152 101 Activities for Teaching Creativity and Problem Solving
101 Activities for Teaching Creativity and Problem Solving.Copyright © 2005 by John Wiley &
Sons, Inc. Reproduced by permission of Pfeiffer, an Imprint of Wiley. http://www.pfeiffer.comParts Purge Handout
Suppose you want to improve a table lamp. First, list major attributes and subattributes:- Name: table lamp
- Parts: base, bulb, cord, shade, switch
- Shapes: round, cylindrical, pleated
- Functions: illuminates, heats, collects dust
- Material: cloth, metal, rubber
Next, free-associate using one or more of the attributes. For example:- Table lamp: lantern, cow, tipsy, shed, fire, Chicago
- Base: acid, soda, water, bottle, drink
- Switch: spank, paddle, ping pong, table, games
- Illuminates: lights, sky, stars, rockets, gravity
- Metal: heavy, light, air, breath, oxygen
Finally, use these free associations to generate ideas to improve a table lamp:- A lampshade with shutters to create different lighting effects (from “lantern”)
- A lamp with a swivel base to allow reading light adjustments (from “tipsy”)
- Lampshades with panoramic pictures of major cities (from “Chicago”)
- A lamp with video games built in (from “games”)
- A magnetically levitated lamp (from “gravity”)
- A hovercraft lamp that can be moved easily around a large table (from “air”)
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