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Ready to take a journey and explore your creativity in 31 days?

The January Challenge is an invitation to use creativity to spark confidence, conversation and connection. It's a fun, free and accessible experience designed to set your mind on an adventure and brighten up the coldest, darkest month of the year.

Throughout January, we deliver an imaginative prompt to your inbox each day that'll invite a moment of creativity into your day to take you somewhere new.

What's a 'creative prompt'?

Qoy Lawal and Michael Rosen demonstrate how they explore a creative prompt live. There's no right or wrong way to explore a creative prompt, no time limits, no restrictions, no right or wrongs, no expectations. Simply and invitation to to use your creativity freely.

The January Challenge invites you to...

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Do

As humans, if we think about getting creative too much, we’ll never even start. So, we encourage just opening a creative prompt and having a go. See what happens (...and if nothing happens, that's okay too!). You don't need any tools, you can do a creative prompt in your mind and on-the-go.

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Think

Reflecting on our creativity can help us discover our unique thoughts and feelings, leading to a deeper connection with ourselves. We also invite you to explore what creativity means to others across the UK so that we can all inspire one another and learn just how varied creativity is for everyone.

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Share

From your favourite song, a box of popcorn, doodles, poems and little stories. We invite everyone to come together online and in-person to share the path they took with creativity that day, whether it’s something you created or simply how thinking about the prompt made you feel.

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Want all 31 creative prompts now?

Calling all teachers, librarians, carers, leaders and those who want to get their friends, groups or communities together and do The January Challenge collectively. Did you know that you can view all of the 31 creative prompts in advance to plan ahead for January? You can find the creative prompts along with the timetable and information about all the brilliant people who've set them at the link below.

Here are all the benefits you can get from exploring your creativity...

Spark creativity

Daily creative prompts provide a structured, consistent way to nurture and develop our creative skills.

Self-reflection

Prompts often encourage introspection, allowing us to explore our thoughts, feelings, and experiences through creative expression.

Community Building

Participating in a shared creative experience, mainly when prompts are distributed to a group, fosters a sense of community and shared accomplishment.

Connection with others

Sharing creations resulting from the prompts can facilitate connection with others engaging in the same creative journey.

Boosting gratitude

Some creative prompts may encourage us to appreciate and express gratitude for different aspects of our lives.

New Year, New Start

January is often seen as a time for new beginnings, making it an ideal month to embark on a creative journey and create a new creative habit for the year ahead.

Skill Development

Daily prompts may target specific skills or techniques, allowing us to enhance our artistic or creative abilities.

Exploration

Prompts can encourage experimentation with different creative methods outside of our usual approach.

Building a portfolio

Over time, the creations from daily prompts can contribute to building a diverse and impressive portfolio of work.

Inspiration

Creative prompts can spark new ideas and inspire us to think outside our usual patterns, helping us discover fresh perspectives.

Stress Reduction

Creative expression has therapeutic benefits and can serve as a stress-relief outlet, offering a break from daily pressures.

Create a new routine

Setting aside time each day for a creative prompt can contribute to building a positive routine and habit formation.

Goal setting

Setting and achieving daily creative goals can bring a sense of accomplishment and motivation, contributing to personal growth.

Stimulating Curiosity

Prompts often introduce new topics or themes, encouraging participants to explore subjects they may not have considered before.

Mindfulness

Engaging in daily creative activities can be a form of mindfulness, promoting focus on the present moment and enhancing overall well-being.

Stories of change

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You don't have to put loads of angst and energy into it or set aside loads of time. You can just take 10 minutes, along with a cup of coffee. It's not about producing a masterpiece or having a work of art to hang on your wall at the end of it, but more a joyful feeling of having taken part in something uplifting that you might not have considered doing otherwise and to have shared it with other like-minded people.

- Caroline Ridley-Duff

It's been brilliant! Every morning, the first thing I have been doing this month is to check my email to see what today's challenge is. The month has flown by, and it has really helped me get that daily art habit....a couple of friends have seen me doing it on Facebook and joined in too!

- Cory Mortis-Wait

I always feel quite low when post-Christmas gloom sets in, and the creative prompts are the one thing that keeps me going.

