The B!G Idea is a new innovative creative thinking programme developed by creative experts. It aims to instil an innovative creative mindset in students, empowering them to tackle the biggest challenges in their world. Find out more about our programme here.
Our founder is Kim Mackenzie-Doyle, a creative advocate, an internationally recognised product designer and winner of multiple worldwide design awards. Kim is a firm believer in the power of creativity to effect positive change. She has been supported by countless members of the creative community in realising THE B!G Idea, all who share the belief that this is a vital addition to the Irish education system.
Yes it’s really FREE! We know it’s a tough time for families and school resources are stretched. We are actively sourcing funding to keep this programme free for all who participate! Check out our amazing partners who are supporting students to gain critical creative skills!
Our programme is 14 weeks long with two classes per week. We provide all learning resources you will need for those 14 weeks. The content is digitally formatted and can be used directly from the cloud or downloaded in your preferred format.
Yes, of course! Get in touch now and let’s get your class registered for 2024!
Schools are selected depending on our funding, the more funding we have the more schools we can include! If you would like to support more schools getting involved – check out our support page.
Sign up for our next term to include your class, we aim to raise funding to include as many students across the country as possible!
The B!G Idea is an inclusive cross-curricular experience designed to support you as a teacher and your students through the creative process but without the heavy lifting. Each lesson is guided and structured and no prior experience in the traditional creative subjects is required. In our first year, we have teachers involved from every subject!
Having an interest in empowering your students to change their world through creativity with B!G ideas is the only requirement. And if you are finding any aspect challenging, the team are here to offer advice and support through every stage of the programme.
Let your teachers, TY coordinator or tutor know about The B!G Idea by sharing our website details and social media handles with them. Ask them to contact us if your school is interested.
The B!G Idea program is open to all Transition Year, Leaving Cert Applied and Northern Ireland equivalent programme students, as well as Youthreach and Community Training Centre learners. It runs from January to May over a 14 week period. For more information and to see how your school can get involved, check out ‘Our Programme’ and sign your school up here.
Through The B!G Idea, students will have the opportunity to work collaboratively on a subject they feel passionate about and creatively generate solutions, informed by their own research guided by our programme. Through our unique process, students learn about and experience creativity in action, developing skills in communication, collaboration, inquiry, resilience and divergent thinking to name but a few. Students will gain an insight into how industry professionals work to solve B!G challenges and gain expert advice from them on their own projects. We aim to give students the creative mindset to tackle issues they will face in the future.
You can choose to sign up one class or the whole year! We want The B!G Idea to be fully inclusive. We would love nothing more than your whole year group involved.