Some Easy
Creative
Strategies
To use with your class,
your company, your
family, or yourself
1. Use Humor--Cartooning
– Promote
figural
creativity;
– Express ideas
in a different
format;
– Explore
humor;
– Increase
interest
Cramond
2
Some Strategies:


Any grade
Any subject
Not
necessary to
draw
Different
levels of
complexity


Complete a cartoon
Add a caption
Put panels in sequence
Use to learn about criteria
 Which cartoons are best? What
makes them good?
 Analyze symbols– Uncle Sam, dove,
etc.





Compare messages
Express ideas
Demonstrate understanding
Show humor
Introduce a topic
You can have students complete them
4
Cramond
Write a caption
Cramond
5
Represent Current or
Historical Events
7
Create a Cartoon to
Represent the Other Side

Participants could discuss the issues on both sides of a
controversy, such as the Patriot Act, and draw an editorial
cartoon in answer to this one.
And to Demonstrate
Understanding of a Concept
Newton’s Laws of Motion
9
Inertia
If you can’t draw…
What’s happening? Create
your own cartoon by filling in
the form below and clicking
the CREATE button!
What is the wart-faced
monster thinking?
Great
costume!
Great Neck!
Great
What Costume!
is Dracula thinking?
GreatisNeck!
What
your first name?
Bonnie
http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/
Activities/Cartoons
11
Or, use collage or photo-editing
One way to create a cartoon…
1
2
3
Choose a current event or
news item.
Try to find an absurd,
funny, ironic,
exaggerated, etc. side to
it.
Decide how to depict it.
a. draw
b. collage
c. photoediting
4
Add a title or caption.
12
Some Good Sources of
Cartoons for Educators
General Education




Higher Education by Gary Olsen
– http://www.dubuque.k12.ia.us/
cartoons/

Daryl Cagle’s Pro Cartoonist Index
Home Page with lesson plans
 http://www.cagle.com/teacher/

CSL Cartoonstock
– http://www.cartoonstock.com/d

irectory/F/Free.asp
National Geographic for Kids

Cartoon Factory
– http://cartoonfactory.net/
 Class Brain:
http://www.classbrain.com/art
teensb/publish/cat_index_19.s
html
– Andertoons
//www.andertoons.com/cartoon
s/education_and_teacher
Math
www.trottermath.net/humor/ca
rtoons.html
http://www.simonsingh.net/Mat
hematics_Cartoons.html
http://www.sciencecartoonsplus
.com/gallery/math/index.php
http://www.charlottemathtutor.c
om/htmlfile/cartoons.html
http://www.mathcartoons.com/
2. Use an encounter experience
Question of…
1.
EXAMPLE: Introducing a Lesson
on Native Americans
Identity
1.
2.
Awareness
2.
3.
Isolation
3.
4.
Risk or danger
4.
5.
Wisdom
5.
What kind of Native American
are you?
What do you see? Hear? Smell?
Taste? Feel?
You are away from the rest of
your people. Why?
You hear voices of the enemy
near. Who are they? What are
they doing?
What have you learned about?
What would you like to know?
3. Inkblot

Groups of 4 with inkblot or paint blot on paper
3
2
4
1
1. Fold the paper in half horizontally and
vertically.
2. Then put a few drops of paint, refold paper and
press to smear.
3. Number the 4 sides and brainstorm for 2-3
minutes on each side what the blob could be.
Inkblot

3
4
2

4
1
Skd;fjff’asdfj
Sdfkljfas;fjkasdfl;
dsfjsf;jsfd
Sdfkjsf;ksdf’;
Sd;fjsdfl;sdf
Sd;fsdfkldfldfl



Turn the page so that the 1
faces you.
When I say begin, jot as many
things that you can think of that
the shape looks like on one or
both sides of the number.
When I say STOP—stop. Pass
the paper to the person on the
left.
Turn the paper so that the 2
faces you.
Repeat.
A Variation on the Inkblot Activity
Using Smells or Textures

Put glue on the paper and use aromatic spices or
different flavors of jello as you would glitter.
 Have students brainstorm all of the things that would smell
like each smell on the paper:
 e.g. Cinnamon: pumpkin pie, cinnamon toast, baked apples,
cider, Christmas caroling, Grandma’s house, warmth, etc.

Have different textures for students to pass around and
let them brainstorm things that feel like:




Sandpaper—snake’s skin, tree bark, camp sheets
Silk—baby’s skin, soy milk, tassels, Mama’s hair
Wet soap—fish, inside of mouth, paste
Rabbit fur—puppy, coat, short grass, carpet
Inkblot: Applications

Creativity--discuss who had the most
– Responses (fluency),
– Unusual response (originality),
– Detailed response (elaboration),
– Categories of responses (flexibility)
– Recognize other attributes of creativity such as humor, emotion,
fantasy, etc.

Geometry--Use graph paper; make a polygon out of the figure;
figure (or estimate) the area

Art--Have students choose to draw or paint details to complete
the picture

Language Arts/English/Foreign Language--Have students
write stories about the picture
4. Movement

Familiarize students with Rube Goldberg
machines like the one below.
Machine
•A volunteer makes a repeated machine-like
movement.
•one by one others add a motion to the machine.
•remaining students are asked to brainstorm
what the machine is and how the various
movements work together.
*Gives students an opportunity to express
creativity through movement.
5.Brainstorming and Just
Suppose:

Principles:
– 1. Deferment of judgment.
– 2. Quantity breeds quality.

Rules:
– 1. Criticism is ruled out.
– 2. Free wheeling is welcomed.
– 3. Quantity is wanted.
– 4. Combination and improvement are sought-hitchhiking.
Some Applications of Just
Suppose

Economics Example: Just suppose you won the
lottery, what would you do with the money? What
might some effects be?

Science/Social Studies: Just suppose we could
cure all diseases. What would be the effect?

Mathematics: Just suppose you could invent
your own symbol system for mathematics. What
might be some symbols you would create, and
what would they mean?
6. Scamper (Eberle, 1971)







Substitute
Combine
Adapt
Magnify or minify
Put to other uses
Eliminate
Reverse or rearrange
“What are some ways that we could
make zoos better for animals?”

Substitute—
– group animals and vegetation together as in the wild and
let them hunt or forage for their own food

Combine-have the birds from the aviary in the same place with the
monkeys

Adapt—
– use climate control domes and vegetation to simulate
their natural environment

Magnify or minify—
– make zoos larger with more space; breed smaller versions of animals
so that the space seems larger
“What are some ways that we could
make zoos better for animals?”

Put to other uses—
– give the animals activities to occupy them

Eliminate—
– remove as many unnatural sensations as
possible--sights, sounds, smells, foods,
textures, etc.

Reverse or rearrange–
– put the people in enclosures and let the animals run
free
SCAMPER--Activity
In groups, try to think of at least one idea to
improve education using each of the SCAMPER
prompts. Consider: cafeteria, discipline, schedule,
grading, homework, administration, grade levels,
etc.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Substitute
Combine
Adapt
Magnify or minify
Put to other uses
Eliminate
Reverse or rearrange
Scamper--Application
Language Arts: How might you use the SCAMPER
techniques to change a familiar story?
Social Studies: How might you apply the ideas of
SCAMPER to create a new society?
Mathematics: Can you write word problems using the
ideas of SCAMPER?
Science: How can you design a new experiment
using the principles of SCAMPER.
7. Metaphorical Thinking

Life is like...______________ because_________.

“...a jigsaw puzzle but you don't have the picture on
the front of the box to know what it's supposed to
look like. Sometimes you're not even sure you
have all the pieces.”

“...riding an elevator. It has a lot of ups and downs
and someone is always pushing your buttons.
Sometimes you get the shaft, but what really
bothers you are the jerks."

What do you think life is like?
8. Using Analogy or Metaphor
to Solve a Problem

How does
nature solve
this problem?
Forced Fit

If you can’t think of a comparison, try choosing
anything and figuring out how they are alike.
– Life is like a book. How?
– What is a garden like? How?
– How are schools like businesses? prisons? gardens?
Zoos?

