Our vision is a world in which creativity and its benefits are taken seriously by society rather than treated as a nice-to-have addition to education.
Creativity is much more than just painting and drawing. It's imagination, problem-solving and innovation - and recognised as a key future skill by the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development).
Using creativity as a vehicle, we design fun, engaging ways for children to connect to a diverse range of topics. We focus on three core areas: real-life learning; health and wellbeing; and eCo-awareness in the form of climate change and adaptation.
By using creativity to light a spark of interest, we're inspiring the changemakers of tomorrow to seek outside-the-box solutions to the challenges of an uncertain future.
To ensure inclusivity, all our projects are free to schools and families at home.
Find out more by clicking on the sections below.
Our projects are designed for schools and for families at home.
Designed around our three core areas ( real-life learning; health and wellbeing; and eCo-awareness in the form of climate change and adaptation), our projects for schools are supported by the relevant National Curriculum links to help with lesson planning.
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 learning through play, rather than producing the perfect end result.
Our inclusive projects are designed by expert in-house teachers and creatives to appeal to children of all abilities and backgrounds. The team’s experience ensures we can deliver relevant, high-quality projects to schools.
We are growing our offering of at-home activities to support home educators and families with some fun, creative projects that everyone is welcome to complete.
Propa Happy with Ant & Dec at Hillcross
We use creativity as a vehicle to demonstrate and model important real-life skills. From workshops designed to bolster financial learning to projects focusing on empathy and debate, we are finding creative ways for students to connect with essential life skills.
Why Money Matters workshop
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 face.
By teaching children how to use their creativity to make healthier choices, understand their emotions and collaborate with others, we equip them with important social skills that will help them succeed and support their mental health in an ever-changing world.
Healthy Unicorns workshop
Our eCo projects are designed to raise awareness of ecological issues like climate change and adaptation in a way that doesn't alarm the children but does impress the importance of making a difference.
eCo: Connect links schoolchildren with the changemakers of today, in order to give them a voice and inspire them to be the changemakers of tomorrow.
Filming in Svalbard
We run competitions throughout the year, including 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.
Craft competitions for all ages
Some of our projects also include free in-school workshops 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.
Students at Peareswood Primary
All our projects, workshops and resources are free: there are no catches and no hidden fees, and for teachers there is no subscription - signing up your school is completely free of charge.
We understand that schools struggle to support creativity due to a lack of time, resource and money. We are helping to tackle the issue via the projects and resources we provide.
To ensure creativity remains inclusive and available to all, our projects and resources will always be free to schools and families at home, regardless of background or economic status.
To deliver our services free-of-charge, we work with industry, the public sector and grant-funding bodies to fund ootiboo.
Students designing their imaginary worlds
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.
eCo: Svalbard permafrost activity
Where next?
To continue your ootiboo journey, click on the tab below that is most relevant for you.
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
