24 creativity exercises. Can be used by people at all ages.

1. Creativity
exercises

2. Creativity exercise # 1
Make an ideas wall

4. Make an ideas wall. Put up ideas when they pop into
your mind.
When you study the wall now and then, try to make
connections between the ideas.
Adapted from
https://issuu.com/rosalythr/docs/what_is_creativity_the_bookv2
Page 32.

5. Creativity exercise # 2
Do a brainstorming

6. When you are tired at a time during a day, try
using that time to do a brainstorming exercise.
http://bigthink.com/natalie-shoemaker/5-exercises-to-help-boost-creativity-divergent-thinking

7. Further inspiration
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Brainstorming-the-disney-method-1449101
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Brainstorming-the-SCAMPER-method-1452356

8. Creativity exercise # 3
Try something.
Then try again.

9. Step # 1
Think of a problem you have.
Step # 2
Try out an idea that can help solve the problem.
Step # 3
If it doesn’t work, try something else.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trial-and-error

10. Further inspiration
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/How-can-we-understand-the-problem-1531110

11. Creativity exercise # 4
Turn circles into new
products and/or services

12. During the next 2 minutes, please draw
and/or write - in the circles - as many
new services or products of a company
you work for or want to work for.
Inspired by Tim Brown.
http://www.ted.com/talks/tim_brown_on_creativity_and_play.html

14. Creativity exercise # 5
Do the opposite of
what is tradition

15. Try to think of a tradition in any area.
Now, try to do the opposite.
http://thinkjarcollective.com/tools/reversing-assumptions-technique/

16. Further inspiration
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/How-can-we-reimagine-the-restaurant-experience-1453613

17. Creativity exercise # 6
Find new uses of something

18. In the next 15 minutes, try to discover as
many healthcare related uses for
your smartphone as you can – including
the use of mobile apps.

19. Creativity exercise # 7
Copy an idea
from another team

20. The team / department, who copies an idea
from another team / department and uses it to
create more value, gets a prize.
Part A
https://hbr.org/2012/12/a-simpler-way-to-get-employees-to-share.html

21. The team / department, that gets
an idea copied by another team /
department, also gets a prize.
Part B
https://hbr.org/2012/12/a-simpler-way-to-get-employees-to-share.html

22. When people in team A observe how
people in team B and C etc. do their work,
they may learn to do other things and/or
do things differently.
https://hbr.org/ideacast/2016/07/teaching-creativity-to-leaders

23. Creativity exercise # 8
Set up constraints

24. Very successful initiatives like the music event ”Barely Opera”,
http://www.rickshawstop.com/event/793735-barely-opera-san-francisco/,
show that constraints can help speed up creative thinking.
Examples of constraints:
 Make the event happen in 2 weeks.
 Ticket price: Maximum USD 10.
https://hbr.org/2016/06/what-design-thinking-is-doing-for-the-san-francisco-opera
https://medium.com/stanford-d-school/want-some-creativity-crank-up-the-constraints-5728a988a635#.qz4brozij

25. 1. Which constraints cannot be ignored now?
2. Which constraints can be ignored now?
https://hbr.org/ideacast/2016/07/teaching-creativity-to-leaders

26. Creativity exercise # 9
What would you do if
you were someone else?

27. Step A
Please think about a problem you have at the moment.
Step B
Imagine what each of these people would do if he or she had
the same problem:
 What would the person, you have a problem with, do?
 What would your best friend do?
 What would the best teacher, you ever had, do?

28. Sources
http://www.amazon.de/Creativity-Demand-Ignite-Sustain-Genius-ebook/dp/B00MJCAK0W/ page 134.
http://celestinechua.com/blog/25-brainstorming-techniques/
http://www.managementexchange.com/blog/so-you-want-be-creative-genius
https://spark.adobe.com/blog/2016/05/31/10-exercises-to-spark-original-thinking-and-unleash-creativity/

29. Creativity exercise # 10
Invite an external person
to your next meeting

30. Research shows that bringing together individuals
with diverse backgrounds can enhance the flow
of ideas, making people more open to new
information and finding ways to integrate it into
solutions.
http://sloanreview.mit.edu/article/the-discipline-of-creativity/

31. What about inviting an external person to your next meeting?
http://designshack.co.uk/articles/inspiration/10-tips-for-effective-creative-brainstorming
http://www.destination-innovation.com/articles/top-tips-for-a-great-brainstorm-session/

32. Creativity exercise # 11
Connect the dots

33. Without raising the pen, try to connect all the dots
on the next page with 4 straight lines.
You have 3 minutes.

34. 
 





35. 
 