My favourite thing about it is that it taps into the 'fun' element of creativity. It encourages us to approach it with a childlike spirit, gives us permission to be a bit playful, a bit silly, a bit quirky, and not to take it all too seriously. I am a great fan of what I call 'low-key creativity', which perfectly sums up the January Challenge.

Thanks so much to everyone who makes this happen. It's a great community to be part of.

- Joy McLean

It's a great space, a really supportive, encouraging and inclusive space. Everybody that's involved is just great. I love it.

- Pearl Barcoe

Having been sceptical, the experience has reminded me of the pleasure & absorption I can find in writing, imagery & ideas that spark between both.

- Tony Graham

January seemed never ending so I looked forward each morning to seeing what the latest challenge was. Some were, in fact, more challenging than others but I was determined to complete them daily. I've been very impressed by the contributions of other participants who have given me inspiration for future projects I may undertake once February arrives.

- Pat Gannon-Leary

My husband, also a writer, joined you recently and has received excellent prompts, which he's shared with our small writing group, with great results.

My mental health has suffered (I'm prone to depression and anxiety), and returning to artistic creativity is a must for me. I'm really looking forward to your emails. My husband tells me about the prompts, and I had to pursue them, so I've just joined. Thank you so much for doing all this!

- Jo Clutton

It's a brilliant way to share creative prompts with friends and family.

- Alberto Ponce

January can be a long month to get through, but not this year because every morning, I woke up with excitement and anticipation, looking forward to each day's task. I can truly say that this month has flown by in a buzz of creative inventiveness.

I have learned about many new groups and charities across the country that are working hard to support a wide variety of people. The challenges have been thoughtful, rich and varied, each one accessible and fun to do. How 64 Million Artists brought this together is amazing.

- Maggie Kendrick

The January Challenge is a beacon of hope and creativity in dark wintery days after the festive period. It gives me positive and unexpected structure to start the new year as I mean to go on!

- Katherine

I have always said the joy of creating and spending time playing is more important than the end result, and this challenge shows that. The January challenge has changed my attitude to increasing joy in my life.

- Katherine

Questions and answers

The January Challenge is an annual campaign to connect all parts of the UK through 31 days of creativity. Each year different Creativity Champions provide a creative prompt for you to explore throughout January. It's fun, free and accessible to participate.

Together, we've proved that creativity is closely linked to our levels of wellbeing and connection to ourselves and others. You can read our most recent Impact Report here.

You can join in however you like. You might like to open our daily emails in January and let each challenge inspire thoughts. Each challenge will be a unique creative prompt that'll invite you to do something, reflect and perhaps share with those around you or online. You can sign up to receive the daily creative challenges here. 

The January Challenge is completely free for everyone!

Creative prompts can be done alone, with friends and family or as part of a teaching plan, library event, team engagement at work or in any community setting. You can build a little community wherever you like to share what you create with others or join ours online by joining our Facebook group or posting on social using the hashtag #TheJanuaryChallenge.

Anyone can be a Creativity Champion, including you.

Creativity Champions are:

  • spread across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland
  • sharing their unique perspective on what creativity means to them and how it shows up in their lives and those around them
  • using The January Challenge campaign resources and (with the full support of 64 Million Artists, including training, access support and regular check-ins) establishing spaces for their groups to get together and get creative.
  • creating tailored spaces for communities with diverse lived experiences with plans for group activity in local community centres, cafes, libraries, parks, and TikTok
  • setting one creative prompt each in January

This January, we have 31 featured Creativity Champions leading a different creative prompt a day throughout January.

You're free to dip in and out of The January Challenge as you please. It's there for you. You might do all the challenges, you might do one challenge, you might do none, it's totally up to you. You can be a part of it purely by searching the hashtag and seeing what others are creating (though we promise you'll have more fun if you have a go yourself!)

Got another question not answered here? Send it over to [email protected] and they'll be happy to answer you (no question is too big, small or silly!)

A4 poster to print and share

Spread the word that The January Challenge is coming and help us make it the biggest year yet.

  • Print off a poster
  • Write YOUR definition of creativity
  • Take a photo with your sign or share it online in your creative way (or you could simply stick it on the wall as a reminder to yourself)
  • Use the #TheJanuaryChallenge hashtag so we can find and share with our community

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