101 Activities For Teaching Creativity And Problem Solving

88. Out-of-the-Blue Lightning Bolt Cloudbuster

Background

Hall (1994) developed this activity to spark ideas during extended group idea generation

sessions. As with some other activities in this chapter, written ideas are shared among

group members. However, the procedure used to share ideas is much more unstructured

(to say the least). Group members write their ideas on paper airplanes and throw them

about. The result can be a lot of fun. And where there’s fun, there are often many creative

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

• At least five sheets of multi-colored, bright (for example, AstroBrites®), 8.5” x 11”
  paper for each participant, plus pens or pencils


• For each group: markers, two flip charts, and masking tape for posting flip-chart
  sheets


• For each participant: one sheet each of three different colors of sticking dots
  (^1 ⁄ 2 ” diameter) and one pad of 4 x 6 Post-it®Notes

Procedure

1. Distribute the paper to each participant, making sure that they receive a variety of
   different colors.

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