101 Activities For Teaching Creativity And Problem Solving

100. Puzzle Pieces

Background

In some respects, most problems are like jigsaw puzzles. We have

to look over all the pieces, keep the big picture in mind, identify

the boundaries, and plunge in and begin problem solving. If

everything works out, we’ll solve the puzzle and go on to other

things. The Puzzle Pieces activity takes advantage of these simi-

larities by using pieces of a jigsaw puzzle to put together ideas.

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, and masking tape for posting flip-chart
  sheets, one set of approximately fifteen blank jigsaw puzzle pieces available from
  school supply stores or online sources such as http://www.papergoods.com (If a blank puz-
  zle isn’t available, use the blank back of a standard puzzle)


• For each participant: pens or pencils, one sheet each of three different colors of stick-
  ing dots (^1 ⁄ 2 ” diameter), and one pad of 4 x 6 Post-it®Notes.

Time

30 minutes

Related Activities

• Modular Brainstorming [62]


• Doodlin’ Around the Block [95]

Brainwriting with Unrelated Stimuli 385

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