Allow your mind to wander a few times every day. Begin with a brief explanation of brainstorming and a discussion on the rules of brainstorming. Then advance to the questions by clicking on the “Take The Test” button. The initial discussion among students about what might freeze fosters skills such as advocating for one’s ideas and compromising. If you’re stuck on a problem or creatively blocked, think about something else for a while. Studying something far removed from your area of expertise is especially effective in helping you think in new ways. Using the components or ingredients of the invention. They’re sometimes the best ideas of all. Give your invention a name. Step 5: Put a list of objects on the chalkboard. Now make a sentence using the letters of this word as the first letter of each word in a sentence. Now that your students have had an introduction to the inventive process, it is time for them to find a problem and create their own invention to solve it. In my work in schools, I’ve found four things that successful teachers do to develop creativity in their students. Create guidelines, limiting parameters, and concrete goals for yourself that stimulate and shape your creativity. Set up learning activities that allow students to explore their creativity in relevant, interesting, and worthwhile ways. Once they combine several of them, ask them to illustrate the new product and explain why it might be useful. Nothing will help— certainly not structure. Other people may think up solutions that differ from yours, but that doesn’t make your solution wrong or unimportant. Few, if any, projects are successful unless the child is encouraged by the parents and other caring adults. She is known for her independent films and documentaries, including one about Alexander Graham Bell. When students create what they imagine, they’re in the driver’s seat. Be open to insight as ideas pop into your mind. Developing a Slogan or JingleHave the students define the terms "slogan" and "jingle." But when you’ve admired creative works or creative people, have you acknowledged the seeds of creativity within yourself? You might also want to use an art book or a book on model-making from your school library. Students may choose to tape record their promos for use during the Invention Convention. Be sure to allow even the silliest possible solution, as creative thinking must have a positive, accepting environment in order to flourish. The goal of problem-solving is to solve the problem, and most problems can be solved in any number of ways. Through critical and creative thinking and problem-solving, ideas become reality as children create inventive solutions, illustrate their ideas, and make models of their inventions. Some suggestions they decide are already solids and shouldn’t go outside: pencils, erasers, and books (but somehow paper stays on the test list). Keep a notebook with you so you always have a way to record fleeting thoughts. Studies indicate that exercise stimulates creative thinking, and the brainpower boost lasts for a few hours. When a student is asked to "invent" a solution to a problem, the student must draw upon previous knowledge, skills, creativity, and experience. Now that your students have some exciting possibilities for their invention projects, they will need to use their critical thinking skills to narrow down the possible solutions. Throughout the years, many creative thinking skills models and programs have been generated from educators, seeking to describe the essential elements of thinking and/or to develop a systematic approach to teaching thinking skills as part of the school curricula. With the word … This information must then be applied, analyzed, synthesized, and evaluated. Everyone can benefit from creative thinking from time to time. If you’ve ever had thoughts like this, you must know you’re not alone. Teach students the other skills they need to be creative. Make sure to follow the rules for brainstorming in Activity 1. "Imagination is more important than knowledge, for imagination embraces the world." What is the solution to human transportation? Many times I have heard from students their disdain for working in groups based on scheduling, varied levels of commitment to the group or project, and personality conflicts too, of course. We have prepared a certificate that can be copied and given to all children who participate and use their inventive thinking skills to create an invention or innovation. Also, visit the Inventive Thinking and Creativity Gallery. Plan a Young Inventors' Day so that your students can be recognized for their inventive thinking. They are the ones who invent solution C when everyone else is still arguing between A and B. This strategy can help you get past the intimidation of “the blank page.” For example, if you want to write a story about a person who gained insight through experience, you can stoke your creativity by limiting or narrowing your theme to “a young girl in Cambodia escaped the Khmer Rouge to find a new life as a nurse in France.” Apply this specificity and structure to any creative endeavor. Ask students, "How did these inventors get their ideas? Think of many, varied, and unusual ways of solving the problem. Steps - list the steps to complete your invention. It’s a way to think “outside of the box.”, Creative problem-solving is a type of problem-solving. Sample slogans and jingles: Your students will be able to recall many slogans and jingles! DiscussionIn order to guide your students through the inventive process, a few preliminary lessons dealing with creative thinking will help set the mood. With the quick generation of many ideas at once, we can block-out our brain’s natural tendency to limit our solution-generating abilities so we can access and combine many possible solutions/thoughts and invent new ones. Draft a script for a video production that will be shown to several college administrators. Design sample exam questions to test your knowledge as you study for a final. Gene Roddenberry imagined the Star Trek flip communicators in 1966, and Motorola