Colourful Minds: Creative & Colourful Art & Craft Workshops for Children

If your children delight in creative arts and crafts then they will enjoy Colourful Minds art and craft workshops and activities!

Colourful Minds is the creation of local Mum, Laura Humpage who runs after-school, pre-school and holiday club sessions and birthday parties in Bristol, plus art, craft, science and baking ideas on her website.

Super creative herself, everything that Laura does is her own. She doesn’t use ready-made templates or kits in her workshops but instead designs, tests, makes and prepares the materials and activities for her workshop herself.

In my interview with Laura below, Laura talks about the Colourful Minds children’s workshops she has lined-up in Bristol this Summer, plus offers some of her own creative and colourful inspiration and wisdom!

Hi Laura, please tell us a bit about yourself and Colourful Minds.

I am Laura, mum of the girl and the boy, chronic tea drinker, kids art workshop runner, tinkerer, textile designer, cat person, fan of mess and mayhem (and tidying up afterwards, oh yes!), stargazer, sea-starer and fan of all things colourful.

I grew up in West Wales and adopted Bristol as my home over 20 years ago.

Please tell me more about the activities you offer children and families in Bristol.

Having two young kids is all the research and development I need for my work. My workshops are art and craft based with a smattering of maths and science thrown in.

We use lots of recyclable materials in my workshops, we love cardboard! I design all the templates for my most popular workshop – colourful shadow puppets (it’s my favourite activity too!).

Every week is different – one week we’ll be playing with clay, the next sewing and after that making paper sculptures – we always make something the kids can take home.

I run after school and pre school workshops all over Bristol. I do lots of arts trails, community events and birthday parties.

I run a regular art and craft after school workshop at Craftisan every Thursday during term time, 4 – 5pm.

You can also find me at the Hungry Caterpillar Play Café every third Wednesday of the month, 10.30 – 11.30am.

During June I’ll be doing a series of free art and craft workshops at four Bristol libraries working with Bristol Bordeaux Partnership celebrating 70 years of Bristol and Bordeaux’s twinning. https://bhb70.com/

Has art always been a big part of your life?

Oh yes! Growing up my favourite colour was rainbow and I’d always make things as colourful as possible. I graduated with a textiles and surface pattern degree and freelanced as a designer maker for a while.

After having two children close together, art and craft became part of my life in a different way. We do something creative almost every day in one way or another.

Once my youngest went to school full time in 2015 I started a website of all the activites we’d do – art, craft, baking and simple science. And that’s when Colourful Minds was born.

What are your favourite art craft activities to do with your kids?

Messy stuff! One of our all time favourites is shaving foam marbling. It’s great fun.

We also love building stuff out of cardboard – last week we made a house for some toy mice complete with a garden, bedroom and playroom.

In your opinion, why are art and craft activities so important for children?

Children learn through art and play without realising it. Art is knitted into so many aspects of learning and life!

Whilst getting messy or colourful children don’t realise they’re problem solving, doing maths, learning simple science, observing, honing their fine motor skills, decision making, the list is endless.

Art and craft activities appeal to a broad age range – every child gets something different out of it.

What’s your idea of a perfect weekend?

Going for a wander in Arnos Vale Cemetery or the park, finding somewhere for a bit of cake and a cup of tea then coming home to have a draw or paint.

Do you have any exciting Colourful Minds plans in the pipeline?

More workshops in new venues – watch this space!

How can Bristol Mum readers contact you?

Follow me on Facebook @ColourfulMindsKids https://www.facebook.com/ColourfulMindsKids/

Instagram https://www.instagram.com/colourful_minds_kids/

Twitter @colourful_minds

Email me with any workshop enquiries laura@colourfulminds.co.uk

Anything else you would like to mention?

My photo collecting challenge. I’m doing a weekly photograph treasure hunt throughout 2017 and want people to join in! Follow and find out the topics on my Facebook page, announced every Saturday.

Go on a treasure hunt with your camera!

Turn a day out, walk to school or day at home into photo collecting fun.

We use my phone camera and photo collage apps called Pic Jointer or Collageable.
Join in, take photos, make a grid, share and tag:

#colourfulmindsphotocollectchallenge2017

#photocollectchallenge2017 #colourfulmindsbristol #photography#photo #grids And the week’s topic:

(this week’s topic is numbers and next week, beginning 13 May, is clocks)

Summer workshops at Craftisan:

Craftisan Summer Workshops Thursdays, 10am – 12 noon

Recommended age 4+. Everyone welcome, kids and adults alike!

27 July Cardboard Animal Faces
3 August Play with Clay
10 August Crowns and Flower Headdresses
24 August Paper Bag Flowers and Stars
31 August Colourful Shadow Puppets
£5 per child, £4 for additional siblings, £3 for participating under 4s, all ages welcome
Craftisan, 186 Wells road, Bristol BS4 2AL
Call the shop on 0117 971 3822 to reserve your space – booking essential.

Free workshop at Creative Workspace over half term: