Thinking Outside The Box II: Creativity

As I mentioned a couple of days ago, it is important to teach our students to think outside the box so that they can come up with creative answers.  Creativity has two parts: thinking up a unique solution, then criticizing it to make sure it works.  The first part is called "brainstorming," which means to come up with as many ideas as possible without being critical.  Being critical is the second step.

Here is a classic problem.  Come up with as many uses of a brick as possible.  Do not be critical in this stage!  Then, determine how many of your uses might be practical.

(Scott Fruehwald)