160 101 Activities for Teaching Creativity and Problem Solving
Related Activities
- Bi-Wordal [22]
- Circle of Opportunity [23]
- Ideas in a Box [25]
- Mad Scientist [27]
Procedure
- Have each group obtain a sheet of flip-chart paper and tape it lengthwise to a wall
or lay it down on a table. - Distribute the handout, review it with the participants, and answer any questions
they may have. - Tell them to generate three lists of six problem elements and number each element
within each list. Say that these elements may or may not be related to their partic-
ular problem. - Instruct them to label the lists “White Die,” “Green Die,” and “Red Die” (or other
colors corresponding to the dice used). - Ask each person in each group to take turns rolling each die and select the ele-
ment indicated for each list. - Tell them to use the combinations of the three elements to spark ideas.
- Have them write down their ideas on Post-it®Notes (one idea per note) and place
them on flip charts for evaluation.
Debrief/Discussion
666 evokes an alchemy of the creative process: A “brew” of stimuli is stirred together to
craft multiple ideas for resolving a challenge. The three columns of stimuli provide a fer-
tile matrix of word combinations for group members to use as springboards for generat-
ing ideas. Seeing multiple words together this way can help participants free-associate
and make unique combinations. The game aspect of rolling dice also makes this an
appealing exercise.
Have the participants debrief using the following questions:- What was most helpful about this exercise?
- What was most challenging?
- What can we apply?
- How would you rate the value of this exercise to helping us with this issue?
- Will this exercise be helpful in the future for other sessions?
- What did you learn?
- What will we be able to use from this exercise?
- What ideas were generated, and which ones were most interesting?
06 VG 119-166b 10/5/04 5:03 PM Page 160