101 Activities For Teaching Creativity And Problem Solving

(Joyce) #1
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

6. Idea Diary

Background
Ideas are fleeting creatures. Sometimes they dart by and we capture
them easily; other times they are more elusive and slip away into
nothingness. Now they’re here, now they’re not.
The mind works in mysterious ways. We often think of ideas at
the darndest times—in the shower, right before we fall asleep, right
after we wake up, while driving, while talking with a friend, or
even when working on an unrelated problem. Trouble arises when
we can’t remember these ideas. One solution to this problem is to
begin an idea diary—a book or journal designed solely to record
random 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

  • 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

  • One small notebook and pen or pencil for each participant
    •(Optional) PDA, computer, voice recorder, Internet group idea-capturing websites (for
    example, http://www.groups.yahoo.com),,) or other devices to record ideas


Time
45 minutes

Basic Idea Generation: “No-Brainers” 55


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