produced them in 1996. Step 1: Cultivate the following creative thinking processes described by Paul Torrance and discussed in "The Search for Satori and Creativity" (1979): For practice in elaboration, have pairs or small groups of students choose a particular idea from the brainstorming list of invention ideas and add the flourishes and details that would develop the idea more fully. Creativity is a valuable skill, and there are common strategies teachers can use to help students develop it. Classroom example: Fourth-grade students are presented with a sample of rocks. Recording a Radio PromoA radio promo could be the icing on a student's advertising campaign! Both serve to inspire students and should be integrated into every part of learning. Divide the class into small groups, and give each group one of the objects to work with. After finishing the test, you will receive a Snapshot Report with an introduction, a graph, and a personalized interpretation for one of your test scores. Long before Alexander Graham Bell filed a patent application in 1875, Daniel Drawbaugh claimed to have invented the telephone. Below are some additional tips to help you tap into original and creative thinking in your college assignments and endeavors: As you continue to develop your creative thinking skills, be alert to perceptions about creative thinking that could slow down progress. You could use a paper plate, to begin with, and see how many new things the students will discover. The ox or horse, the cart, the wagon, the train, the car, the airplane, the jet, the space shuttle? The following words, by Dr. Andrew Robert Baker, are excerpted from his “Thinking Critically and Creatively” essay introduced earlier. Problem-solving is something we are called upon to do every day, from performing mundane chores to executing sophisticated projects. Ask your parents and teacher to help with the model. The models demonstrate how creative thinking lesson plans could provide an opportunity for students to "experience" most of the elements described in the models. Now that you have taken the creative problem-solving self-assessment test, do you have a better sense of which creative thinking skills and attitudes you have, and which ones you might want to improve upon? Develop a marketing pitch for a mock business you are developing. Is this you? Keep learning. Why not? A promo might include facts about the usefulness of the invention, a clever jingle or song, sound effects, humor... the possibilities are endless. Let the class list problems in their own classroom that need solving. Let the students make their own list of objects. Think of the possible problems that might occur. Step One: Begin by asking your students to conduct a survey. 1. Lesson plans and activities for teaching about inventions by increasing creativity and creative thinking. Although the making of a model is not necessary, it makes the project more interesting and adds another dimension to the project. Select one or more possible solutions to work on. Exceptional creative thinkers are people that invent new solutions to existing problems that do not rely on past or current solutions. The follow-up discussion encourages deductive reasoning and active listening. The best answer or solution or method has already been discovered. What is Brainstorming?Brainstorming is a process of spontaneous thinking used by an individual or by a group of people to generate numerous alternative ideas while deferring judgment. (You can use an Invention Idea Survey). What is the solution to “putting words on paper”? Brainstorm by generating ideas with a group of people. Elaboration the production of ideas that display intensive detail or enrichment. It can be integrated with all curricular areas and used as a means of applying the concepts or elements of any thinking skills program that may be in use. Over the years, researchers have found that the REM sleep cycle boosts our creativity and problem-solving abilities, providing us with innovative ideas or answers to vexing dilemmas when we awaken. Creative Thinking Activities and Exercises for a Smarter Brain. Your community may also have a Patent and Trademark Depository Library or an inventor's society that you may contact or post a request. Sleep on it. They can do this by listing the pros and cons for each possibility. Classroom example: Third-grade students are learning about polygons and to see if they know the concept, the teacher takes them outside and gives each student a sidewalk chalk. Mumaw, Stefan. List, in order, the steps for completing your invention. All the inventions in the classroom that have a U.S. patent will have a patent number. Step 4: Using literature, ask your students to create a new ending to a story, change a character or situation within a story, or create a new beginning for the story that would result in the same ending. Have students create magazine ads to promote their inventions. Creative thinking skills are definitely not just for ‘creative types’ like artists and musicians. Fountain pen, ballpoint, pencil, marker, typewriter, printer, printing press, word-processing . You see problems as interesting opportunities, and you challenge assumptions and suspend judgment. Everything from word problems in a math class, to opinion or persuasive speeches and papers, call upon our creative thinking skills to generate new solutions and perspectives in response to our professor’s demands. Devise a social media strategy for a club on campus. Participate in a brainstorming session with your fellow musicians on how you will collaborate to write a musical composition. What would improve these inventions? Foundations of Academic Success: Words of Wisdom. They can do this by asking themselves the questions in the next activity about their inventive idea. . The following video, How to Stimulate the Creative Process, identifies six strategies to stimulate your creative thinking. Only a few problems require complex technological solutions. Make a decision by selecting one or two problems that provide the best options for an inventive solution.