101 Activities For Teaching Creativity And Problem Solving

Combinations 155

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.com

Preppy Thoughts Handout

The relational words below are the forty-two that Crovitz suggested:

about at for of round to

across because from off still under

after before if on so up

against between in opposite then when

among but near or though where

and by not out through while

as down now over till with

VanGundy (1988) added an additional nineteen prepositions:

above behind beyond past upon

along below during since within

amid beneath except throughout without

around beside into toward

As an example, consider a problem of how a restaurant could attract more customers.

The action verb and object are “attract” and “customers.”

Here are some possible ideas from inserting relational words between these two

words:

• Have special community nights in which people are seated across from someone new
  in order to make new friends (from “attract/across/customers”)


• Offer special low rates for meals eaten before a certain time (from
  “attract/before/customers”)


• Place advertising fliers on cars of supermarket customers and offer them a discount in
  exchange for their grocery receipts (from “attract/near/customers”)


• Hire a public relations firm (from “attract/about/customers”)


• Add an outdoor patio (from “attract/out/customers”)


• Give discounts to overweight people (from “attract/round/customers”)


• Have a special room for people who like to eat on the floor (from “attract/under/cus-
  tomers”)


• Give discounts to customers who help recruit new customers (from
  “attract/with/customers”)


• Start an eating club with one free meal for every ten purchased (from
  “attract/since/customers”)


• Specialize in healthy foods and offer free diet planning (from “attract/within/
  customers”)

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