101 Activities For Teaching Creativity And Problem Solving

96. Greeting Cards

Background

There is little doubt that a playful group atmosphere is more likely to result in quality

ideas than a more staid, serious environment. Several research studies have found that

humor and creativity go hand in hand (Dovidio, Gartner, Isen, & Lowrence, 1995; Russ,

1993). When laughter is present, good ideas seem to appear.

Many of the activities in this book help create a fun environment. Prominent among

these are Spin the Bottle [67], Battle of the Sexes [71], Sculp-

tures [79], Super Heroes [80], and Balloon, Balloon, Balloon

[92]. In addition, the Greeting Cards activity seems to work

especially well for making creative thinking fun.

Greeting Cards (Pickens, 1985) is a hands-on activity

that allows group members to express themselves in an

environment conducive to creative thinking. Unlike most

activities, the group leader should avoid telling the group

the problem if possible (the problem will be revealed later

as part of the process).

Objectives

• To help participants generate as many creative ideas as possible


• To help participants learn how to use the activities to generate ideas

Participants

Small groups of four to seven people each

Materials, Supplies, and Equipment

• For each group: markers, two flip charts, masking tape for posting flip-chart sheets,
  four or five magazines and catalogs (for pictures), ten sheets of colored construction
  paper, and two to three each: glue sticks, boxes of crayons, and rolls of adhesive tape


• For each participant: pens or pencils, markers, and one pad of 4 x 6 Post-it®Notes

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