To be in touch with your childhood curiosity

Think with Things brings back creativity into education and business through engaging with lost and found objects

Julie Anne Gilleland wants everyone to rediscover their creativity. Why? Because 60% of occupations have at least 30% of constituent work activities that could be automated through 2030.

Bringing the idea of hands on learning through play back into normal everyday structured learning

A designer by training and an educator by calling, Jules, as she is known, built Think with Things after it emerged in 2014 as one of seven winners of the Open Education Challenge with a goal to make a difference in education on a global level by bringing the idea of hands on learning through play, and thinking with found objects into the normal everyday structured learning environments of children, as well as adults.

Julie Anne Gilleland

Jules describes the philosophy of Think with Things as follows: “The idea is a simple one, to create a library of everyday objects and their connected learning possibilities. Everyday objects are the things found under your sofa, you might throw them away without thinking twice. They are also the things children keep in their pockets as treasures. A rock from a walk in the woods, a bottle top from the sidewalk. I collected them as a child, didn’t you? These things are more than your childhood memories or things that clutter your surroundings. We have seen their potential as amazing thinking tools. Children know this and keep them safe, telling stories with them, adding them to their imaginary play, making with them and more. But, we tend to take these things away when it is time to learn, especially the older they get. They must empty their pockets and many times their minds to be fully focused and ready to learn. But are they? Why are more and more children disengaging with learning? Is it possible to capture their attention and sense of wonder during structured learning, like those things in their pockets do?”

“I can solve that”

But already before founding Think with Things, with a sister working in early childhood education, Jules often found herself thinking “I can solve that” when she heard of the problems her sister faced. She says “Designers are natural problem solvers and the idea of designing better learning environments and learning experiences really appealed to me.” For instance her master’s thesis work in Industrial Design at Aalto University in Helsinki, was called “I am the space, where I am.” It was a exploration into how toddlers in care centers find and create their own spaces, either individual or group. The different definitions they have for our adult objects, such as a chair, a table. These to toddlers are houses, climbing equipment, surfaces for playing, drumming etc. Her final written work was on this vocabulary and she created a set of 1m by 1m screens, made from used sails and velcro that allowed toddlers to create their own spaces.

This entrepreneurial spirit is ingrained in Jules from childhood as her parents where both entrepreneurs. She has been a freelance designer all her life and it feels very natural and exciting to her to work for herself.

Found objects to start the conversation

Now, Jules has turned this idea of working with found objects into a business. She curates both communities for educators and trainers around the Think with Things methodology, but also delivers business workshops to help bring back creativity into the lives of employees, management and teams. The workshops take corporates back to their early days taking them “off autopilot” to find their “inner child and creative spirit” through play. Jules tells me about a group of corporate managers who came to one of her workshops being grumpy and unengaged when they arrived in the morning and at first unwilling to engage in the first exercises, which was to build a tower out of found objects in the corner of a room that she had designed like a makers lab. However, when the time came to finish, the managers were so involved in their activity that they begged for “5 more minutes please” to finish their work not willing to break for coffee.

Conversation starters that one might encounter at a Think with Things workshop include “Think like a mouse!”

The workshops that Jules offers vary from one hour “Inspiration Sessions” to full-day ideation workshops she develops in cooperation with clients. Inspiration sessions “are to get your feet wet” and get to know the Think with Things methodology, as Jules explains. They are for teams who are interested in building a team culture and community or who want to open lines of communication or are in need of a change of perspective or an ice breaker.

“Creativity is intelligence having fun” Albert Einstein

Her “tête-à-tête” team building workshops are designed to bring individuals or new teams closer together.

“You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation” Plato

Ideation workshops promote idea creation, problem solving and exploring new directions.

Jules calls her Facebook followers to create a “morning portrait” out of found objects — these were laying on her living room floor

All workshops are build around four stages: collect, connect, capture, and communicate; and based on the Design Thinking methodology. Participants take pieces from among the given idea starters — or it may be objectives that the participants bring themselves — and curate a collection of found objects. They then tell a story, answer a question or visualize an idea with the objects and in the aftermath communicate their thinking. Outputs can take all forms including songs, images, performances, letters, or video which are then brought together in an presentation.

Jules who gives herself the job title “Guardian of the Idea” is focusing this year of Think with Things on the business side, in order to enable the work she does with bringing more engagement and creative thinking opportunities in education. “3-year olds have a lot to teach us about creativity and using these ideas in business is very exciting.” Both audiences influence each other and using ripple effects that come out of the business as well as education thinking is important to her.

Jules has done a CreativeMornings talk on “Curiosity”

Learn more about Think with Things here

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