- The teacher may begin a brainstorming session by posing a question or a problem, or by introducing a topic.
- Students then express possible answers, relevant words and ideas.
Brainstorming is a creative process that is used as an early step in generating possible solutions to a problem. Judgment is withheld to create a long list of ideas, including ones more creative or daring than those initially considered. You probably already had your own definition of brainstorming that is somewhat similar to mines. However, I bet you didn’t know that there are several distinct types of brainstorming.
No, really. And in this piece, we will briefly discuss each one.
Brainstorming is the random generation of ideas based around a topic. There is no editing or ordering of these ideas. They may then be used as the basis for another activity such as writing or discussion. It is often very productive as a whole-class activity.
Example
Learners
brainstorm the topic of smoking by writing all the words they associate
with it on the board. This is then followed by a discursive
essay-writing lesson on the topic.
In the classroom
Brainstorming
can encourage learners to think more freely and creatively than if they
were doing a more controlled planning exercise. It allows learners to
remember what they know, and to teach each other. It is a dynamic and
stimulating way to lead learners into a topic.
Reverse Brainstorming
A creative problem-solving technique in which the problem is turned around and considered from a different point of view to spur new and different solutions.
Stop-and-Go Brainstorming
A problem-solving technique in which a group alternately engages in brainstorming solutions without evaluation for ten minutes then engages in a short period of evaluation. The group continues alternating between brainstorming and evaluation.
Phillips 66 Brainstorming
A problem-solving technique in which a group of six people brainstorms for six minutes and then a spokesman for each group presents either the best ideas or all ideas to the larger group.
Brainwriting
A problem-solving technique in which participants individually brainstorm ideas and document them, then share them with a group to further push their thinking.
Brainstorming Activities for Ideas
How can you be more creative? You can practice how with these 10 brainstorming activities.
Not only for teachers, but companies can use these brainstorming activities to tickle your creative juices.
Like all our worksheets, they are 100% free to print off and use.
Let’s get you started with 10 of our best.
1 Multi-purpose Items
First, the teacher gives the class an object, any object. Next, give the students a couple of minutes to think of all of the different uses for that item. After about five or six minutes, the teacher asks students to share what they have come up with.
For example, you can use forks to eat food, comb your hair, open cans, mix ingredients and clean pans. Not so bad for a simple fork. The “Multi-purpose Items” encourages creativity and it’s fun to hear what they come up with.
2 Rhyme Time
First, put your students into groups. Next, hand out the Rhyme Time activity sheet. Now, bring our your stop watch and get your students to think of as many rhymes as possible for each group. Finally, the group with the most rhymes wins.
Your students are poets and they don’t even know it. Review the rhymes and have a classroom discussion on rhymes. For example, when do you hear rhymes? How about in songs poems?
3 Talking Timebomb
One of the best parts about Talking Time Bomb is that you need practically no preparation time at all. Also, you can practice anything from rhyming to vocabulary to types of things.
First, the teacher comes up with a topic or idea. In the worksheet below, there are some ideas but it can be anything. Next, the teacher starts the music and students have to think of as many words as they can for that topic.
Someone starts with a ball. When they come up with a word, they pass the ball to another student. This process continues but they can’t repeat something that has already been said.
When the music stops, whoever is holding the ball loses. And the punishment can be anything. For example, they must speak for one minute about a topic the teacher gives them.
4 Compound Words Game Board
This is an extremely fun way to teach compound words where they have to collect compound words through board game activity.
First, put students into pairs. Next, print off the compound word game board and provide a dice for each group. After students roll the dice, they will write down the word they land on. As they continue to work through the board game, they will have to create compound words that they write down.
For example, “BLUE” matches with “PRINT” and “BERRY” to form compound words. If they land on these three words, they can earn 2 points – one for each set of compound words. And if they land on “FOOT”, then they can match it with “PRINT” for another point.
5 Pushy Salesperson
Have your students sell something that nobody wants to buy like a pushy salesperson. There are tons of ideas in the worksheet.
First, you can start this activity by showing any infomercial from your home country. Then, you can lead by example and try to sell a product to your students. Finally, it’s your students turn to become a pushy salesperson.
6 English Shiritori
Shiritori is a popular Japanese game in which players have to think of a word beginning with the final letter of the previous word. In groups of two, players can improve their vocabulary and spelling by creating a long word chain.
If you can’t think of any more connecting words, then you lose the game.
7 No Subtitles
Have you ever watched a movie with no volume and pretended to be them? How about in another language? Let me tell you: It can be quite a challenge keeping up with the flapping lips.
First, turn any English movie on mute with no subtitles. In groups of two, have your students re-enact the voices like voice-over actors. The purpose of this speaking activity is to get people speaking.
8 Like or Dislike
Can someone identify you by what you completely love or despise? Each student writes down their likes and dislikes. Next, the teacher collects everyone’s answer. After reading everyone’s answer aloud, can you identify who it is?
It’s a fun interactive guessing game that gets personal. There’s an element of intrigue in it. Best of all, it gets the whole class involved, you can learn about each other and usually gets some laughs.
9 Famous Foreheads
In this activity, all players sit in a circle. Give each student a post-it note and a pencil. Each player writes down the name of a famous person and passes the note face down to the player on the left.
Each player sticks the note on his/her forehead and everyone take turns asking “Yes” or “No” questions to find out who they are. (Hence the title of the game “Famous Foreheads”)
The first player to guess the name on his forehead is the winner. But encourage students to keep on asking questions until they find out the famous person on their forehead.
10 Cultural Dictionary
If you’re teaching abroad, one of the best parts is the culture exchange between you and your destination country. And don’t forget that culture exchange is two ways. Not only do your students learn about your culture, but you can learn about theirs.
Ask students to write down one culturally significant item about their country. Ask for volunteers to share. Once you collect all the students answers, you can compile everyone’s ideas in a culture exchange dictionary that you can keep in class.
Brainstorming Activities for Ideas
If you like need some brainstorming activities, then these 10 worksheets will get you half the way the there.
Because practice makes perfect, put them into action by printing them off. And then you’ll be 100% the way there.
Have you ever had to brainstorm and think of ideas?
Which brainstorming activities did you use? Please let us know with a comment below.