Building Blocks for Creative Ideas is a free digital toolkit designed to support anyone working with adults in community or learning settings. The resource was developed by the NLC Arts Development team, who commissioned freelance artists to collaborate with three adult groups in shaping the content. This co-creative approach helped us better understand the diverse needs of adult services, ensuring the resource is flexible, inclusive, and relevant across a wide range of settings.
Whether you’re running a group, leading a programme, or simply looking to spark creativity, this resource offers practical ways to introduce, embed, and grow creative practices.
Use it start to finish as a structured journey, or dip in and out of sections to suit your need – it’s flexible, accessible, and ready when you are.
Download a copy of the resource or visit your local library to access a hard copy.
To make the activities in the resource more accessible, we have created a short video for each. You can access these below.
Getting to know you
This is an opportunity to use creativity to understand your group and how they understand themselves
Reflection and Listening
Activities in this section explore how to connect lived experience and art in a safe and comfortable way
Generating Ideas
This section offers creative activities that build confidence, and ways to connect to the people in your group
Getting Deeper
Activities to explore ways to reinterpret experiences through art and use creativity to share perspectives
Pulling it together
This final section offers creative ways to tie up projects, refine any material created for sharing, and evidence the work created together
Got questions about the resource or need a little extra support to get started? E-mail Deborah McArthur, Arts Development and Engagement Manager.
