Verified by 
Life gets more complex every day. More doors to success will open for those with flexible minds who can devise unusual solutions to tough problems. Mental adaptability is a skill you can help your kids improve with practice.
Brainstorming isn't appropriate for closed-ended questions that have a single solution, such as, "How many legs does a spider have?" It's best for questions like, "Name all the ways you can think of to get your teacher's attention." The most creative thinkers come up with the greatest number of responses. Would your child think of these? Throw something. Shout. Tap her on the shoulder. Pass a note. Bang on your desk. Sing. Pop a balloon. Play an instrument. Wink at her.
Some possibilities you or your child may suggest could be ridiculous or dangerous, such as climb up a tall bookcase and jump off, or break a classroom window. When your child hears your or her own inner voice saying, "But that's too crazy,” discuss how brainstorming is not the time to weed out the duds. Don't judge until after, when all possible ideas have been brought out into the open. In fact, sometimes the wildest responses are the most creative.
7 Brainstorming Sparkers
Engage your child to start brainstorming by suggesting these topics to play around with:
- You haven't done your weekly chores or your homework. How many excuses can you come up with?
- If you were going to be on an island for a year, and you could fill only one box to take with you, what would you take?
- Invent an imaginary animal that combines the best features of several real animals.
- How would you improve the human body?
- How could you get the media's attention for a social change in which you believe?
- List eight or more ways to clean your room quickly, the more impractical the better.
- An overused phrase for creative thinking is "thinking outside the box." How many fresher expressions can they think up?
Copyright (c) 2018 by Susan K. Perry, author of Playing Smart and Kylie’s Heel
