Did you know that Olivier award-winning playwright Alan Ayckbourn pictures talking chairs when he lets his imagination wonder? Or that Grayson Perry dreams of motorbike-riding tigers? Nope, neither did we! Until, that is, this year’s sketches for National Doodle Day were unveiled. Every year, famous sportspeople, politicians, actors and artists pause from their important work and pick up their paints and pencils instead.
Delving into their imaginations, they come up with weird, wonderful (and, sometimes, a little wonky) doodles which will then publically auctioned on 21 September, raising much needed cash for Epilepsy Action. It’s a great way to support an even greater cause. It’s also the perfect moment to pause and remember the incredible power of creative daydreaming.
“I doodle with words,” writes Michael Morpurgo, in his submission this year, “it’s what writers do. Mostly, I like playing with words – doodle dee do, cock-a-doodle do, dobeedobeedobeedo, doodle bug, diddlediddledee doodle de do… I should love to doodle like Grayson Perry, or Leonardo Di Vinci, or Picasso or Van Gogh! Still, each to his own or her own way of doodling!”
At OKIDO, we believe everyone should doodle. Not only with words and pictures, but with science too. The most magical results emerge when you mix them up together, and doodle with them all at once.
After all, the next generation of scientists will need to think creatively to come up with inventions, medicines and solutions to make the world an even more wonderful place. That’s where OKIDO comes in.
All our materials are designed to help tomorrow’s creative scientists explore their curiosity and critical thinking. Fun, imaginative STEAM learning (science, technology, engineering, arts and maths) is at the heart of everything we do.
So, as Messy likes to say this National Doodle Day: ‘Let’s skidoodle, okidoodle!’
TRY THIS:
Make a pendulum painting – the perfect combination of science, art and doodling!
CHECK THIS OUT:
Cressida Cowell, author of the How to Train Your Dragon series of children’s books, has recently launched a campaign with the National Literacy Trust.
Called Free Writing Friday, it suggests giving children a notebook in which they can write or draw for 15 minutes a week. Adults are banned from making corrections or suggestions. Instead, children’s imaginations are given free reign, and doodles rule OK.