Creativity: Training

S.C.A.M.P.E.R.

 

            Today's Snack: Since we're going to practice s-t-r-e-t-c-h-i-n-g your thinking, take a cheese stick and s-t-r-e-t-c-h it as far as it'll go. Measure it with a ruler, before and after. Then eat it! And stretch out your snack enjoyment with a big glass of chocolate milk, too.

 

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Supplies:

Rubber band for each student | cardboard tube | paper clip

Empty plastic bottle | quarter | clothespin | fabric square

 

A great way to train your mind to be more creative - more playful - more flexible - is to brainstorm. It's really fun in a group. Everybody can contribute. There are no dumb ideas. Feel free to stretch your thinking, and risk saying something unusual. Everybody can shine in this, and the idea is to crank out as many ideas as you can in a short time. The more, the merrier!

 

The point is to generate lots of good ideas at a fast rate of speed. Then when you are writing or speaking, you will have more ideas to choose from. And when you have more ideas to choose from, you can communicate more clearly and in a more effective, interesting way.

 

To "scamper" means to run, rush, dart out, or go quickly. Here's how to make good ideas scamper out of you!

 

Let's take some household items through the S.C.A.M.P.E.R. brainstorming process. Suggest as many ways as you can think of to mentally change the object to create a whole new look or purpose for it.

 

Let's put an ordinary rubber band through S.C.A.M.P.E.R.

 

 

Substitute - if it were made of cereal, it could be a giant Cheerio

 

Combine - if you combined the rubber band with your finger or a stick, it could be stretched and shot

Adapt - it could be a gasket for a toy car

 

Modify - in hard plastic: a hula hoop for a mouse

 

Put to another use - handcuffs for a dumb, weak crook

 

Eliminate - without its stretchiness, it could be a bracelet

 

Rearrange - if it were edible, you could bunch together a lot of carrots or pretzel sticks and eat them as a bunch.

 

 

 

 

SCAMPER

 

Substitute  Who else? What else? When else? Where

                             else? Why else? How else? Color?

 

Combine    Mix with what else?

 

Adapt         What else could it be used for or fit with?

                   How could the idea be slightly changed?

                            

Modify        How could it be changed?

                   What it's made of? Color? Way it moves?

                             Sound? Power source? Purpose?

                   Multiplied into many of the same?

                   Minify - make smaller, slower, split up,

or zoom in

                   Magnify - make larger, faster, spread out,

or zoom out

 

Put to         What's another way to use it?

another       How could it be more effective?

use                       Less effective?

 

Eliminate    What if parts were subtracted?

                   What if parts were smaller or less important?

 

Rearrange  What if this worked or looked differently?

                   What if its parts had another layout?

                   What if it had a different sequence? Speed?