Creative Observation Prompts

 ***from Keri Smith's "How to Be an Explorer of the World"


1. Sound Map:

Sit in a location for one hour. Document/describe all the sounds you hear and the approximate times you heard them. Make a map and mark the sounds in relation to you on the map.

2. Fifty Things:

Write down fifty things (observations) about 1) a trip to the library or grocery store or weight room or some other interesting place or 2) a walk around campus outside or a walk around the town, neighborhood, etc.

3. Differences:

Collect multiples of one thing (leaves, pencils, shoes, stones, etc). Lay them out in front of you and observe them for a long time. Make a chart of their characteristics. Describe their differences in detail.

4. One Thing:

Choose an everyday object. It can be something you find or something you have. Look at the top half for 15 minutes and describe everything you see there in detail. Do the same for the bottom half. Then turn it around and look a few different ways. Do you see anything new?

5. Personal Archaeological Dig:

Choose some objects that relate to your childhood or inspire memories of your past. Write a brief story about each one or a longer story that involves more than one.

6. Light:

Collect objects based on how they represent light. List the different qualities and pay attention to the way that light works through and around the objects, makes patterns, creates color, etc. Write about the objects and the light and their relationship to one another.

7. Right Where You Are Sitting:

Sit in a common place where you often sit. Observe everything around you and touching you. Write about all the small details that you wouldn't notice unless you were paying close attention. Use your five senses.

8. Consumer:

Record and describe everything you eat in a fixed time period (a few days). Or choose to record and describe everything you purchase or everything you read, etc.

9. Structure:

Document a place that most people ignore (ex: the ceiling, a bathroom, a corner, a closet, the inside of a drawer). Describe in detail everything in this place.

10. People Watching:

Sit in a public location and document all the people you see in one hour. Choose one or two to describe in detail.

11. Water:

Study and describe shapes made by water (you may need to research this). COme up with some new shapes that you invent for water.

12. Accidental Art:

Go for a walk and find something that looks like "art" to you although it was not necessarily intended to be art (ex: a stain spilled on the ground, random arrangements of objects that create a scene, something damaged or altered in a unique way). Describe it as you would a painting in a museum.

13. Blind Observation:

Close your eyes and have a friend place an object in your hand. Describe it only by touch. Repeat with different types of objects.

14. Found Sounds:

Sit in a place for one hour and record all of the different types of sounds you hear. Describe it as if it were a song or symphony.

15. Eavesdropping:

Sit in a place and listen to the conversations around you. Choose one and create a story using the actual dialogue you overheard.

16. World of Magic:

Collect objects for their potential Magic qualities. Create a story using one or more of your magical objects.

17, Interesting Garbage:

Collect some pieces of garbage and arrange them in an interesting way. Describe them as a piece of artwork.

18. Invisible City:

Describe the campus of CA but not what we see but the "invisible city" existing there that only you see. Be very detailed so we can understand what you see.

19. The Truth about Inanimate Objects:

Choose an inanimate object. What do they do when people are not around? Spy on them, and track their activities and social interactions. Make a report for the FBI detailing what you found.

20. Library Exploration:

Go to the library and record many titles of books. Arrange these into a poem.