Creative Café

Back when I taught middle school, Creative Café was a time for my students to create and share their poetry, stories, and other talents. I'll be sharing more about it soon!

These days, I've found ways to introduce Creative Café to my own children. Someday we will do creative writing together, but for now, our focus is on art projects, narration pages, and other book-based activities. 

The basics for Creative Café are simple– we put on some coffee shop jazz or instrumental music, choose a spot with comfortable seating, and then we get to work on something creative! Sometimes I also offer refreshments. 

For older children, Creative Café time can be a time set aside for creative writing in a relaxed environment. I would begin by making sure every child has a writer's notebook to collect inspiration, lists, stories, and poems. Each writer can also start a Creative Café mug (see image above) to keep sharpened colored pencils, pens, and pencils. Choosing the mug can be a fun way to build excitement for creative writing time! 

(an example of a writer's notebook cover)

For older, middle-grade children, the writing workshops featured in our shop are perfect for inspiring creative expression that is personal and engaging! Get started with our Creative Café "The Basics" and check out our Mind Mansion Pre-writing Unit.