Speedy Creativity Activities for Teaching
These are simple, non-subject-specific activities or techniques designed to encourage creativity among students. Most require minimal preparation, and can be attached to planned tasks or projects.
If you have any similar techniques or activities of your own that you'd be willing to share with Credne, please let us know!
Encouraging creative thinking wherever possible
Categories: divergent thinking, creative thinking
Not the terrifying chaos that the name suggests, this simple approach from Ronald A. Beghetto reminds us to build opportunities for creative thinking into our existing teaching. Rather than a specific technique, think of “lesson unplanning” as a maxim to keep in mind when setting tasks or asking questions.
Beyond binary brainstorming
Categories: brainstorming, divergent thinking, decision-making
PMI is a very simple but effective brainstorming tool, created by Edward de Bono, which encourages students to think beyond binary pros and cons when evaluating an idea, text or object.
Categories: group work, divergent thinking, idea generation, design challenge
This very simple technique sparks divergent thinking during group tasks – and will probably get you some laughs too. It’s based on City University’s “Bright Sparks” tool (itself based on Michael Michalko’s “hall of fame” technique from Thinkertoys), which is intended specifically for design challenges. But this simplified version will work for almost any group activity – even quick group discussions of a text or idea.
Problem-solving in reverse
Categories: problem-solving, design, design challenge, failure, divergent thinking
This simple concept can be modified and used in lots of different ways – with groups or with students working individually, and with everything from short concept exercises to the design for their own research projects.
The idea is to reverse the usual approach, and plan at first not for success but for failure – extravagantly, flamboyantly, imaginatively.
Creative warm-up/abstraction tool
Categories: warm-up, abstraction, essence, lateral thinking
This simple, fun activity can be used for a quick topic warm-up. But it’s also helpful if you want students to think about the essence or abstract qualities of a concept, problem or task – or if you want to set them up to think laterally about it.