101 Activities For Teaching Creativity And Problem Solving

Chapter 7

Free Association Activities:

“Blue Skies”

Blue skies: Happy days are here again. Put on a happy face. It’s time to let loose and see

what happens. Be footloose and fancy-free. Go on and let go. Allow the ideas to flow and

grow. Build on them. Create highways to the skies and then float back down. Light as a

feather in your cap. Tip the waiter and smile, smile, smile, all the while thinking of what

might be. Set your mind free and free-associate.

E

verything you read in the previous paragraph is based on free association. I started

with the words “blue skies” and let loose. I had no idea where my thoughts would

take me. I tried to think in the general area of idea generation, but I avoided any precon-

ceived thoughts.

The paragraph may not be logical, but it is creative, and it contains many stimuli.

That’s the idea. I was able to create many thoughts and perspectives from the initial stim-

ulus of “blue skies.” Each sentence in the paragraph has the potential to stimulate addi-

tional thoughts. Even the most cliché-ridden sentence has that potential.

Stimuli trigger associations, which trigger ideas. That’s how the human mind works.

We flit from one concept to another. Think about it. It’s not that difficult. We can think of

anything we want. That’s a lot of power packed into one convoluted mass of gray matter.

And it’s ours. All we have to do is harness it.

Although it may seem paradoxical, the best way to harness our creative brainpower is

to let go. Allow one thought to lead to another. Be playful. Forget all the analytical stuff.

Take the time to sink into a “deep think.”

The activities in this chapter are based on the principle of free association. They rely

on our ability to let go and generate one idea or concept from another—to flit about in

our minds. Each activity helps structure this process a little differently. As a result, each

activity has the potential to create many different perspectives and types of ideas.

However, it’s up to us to make the activities work. The more we let go, the more we

will boost our brainpower. And the more we boost our brainpower, the more ideas we’ll

produce.

LLLL

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