Play a game with two teams; each must think of a
problem and an unlikely object with which to solve
it. If the solvers can think of a reasonable solution
using the object, they get a point. Otherwise those
presenting the problem get the point. Take turns.
– Example: How could you use a spoon to get children to
clean their rooms?
(If anyone can help solve this problem, with or without a
spoon, all of us travelers will be eternally grateful!
9. Synectics-this is not easy to do
completely, but you can try one or two steps …


Solve problems using analogies and
opposites
Force fit generated responses into a
realistic solution for the problem.
– direct, actual comparisons with similar
situations
– personal, identify with some aspect of the
problem
– symbolic, putting two conflicting aspects of the
problem together, or some other way of
objectifying the problem
– fantasy, uses imaginary ideas to find ideal
solutions
Synectics Application
How can we improve the efficiency and efficacy of
security lines at airports?
Direct: Move people through like products move through a
factory line--> sit on a people mover like Disney has to ride
through security
Personal: How would I want people to go through security if I
were a security worker?-->people go through security without
any belongings wearing paper pajamas.
Symbolic: Is there a way to have low intrusion security?-->
scan people without stopping them and making them take off
their shoes, jackets, jewelry, phones, take out laptops, put
liquids in 3 ounce containers in bags.
Fantasy: How might we go through the airport like we did
before there was so much security?--> stop the threat of
terrorism so that the world is like it was before.
10. Looking at Attributes
Attribute Listing & Analysis
•
Example: "How to improve the playground"
•
_______________________________________________________________
ELEMENT
ATTRIBUTE
IDEAS FOR
POSIT/NEGAT
IMPROVEMENT
FEATURES
_______________________________________________________________
Swings
too high
lower
small kids can
swing/
can be dangerous
•
Ground
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
hard blacktop
soften with mats
artificial turf
safety; more games/
cost/weathering
_______________________________________________________________
This activity can be cyclical as each positive and negative feature
is translated into a new element of the problem to be run through
the entire process again.
Attribute Listing, 2nd Chart
___________________________________________________
ELEMENT
ATTRIBUTE
IDEAS FOR
POSIT/NEGAT
IMPROVEMt
FEATURES
___________________________________________________
Children
different ages
separate
safe/
less interaction
Cost
_
high
fund-raiser/
donation
effective/
work to get
______________________________________________________________
Attribute Analogy Chain
If we wanted to improve the design of a television
set…list attributes
NAME: television
FORM: geometric, angular, cube
FUNCTION: entertain, educate, accompany
To each of these attributes we might tag the
following analogy ideas:
NAME: videotube, idiot box, entertainment cube, etc.
FORM: prism, sphere, semicircle
FUNCTION: live theater, school, conversation
Attribute Analogy Chain
From these, we might produce the
following alternative views:
Change name to Entertainment Prism (EP).
Try prism forms which allow for different
screens at different angles--with ear phones
families can view different shows in the same
room.
Morphological Analysis
•
Put one attribute across the top and one
along the left
•
Example: Invent a new kind of math story
problem

Morphological Synthesis
Main
Character
Supporting
Characters
Conflict
Setting
dog
farm hands
property
mountain town
detective
circus acts
jealousy
old west
murderer
talking animals
theft
New York
beauty queen
school children
international
plot
ancient Egypt
super hero
a family
war
farm
11. DeBono’s Lateral Thinking
Get information on a contentious issue, then try to analyze the issue:
EBS--Examine
Both Sides
 Argue one, then the other side of the Patriot Act.
ADI--Agreement, Disagreement, Irrelevance (to look at sides in
argument--should come after EBS)
 Read an article, choose key statements, then label
OPV--Other People's Views: Two parts:
 Identifying the other people who are really part of the situation:
What people and groups have an interest in the censorship of
lyrics to popular songs?
 Getting into the shoes of all of these others: How would you feel
if you were a parent of a child who listened to them? A record
producer? A recording artist? A disk jockey?
PMI--Plus, Minus, Interesting
 Listen to a political debate and try to label each point made by
the debators as a plus, minus, or interesting point
11. DeBono’s 6 Thinking Hats
Positive
Organized
Emotional
Negative
Neutral
Creative
Example of Discussion with
DeBono’s 6 Thinking Hats
I think we should
continue the research
But that is killing
babies!!
Positive
Neutral
Organized
Emotional
Negative
We shouldn’t fool
with nature.
There are scientific
benefits and moral concerns
Let’s list the
pros and cons
Creative
We can create
the same effects by
using placental
rather than
fetal cells