The Summer of Make, Play, Celebrate, Read and Replay
As we move into the holiday season, it’s the perfect time to step away from the usual routine, refresh our minds and inject a little creativity into our lives. Whether you’re spending time with family, relaxing solo, or getting ready to dive into 2025, there are endless ways to use creativity to reinvigorate and inspire yourself and support your community over the break.
Here are some fun and engaging ideas to make the most of the holiday season:
Make: Bake and Boogie
What better way to bring some festive fun into your day than by combining baking with a little boogie? Whether you’re a pro baker or just looking to get the kids involved, baking together can be a memorable (and delicious!) way to get creative. If you’re looking for a recipe for great cookies, check out, ‘A recipe for how to make a cookie’ by Wolfgang Mayall!
As you measure and mix, get your groove on to a feel-good song that results in tasty cookies. Don’t forget: the messier, the better! Dancing in the kitchen will add a whole new level of fun to your holiday baking, making it a joyous event for everyone involved.
Bonus idea: Turn it into a challenge with your family or friends—who can create the wackiest cookie design?
Play: Creativity Bingo
The holiday break is all about fun and play, and what better way to embrace your playful side than with a little game of Creativity Bingo?
Download our free Creativity Bingo card, full of fun challenges like “Watch a live performance,” “Recite a poem to someone else,” or “Make a fort and tell stories.” Compete with your friends or whānau to be the first to complete a row – across, down, or diagonally – or, better yet, see if you can cross off all the challenges for a full house.
It’s a lighthearted way to explore your creative boundaries and stretch your imagination, while bonding with others in a relaxed, playful way.
If you’re interested in understanding more about the power of play, check out ‘Take time to be silly‘ – a perfect read to learn why we all need a little more creativity and fun in our lives.
Celebrate: Support Local Creatives
The holidays are the perfect time to celebrate the creativity that’s blossoming in your own community. Whether it’s local art, performances, or workshops, this is an ideal opportunity to support and celebrate the amazing people in your area who are contributing to the Waikato creative landscape.
Take a virtual stroll through the Kōtahitanga Gallery to discover some of the talent of Waikato’s local creatives. You can check out what these Waikato creatives are doing and how they are achieving amazing things, finding inspiration in the diverse stories shared through their pieces. Supporting local artists isn’t just a gift for them; it’s a gift for yourself, as you get to experience and appreciate something unique and deeply connected to your community
If you’re looking for more ways to celebrate local talent, check out ThingsToDo.events, where you’ll find a range of creative things to do happening in the Waikato area. Who knows – you might even stumble upon the perfect handmade gift or inspiration for a new creative project of your own.
Read: Rejuvenate Your Mind
Reading is a great way to unwind during the holidays, and the right book can be both relaxing and inspiring. Head over to the CW Website to find a selection of thought-provoking reads to fuel your creativity and inspire fresh ideas for the new year.
Explore these good reads:
- Finding Hidden Gems – How can embracing local creativity transform your community and enrich your life?
- Celebrating the Benefits of Active and Creative Recreation – Explore the synergies between active recreation and creativity activity with CEOs of Sport Waikato and Creative Waikato
- Creativity and Counter-Austerity Measures – Amidst the whirlwind of uncertainty, there’s a beacon of hope waiting to be discovered: creativity.
For those looking to dive into more creative development, consider exploring our workshops for a little skill building heading into 2025. If you’re thinking about New Year’s resolutions, why not make it a goal explore ways to develop your skills and work towards your goals for 2025?
The aim of the ArtReach resources is to build capability in our creative communities, to help you to enhance the great things you are already doing.
This suite of workshops, toolkits and resources recognises the wealth of work that is already being done by groups, individuals and organisations in our communities. It is presented as an offering to help support that work, to strengthen the reach and impact of that work, and to help us all think strategically about what we are doing so that we can be sure that it is best serving the communities that we are connected to.
ArtReach has been specifically designed for creatives in our Waikato region. If you are located outside of our region,
This innovative programme has been designed to bring creativity into your daily routine whether you are at work or at home.
Featuring artists and talent from around the Waikato region, Creativity Every Day will take you on a journey where you can enjoy our short creative activities, learn from an artist and start building your own creative habits. Using materials readily available in an office setting, you will be able to creatively utilise what is around you on a daily basis.
Supported by research and a policy for workplace creativity, this can also be implemented throughout businesses to further strengthen collaboration, team morale and new ways of thinking.
Replay: Reflecting back on 2024
As 2024 comes to a close, it’s a great time for us to reflect here at CW or the creative projects and experiences that have shaped our year. We want to share the year that has been with you. Check out the CW 2024 recap on our YouTube, where we celebrate all the amazing projects and mahi that have taken place throughout the year. It’s a perfect reminder of the incredible creativity that exists within our communities and a great way to get inspired for the year ahead.
Released on Friday 20th December 2pm on Youtube on our channel @creative_waikato
If you’re looking for some content to browse, our YouTube channel for some fun videos. And, why not take a moment to reflect some of your favourite activities, whether it’s watching a documentary, revisiting a craft you loved, or looking back on local community projects that inspired you.
As you step into the holiday break, remember that creativity is all around you. Whether you’re making, playing, celebrating, reading, or reflecting, these simple activities can help you recharge, reconnect and get inspired for the exciting year ahead. Take this time to refresh your creative spirit, try new things, and find joy in the little moments of play and imagination.
From all of us at CW, we wish you a beautiful, creativity-filled holiday break. We’ll be shutting down for the summer break at 2pm on Friday, 20th December, but we’re excited to see what 2025 brings and look forward to catching up with everyone in mid-January to start the new year with renewed inspiration!