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Creative Thinking

thinking to solve a problem

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These days you can go to the store and buy almost anything you want.  You don't need to think about how you are going to fix that toaster, sharpen that pencil and heat up that dinner; just buy a new one, use a pencil sharpener and throw that dinner in the microwave. 

"Creative Thinking", "Original Thinking", "Thinking Outside of the Box", "Problem Solving", "Experimenting" or "Inventing", whatever you want to call it, it's all about trying to solve a problem. Learning how to solve problems will help your child in school and on the job later in life. 

Help your child to learn to solve problems by giving him/her fun challenges.


Learning Styles Covered

Kinesthetic Learning Style





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Invention Facts

Here are a few facts about inventions. When you are working with your child on problem solving consider these invention facts. When solving problems know that it takes time, perseverance and sometimes just luck.

How many different filaments for the light bulb do you think Thomas Edison tested before he found the right one? He tested thousands and thousands of different materials before he found the right filament.
How many different uses for the peanut did George Washington Carver find? He discovered three hundred uses for peanuts! Amazing!
Sticky notes - the invention of the glue for the sticky note was found by mistake. While looking for a stronger adhesive for tape, a 3M scientist came up with a combination that wasn't very sticky but worked great as a bookmark! Eureka!  That's how Post-it notes were created!

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Things to Consider Before You Start

Help get your child's creative juices following:

  • Help your child to learn to solve problems by giving her fun challenges, start easy and progressively get harder.

  • When solving problems together, brain storm ideas with your child.  parent tip

  • If you are trying to come up with new ideas for an old item. Give the item to you child. Let her:
    • experiment with it
    • turn it upside down
    • put things in it, on it or by it
    • take it apart to see how it worked originally and how she might change it
    By letting your child handle the item makes it concrete, this makes it more real and helps the problem solving.

  • Some children will have a very difficult time when you ask them to try and think of a new way to use something that they use every day in a particular way. If your child is struggling -
    • Use something she never saw before and ask what she thinks it is and how it is used.
    • Demonstrate how you would use a very common item differently.

    For example: Start with an empty toilet paper roll! Your child has seen it in the bathroom! Have one available and ask her, "What is this?" When she answers, tell her, "Right!" Now comes the fun part. Say, "We usually throw them away, but can we come up with another use for it?" Give her a minute to think, turning the roll in her hands. She may be stumped at your meaning, so come up with an example to show her. Get a small doll or stuffed animal and ask "Can we make a toy for your stuffed cat with it?" Or, turning the roll in your hands then lay it down on the table and ask, "Can it be a vase? Or maybe…." Let her chime in; she might take the ball and run with it.

    The ideas for an empty toilet paper roll are endless: two together make binoculars or a telescope, a cane, a light saber, taped together to form a structure for marbles to run through, supports for a doll bed, towers for a castle, edges for a game so pieces don't roll off the table, pencil holder, cell phone, handles for a … you get the idea! Not only is this great for problem solving but also great for fine motor development and coordination. Anything and everything is possible when you use your imagination!

    Albert Einstein said, "Imagination is more important than intelligence!"

  • Give your child the time to think. parent tip

  • Let your child experiment. Experimenting takes time, so give it to her.
    parent tip Don't rush the process . Let her discover that some materials don't work well together and others do. Sometimes it seems so obvious to adults what needs to be done and it would be faster to tell her, but if you want your child to continue to experiment – let her do it!
    parent tip Standing back is very hard – so walk away if you need to.

  • Have a variety of materials available for your child to use while experimenting. This shows your child that she is not limited to one object to do the problem solving.

  • Giving open ended instructions means your child can use any means to solve the problem and there is more than one possible answer. It fosters creative thinking and allows a child to see the value in his/her ideas. However, some projects will have instructions for your child to follow.  These projects, while staying within the parameters, will still have numerous ways to solve the problem.
  • Be prepared to change or alter your instructions if the results aren't what you expected. For instance: if your child comes up with an unusual answer, but the answer met the criteria you gave, then applaud your child for her great thinking. Then add a new twist like it is a new direction and play again.

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Creative Thinking Activities


Balls in Bucket

Materials:
balls: small and large
bucket
a variety of items, some that will help and some that won't like: a shovel, spoon, knife, stick, flower, pencil, crayon, blanket, etc.

try and get the ball in the bucket without touching the ball with your hands
  • Have a variety of balls available and a bucket and ask your child to get the ball into the bucket. Your son will quickly pick it up and put it in with the look of ta da, that was easy.