Start
End

36. Having this exercise in mind, how can you
satisfy needs, users have, in new ways?

37. Further inspiration
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Needs-that-people-have-1530997

38. Creativity exercise # 12
Connect boxes

39. Without crossing lines, try to connect
 A with A,
 B with B, and
 C with C.

40. A AB B
C
C

41. A AB B
C
C

42. Having this exercise in mind, how can you
satisfy needs, users have, in new ways?

43. Creativity exercise # 13
Count squares

44. Question # 1
How many squares can you find in the picture
on the next page?
Question # 2
How did you arrive at this number?
https://hbr.org/2013/04/whats-the-connection-between-c

46. Further inspiration
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-main-ingredient/201606/four-easy-ways-exercise-your-creativity
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/How-can-we-deliver-health-care-2318302

47. Creativity exercise # 14
Time travel exercise

48. Step A
Please think about a problem you have at the moment.
Step B
Now think about how you would have solved / solve the problem
 10 years ago.
 10 years from now.

49. Further inspiration
http://celestinechua.com/blog/25-brainstorming-techniques/
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/How-do-people-understand-time-1844187

50. Creativity exercise # 15
Take a bus ride

51. Composer Steve Reich took a ride in the
subway around New York when he was stuck.
Inspired by
http://thinkjarcollective.com/tools/creative-practice-tips-from-brian-eno/

52. Creativity exercise # 16
Walk ‘n talk with yourself
or with others

53. https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Walk-n-talk-exercise-2801890

54. Creativity exercise # 17
Do sports

55. Research shows that doing 30 minutes of aerobic exercise
increases our ability to solve problems creatively.
The effect lasts for up to 2 hours after we've finished
exercising.
http://www.fastcompany.com/3061704/five-surprising-science-backed-ways-to-boost-your-creativity

56. Research shows that people people, who
exercise 4 times a week, are able to think
more creatively.
http://everybodywalk.org/read/1468-lacking-inspiration-exercise-found-to-boost-creativity.html

57. Exercise stimulates neurogenesis within the hippocampus.
This means that exercise will increase the a person’s ability
to form creative ideas within the brain.
http://www.medicaldaily.com/pulse/improving-creative-process-may-be-one-benefits-exercise-352536

58. Further inspiration
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/The-brain-1500203

59. Creativity exercise # 18
Take a shower

60. Step A
Take a shower.
Step B
Relax. Let your mind wander.
Inspired by
http://thinkjarcollective.com/tools/creative-practice-tips-from-brian-eno/

61. When you are showering alone, you're in
a personal space, free from negative
feedback, quizzical stares, and other
distractions.
http://www.inc.com/magazine/20031001/strategies.html

62. http://www.ideachampions.com/weblogs/archives/2014/09/20_reasons_why_1.shtml
Showering is a relaxing and
stress free experience. That
helps set your mind free.

63. As we scrub under the shower, our minds
revert to a sort of neutral state in which
we are receptive to issues or themes
that bother us or that are unresolved.
http://www.inc.com/magazine/20031001/strategies.html

64. Further inspiration
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/How-do-you-handle-stress-1496360

65. Creativity exercise # 19
Stand somewhere

66. While standing under the shade of an
apple tree, Sir Isaac Newton saw an
apple fall to the ground.
Newton asked himself questions:
Why should that apple always descend
perpendicularly to the ground? Why
should it not go sideways, or upwards,
but constantly to the earth’s center?
The concept of gravity was born.
http://jamesclear.com/creative-thinking

67. Creativity exercise # 20
Sit next to an empty box

68. http://thinkjarcollective.com/tools/five-metaphors-that-actually-foster-creative-thinking/

69. Creativity exercise # 21
Play with children’s toys
http://www.inc.com/christina-desmarais/this-simple-trick-can-make-you-more-creative.html

70. Creativity exercise # 22
Question everything
like a kid

71. Acting like a kid and questioning everything,
you'll come up with the most unexpected insights.
http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2010/10/how-to-quickly-and-easily-be-more-creative/
http://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-unlock-your-creativity-according-to-science-2016-9?IR=T/#get-out-4

72. Creativity exercise # 23
Take a small personal risk

73. Write down 5 acts that constitute personal
risk-taking upon which you promise to act.
Then fold the paper into a pea and place it in
your pocket.
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/in-one-lifespan/201209/cultivating-creativity-in-the-classroom

74. Creativity method # 24
Imagine you are on a date with
a person you find attractive

75. Research shows that if people imagine themselves
being on a date with a person they find attractive,
they think more creatively.
http://www.fastcompany.com/3061704/five-surprising-science-backed-ways-to-boost-your-creativity