What My Niece, My Nephew, and Ridiculous Drawings Taught Me About Creativity

anniebarch
Mar 27, 2025
2 min read

Updated: Mar 27, 2025

One of my favorite games to play with my niece (2) and nephew (4) is something I’ve come to call the “Silly Character Game”. It’s simple and hilarious:

I draw, they make the decisions.

Are they human or animal?

HUMAN!

Big head or little head?

BIG!!

What shape is it?

SQUARE!!!

What color are their pants?

ORANGE & PURPLE!

The more ridiculous, the better.

We end up with the strangest, silliest creatures: a bumpy haired friend with arms as short as a t-rex’s, a long orange body and giant red shoes. They burst into laughter as the character gets more and more chaotic—because they know they’re the ones shaping the weirdness, and they love it.

What I didn’t expect was how much my nephew would latch onto this game. It was one of the first activities he has asked for and recalled between our visits. What’s made the game even more fun is that lately, he and my niece have been flipping the script—asking me the questions. Watching their confidence grow, through something so simple, has been kind of amazing.

That’s when I realized, this game worked not just because it was fun, but because it made them feel safe.

There was no right or wrong answer. No rules. No judgment. Just space to play, try things, and be as imaginative (or chaotic) as they wanted.

Creativity and Safety Are Connected

I’ve seen this same idea play out with creative teams.

The work doesn’t get more innovative when people are told to “think bigger,” it gets better when they feel safe enough to take risks. To throw out wild ideas, ignore the rule book and say, “What if we did it completely differently?”

That safety doesn’t just happen. As a leader, I’ve learned (sometimes the hard way) that I have to create that space on purpose. That means listening more, judging less, and showing people it’s okay to push beyond what’s expected—even if we don’t use every idea.

One thing I do at the start of a creative project is say, “Let’s ignore the brand guidelines for a minute.” Then I ask, “What’s the boldest way to tell this story?”

Most of the time, we circle back to the brand standards, but now we’ve stretched the idea. We’ve given it air. We’ve started from a place of freedom, not fear—and the work is better because of it.