If you thought that brainstorming was only helpful for corporate employees, then you are mistaken! Brainstorming in education is not merely a tool to generate innovative ideas. Rather, it helps create dynamic strategies that enable critical thinking and problem-solving skills in every student.
Some of the benefits of brainstorming activities for students are:
- It provides a safe ground for introverted students.
- With the right brainstorming activities, students can easily learn how to collaborate easily.
- By collaborating on different brainstorming activities, educators get a pool of ideas from every student, which helps them to quickly analyze each student on similar grounds.
In this brainstorming guide, we will walk you through different brainstorming activities for both students and teachers.
In this article
Individuals Brainstorming Activities for Student
Few students prefer working alone, while some love to work in a team. As a teacher, it is your responsibility to provide every student with a comfortable ground. Before we talk about some of the brainstorming techniques for teachers, let us walk you through detailed brainstorming activities for students.
Let's first start with individual brainstorming activities:
- Image Identification: It is said that visual representation has a lasting impression on the students. Convert any topic in hand into an image or an infographic, and print it so the students can take it home. Ask the students to write down as many things about that image as they can possibly imagine or find. Advise them not to take anyone's help, as it is their activity. Once the students submit their work, you will have a different perspective and take on that particular image.
- Personal Journaling: Note-taking is one of the oldest brainstorming methods. Ask your students to take detailed notes on their respective topics. Once they start taking notes, ask them to find different connections between them or add more relevant information. Remember, this is not the stage to criticize their ideas; rather, you need to foster an environment where they can easily curate more ideas for their topics. With EdrawMind, students can easily create such outlines and then convert them into beautiful-looking mind maps or charts.
- Color Symbolism: Each color has a different meaning. Few colors have some sort of religious association. Ask your students to pick their favorite colors and write at least 10 points on them in 10 minutes. Encourage each student to brainstorm different ideas, concepts, or emotions that connect them to that color. This activity can lead to unexpected connections and thematic exploration, which would help you understand the psychology of each student.
- Word Finder: Present a detailed topic to your class and then choose a random word closest to that topic. Now, challenge your students to come up with as many ideas as possible related to that previously discussed topic and the chosen word. Once they start coming up with the ideas, ask them to give their thoughts one word, build upon their content, and explore the topic further.
- Sudoku Remix: Sudoku is considered one of the most engaging and brain-stimulating techniques. Try to remix it in a different way. For instance, you can easily create a new variation of Sudoku by changing the rules or altering the grid's shape. Ask the students to take the puzzle home and solve it without anyone's help. This activity will not only challenge the students to think critically but will also encourage them to explore mathematics in innovative ways.
Group Brainstorming Activities for Student
Now that you have explored some fun brainstorming activities for students who prefer an individual approach let us check out some dynamic group brainstorming activities for students.
- Pack The Bags: In your classroom, ask the students to imagine a situation where they are stuck in a remote place and ask them to put three most important items they would like to carry with them. Ask them to think it through and consider everything before putting those three items on the list. Once the entire class completes the exercise, evaluate the items and see if one or more items are common amongst most students. If that is the case, discuss the importance of those items and even praise them for coming up with something like that!
- Gallery Walk Method: The gallery walk brainstorming method is a unique group activity where students explore multiple ideas and texts that are placed around the room. During this activity, you turn your classroom into stations and display texts in a "gallery style" that allows the students to disperse themselves around the room to check those notes or prompts to discuss. This is an informal method that helps the students to work in a group while adding their ideas to each station.
- Creative Debate: Friendly debates are very helpful when it comes to improving the critical thinking of your students. Organize a structured debate where all the students can present contrasting viewpoints. Following this, you can organize another brainstorming session to generate different ideas that resonate with both sides of the debate. By considering both options, you will encourage more analytical thinking among your students.
- Role Play For Empathy: Oftentimes, it is observed that students do not consider someone else's feelings when they present their thoughts. Sit down with your students, assign them roles related to a topic, and have them brainstorm from different perspectives. If your student gives one example, ask them to give the same example by becoming a different person. Ask them to note down the different examples. By doing this brainstorming activity for students, you will promote empathy, which will lead to more diverse ideas.
- Jigsaw Techniques: Such brainstorming activity is plausible when you have a large group of students. Divide the entire class into multiple smaller groups. Assign each group some responsibility to find solutions or ideas for a specific aspect of a larger topic. By following agile methodology while brainstorming, you will reconfigure all the students to share their respective findings.
Brainstorming Method of Teaching
Brainstorming in education is crucial from different fronts. On the one hand, it helps the students to come up with different unique ideas quickly; on the other side, it helps them realize the importance of team efforts.
If this is going to be your first time conducting a brainstorming activity for students, check out the following steps to master brainstorming for teaching:
- Objective Identification: Before using any of the aforementioned brainstorming activities, you should be clear on the expected end result and goal. Choose a topic and discuss that with your students to let them know what you are going to discuss during the session and what are your exact expectations.
- Finalize On Activity: As discussed, you can choose between different brainstorming activities for students. Choosing an activity depends on multiple factors, like class strength, time constraints, difficulty of the topic, and more. Once you have analyzed all these factors, you can choose any of the mentioned brainstorming activities.
- Generate Ideas: Whatever brainstorming activity you have chosen, the end result will remain the same -- generate as many ideas as possible. Encourage your students to come up with different ideas. Keep a note to yourself that at this stage, you do not want to neglect any idea; rather, every student should be heard correctly.
- Refine: Once you have gathered enough ideas from your students, it's time to evaluate and refine them as per your objective. Try to choose the best ideas and then ask your students to put them into action.
Brainstorming Techniques for Teaching
Just like students, there are several brainstorming techniques for teachers that they can freely implement in their classrooms. Some brainstorming techniques would ensure equal participation, while others would imbibe a more creative approach in your students.
Some of the most common techniques are:
- Group Techniques
- 6/3/5 Methods
- Mind Mapping
In today's advanced, academically driven world, innovative strategies are vital. Brainstorming activities for students promote a healthy environment for all. Most of the activities mentioned in this guide enhance critical thinking, creativity, and overall collaboration. If you wish to give brainstorming in education a more dynamic perspective, we recommend checking out EdrawMind. This all-in-one mind mapping tool offers real-time collaboration and comes with free templates and layouts that help in starting different brainstorming activities for students.