Creative Problem Solvingfor Young Children

And the Special Needs of Emerging Speakers/Readers

Dr. Susan Keller-Mathers

Creative Problem Solving

Generate Ideas

Understand the problem

Plan for Action

Mess-Finding

(Identify Goal, Wish or Challenges)

Data-Finding(Gather data)

Problem-Finding (Clarify the problem)

Idea-Finding(Generate Ideas)

Solution-Finding (Select and Strengthen Solutions)

Acceptance-Finding (prepare an action plan)

CPS is aSemanticCognitiveBasedProcess

4 areas of adaptation

• Manipulatives

• Visuals/Symbols

• Semantics

• Movement

CPS Resources Specific to Young Children

SCAMPER and SCAMPER ON Bob Eberle

Scamper and Scamper On allow your students to develop their imagination through a series of guided activities in which they imagine different events or things. "Scamper" is a creative thinking tool that helps students imagine the world in a completely new way and to generate many, varied, and unusual possibilities. The books lead you through each exercise

step-by-step with cues on when to wait, how to modify the activity for more or less participation, and how to

extend the activity. Grades 2-8.

Big Tools for Young Thinkers, 2nd Edition Facilitating CPS for Primary Students Susan Keller-Mathers & Kristin Puccio Children in the primary grades can learn and apply a wide variety of powerful thinking tools for generating options or for focusing their thinking. This book includes 18 specific lessons, with reproducible activities for introducing and practicing these tools with young children. There are two lessons on the basic guidelines for generating and focusing , followed by two lessons for each of eight different tools (brainstorming, braindrawing, forced relationships, SCAMPER, hits, highlighting, A-Lo-U, and the

evaluation matrix).

Adventures in Real Problem Solving Facilitating CPS for Primary StudentsKristin Puccio, Susan Keller-Mathers, & Donald J. Treffinger This book offers 22 practical lessons to guide children in the primary grades in learning and using a simplified approach to Creative Problem Solving (CPS). CPS methods and tools can be applied in ways that are developmentally appropriate and effective for young children. The reproducible activities in this book help children learn how to identify real problems, challenges, and opportunities; generate ideas; and take action to solve problems creatively. The book includes detailed, step-by-step directions for teacher-led activities.

www.creativelearning.com

Generating Rules

Don’t Judge

Lots of Ideas

Wild and Crazy

Piggyback

Focusing Rules

Be Positive

Look at New Items

Use your Head

Look Where You’re Going

Maren Baermann 6

4 GENERATING RULESDON’T JUDGE – open your mind to all ideas

LOTS OF IDEAS – the more the merrier

WILD AND CRAZY – go bananas

PIGGYBACK – build on other ideas

4 FOCUSING RULESBE POSITIVE – find the good stuff

LOOK AT NEW ITEMS – ever thought of this?

USE YOUR HEAD – don’t make snap judgments

LOOK WHERE YOU’RE GOING – remember your goal

Creative Problem Solving for

Primary Students

Occupations which correspond to each stage of the processClarifying the Problem

Mess-Finding Cleaner

Data-Finding Detective

Problem-Finding Doctor

Generating Ideas

Idea-Finding Collector

Planning for Action

Solution-Finding Inventor

Acceptance-Finding Salesperson

CPS in OCCUPATIONS

CPS OCCUPATIONS

worksheet

Mess-finding is like being a ________________Data-finding is like being a ________________Problem-finding is like being a ________________

Idea-finding is like being a ________________

Solution-finding is like being a ________________Acceptance-finding is like being a ________________

Mess-Finding

Idea-Finding

Solution-Finding

Data-Finding

Problem-Finding

Acceptance-Finding

CLEANERDETECTIVEDOCTOR

COLLECTOR

INVENTORSALES-PERSON

• Mess is like a cleaner because a cleaner often has a large mess that seems overwhelming until it’s broken down into manageable pieces.

• . Data is a like a detective since a detective examines much more than just the facts. A detective examines feelings and uses all of his/her senses including observations and hunches.

• Problem is like a doctor since based on the data, the doctor examines all the possible problems the patient might be having and then makes a decision as to the areas to treat.

• Idea is like a collector. A collector collects many, varied and unusual specimens for the collection. Although a collector doesn’t throw specimens out, he/she will select some of the most valuable or favorite for display.

• Solutions are like an inventor since an inventor is often tinkering with one or several inventions at once, improving, developing and refining them to see if they’re workable and improve them.

• Acceptance is like a salesperson since a salesperson spends a lot of time working on selling the product and putting a plan in place for implementation.

TIPS

• Start small, teach some tools. For example, teach forced relationships by having participants select two stuffed animals, force them together s and drawing the resulting animal. Then begin to use the tools to address a problem. Once you begin to use various aspects of the CPS process, start with fun problems and progress to more critical issues of real concern when participants are more comfortable with the tools and aspects of the process.

TIPS

• Be specific in your use of language and use visuals to support them. When generating in Problem, encourage generation of “problems”. Don’t tell the participants to generate more ideas when you want them to generate problems. A CPS chart with the stages of CPS and the occupations can be used to help participants remember where they are in the process. A velcro doctor figure (Mess = Cleaner, Data = Detective, Problem = Doctor, Idea = Collector, Solution = Inventor, Acceptance = Sales) can be placed on a chart under the word Problem when you are working in that stage.

TIPS

• Use symbols and visuals to help understand and remember concepts. Everything referring to generating can be represented by green and red for focusing. For example, green paper can be used for generating tool forms like brainwriting or braindrawing and red can be used for focusing tool forms such as Matrix.

Tool lessons

• Braindrawing• Forced Connections• SCAMPER

• Highlighting• PPCo• Eval Matrix