101 Activities For Teaching Creativity And Problem Solving

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

Handout

• (For Variation #2): Sample Ideas

Time

30 minutes

Related Activities

• I Like It Like That [55]

Procedure

1. Have each group write down a problem challenge on a flip chart.


2. Tell the participants that they are going to use music to help induce a relaxed
   mental state.


3. Select music that helps induce a state of relaxation and turn it on.


4. Tell the participants to get comfortable and think pleasant thoughts and let their
   minds drift. Give them at least 5 minutes for this activity.


5. Have the group members individually start writing ideas on the Post-it Notes, one
   idea per note. Tell them to avoid judging each idea and to list as many as they can
   for another 5 minutes.


6. Call time and ask group members to read their ideas, in turn, and then post them
   on a sheet of flip-chart paper for all to see. Thus, person one would read his idea
   and place it on the sheet of paper, person two would read her idea and post it, and
   so forth, until all ideas have been read and posted.


7. Ask the participants to listen to another 5 minutes of music and then repeat Steps
   5 and 6.

Debrief/Discussion

If time is available, encourage the participants in each group to develop their own activi-

ties based on music and then present them to the other groups. For an interesting experi-

ment, have the groups try all three activities above and discuss the relative merits of each.

Also consider having 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?

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