Creative prompt: Paint a Bowl of Impossible Fruit

Begin by painting or drawing a simple bowl, then fill it with fruit, or use this coloring page. You can paint fruit you recognize, but use completely unexpected colors, a blue banana or a striped strawberry, or even invent fruit that doesn’t exist at all!

Try not to ask, Does this look right?

Ask instead: What would be fun?

Let yourself make something that couldn’t exist anywhere except on your page.

Wondering Questions

As you create, you might wonder:

• I wonder how it feels to deliberately make something “wrong”?

• I wonder when I stopped making things simply because they were fun?

• I wonder what happens when I don't have anything to compare my picture to?

• I wonder what surprised me as I played?

• I wonder if God delights in my imagination and playfulness too?

You don't have to turn the practice into a lesson. You can simply notice what happens when you give yourself permission to play.

A Kid-Friendly Version

Kids may already be much better at this than grown-ups!

Draw a bowl and fill it with the strangest fruit you can imagine. Make up your own colors, shapes, and kinds of fruit. Then give your new fruits names. Maybe you've invented a Purple Fuzzberry or a Rainbow Crunch Melon.

You might wonder together:

• What does your fruit taste like?

• Where does it grow?

• Which one would you most like to eat?

• Can you invent a fruit that has never existed before?

Follow the silliness wherever it goes.

When you're finished, look at your bowl of impossible fruit. Notice which one makes you smile. Which one surprised you? Which one could only have come from you?

And then hold one final wondering:

I wonder what Jesus enjoys about the way I play and imagine?

You don't have to answer. Maybe today it's enough to enjoy the fruit.

If you feel comfortable, I’d love to see what you create. When I share these prompts, I’ll always try to share what I’ve made too. Tag me on Instagram or comment below with a photo or reflection.