  • Then say, "Now put it in - without touching it with your hands."

  • This is where it gets fun! Have your son see how many ways he can put the ball into the bucket. It is a great, but simple, problem solving activity that leads to others.

  • Alternate: Say "You can't use your hands (or your mouth) but you must use another part of your body."

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How Many Uses for a Cup Can You Find?

Materials:
paper cups
assorted craft materials: pipe cleaners, markers, scissors, tissue paper, etc

how many ways can you use a cup
  1. Like the empty toilet paper roll, a paper cup has many possibilities and is a great activity for rainy days. Start by saying, "What can we make with this cup?"

    Some children will start with their concrete idea of what a cup is and it is for drinking and nothing else. So this is a great activity for them to expand their thinking.

  2. Turn the cup on it's side and upside down for your child to see it differently. Then hand the cup to your child and let your daughter brainstorm ways she could use it. parent tip
    Take turns coming up with ideas and write them down or just start building!

  3. Some examples that cups can be turned into are: pencil holder, rattle, flower, container for a seed, cup for a putting green...

  4. Some children really enjoy making every thing into a contest – so if your child is one of those, keep track of how many ways she came up with to use the cup and keep adding as more ideas come to her.

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Can You Move a Pencil Without Using Your Hands?

Materials:
pencil
flat surface

move pencil without using hands
  1. Hand your child a pencil and say, "Can you move this pencil from one end of the table to the other - without using your hands?"

  2. Your son can use whatever he wants, as long as it's safe, the choice is his to make. Finding multiple ways is part of the fun.

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Save Your Favorite Stuffed Animal From the Goo!

Materials:
stuffed animal, doll or toy
two wash cloths to be used as goo repellent

  1. Place your child's favorite stuffed animal, doll or toy on one side of the room. The goal will be for your daughter to get to her stuffed animal without touching the floor that is covered with imaginary goo.

  2. Make up a story, such as, "You need to save your friend, but there is this goo sucking swamp between you and your friend. If any part of your body touches the goo - the floor - you will be stuck in the muck and can go no further. You'll have to go back to the beginning. How can you save your friend?"

  3. Pick a room that your child can use the furniture to climb or have pillows, blankets, or other items to make the path across, possible.

  4. Try not to give clues or suggestions on how to cross. If your child ask questions on how to do it, try not to give direct answers – let her know she can use anything  in the room (so long as it's safe and okay with you), she has to come up with a solution.  Another suggestion would be to tell your child that you will only answer questions that require a Yes or No answer.  

  5. Play again. You can make it more interesting by rearranging the furniture, pillows, blankets or just by adding two special goo repellant wash cloths. See if and how she uses the wash clothes to help solve the problem.

  6. This can be played over and over again, changing the environment or timing how fast she can save her friend is lots of fun.

  7. This a great rainy day or blistering hot inside activity!

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Egg Drop

Materials:
uncooked egg or hard-boiled egg (if you are doing this activity inside, the clean up is easier if it's a hard-boiled egg)
tape, string, ribbon, etc
cotton, small box, things you find that your child can use to protect the egg from breaking

egg in container

This activity has always been one of my student's favorites.  They ask to do this every year!

  1. The task is to create a container that is smaller than 10"x10" and when it's dropped from a height of about 8', or something close at hand like a play set, the egg inside will arrive to the ground safely with no cracks.
  2. Explain to your son that eggs are fragile and they might crack.  If it does crack, it is an opportunity to learn what he could do differently. Scientists have things react differently than what they expect all the time, that's how they come up with new discoveries!  So keep up the good work!
  3. Let your child determine what materials to use and have him measure the overall design. Of course, he will need a parent's assistance if he needs to use tools that are sharp or hot and he should get your approval on items to see if they are okay to use.
  4. Let your child do some test drops to see if he must modify his design before the actual drop. 
  5. I have had my student's time their egg's descent for the fun of it, but it's not necessary.
    6. looking at egg after drop
  6. After each drop, have your child open up his creation and see if the egg is broken - any crack in the egg is a break.
  7. If there is no break, you might want to try from 9'!

    This could be a neighbor competition with the kids in the area. Followed by ice cream for all.

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Creative Thinking Re-enforcement Activities

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Creative Thinking Links

Check out these Youtube Rube Goldberg machines:


Continue to let your children use their imagination with items in their world. You'll be surprised once they start looking at items in new ways, the possibilities are really endless.

Send us pictures of their creations!

June 28, 2010 

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