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Asking students to “think creatively” won’t get you far. They won’t know how to start, they’ll get stuck with simple ideas, or they’ll just go completely wild. SCAMPER is a tool for scaffolding the process of creativity.
Who can get to 100 first in this simple, but delightful, math game?
A favorite of mine! This task is delightfully complex and ambiguous, forcing students to make choices without enough information and with no right answer. How will they survive on the moon for three days?
So what are some new ways to use a paperclip?
Who will win the tournament of Van Gogh self-portraits!?
Can you shred paper using just Lego?
Now let’s try the Path Cipher – a cipher that mixes things up even more than Zig Zag did.
Let’s try a cipher that doesn’t substitute new letters or shapes. We just mix things up.
Roll three dice and combine them using any mathematical operation. But be strategic to maximize your points!
Tired of boring ol’ chess? Then you need to try FOUR PLAYER chess!
Put these countries into groups. Then do it again. Then… do it one more time. How does re-re-grouping the same places reveal new patterns and give new insights?
The only type of octopus that routinely wanders onto land!
What if each square on a Tic-Tac-Toe board had another Tic-Tac-Toe board inside of it?
One artist, two paintings. Notice details, compare, synthesize, then find a parallel in another creator’s work.
Chomp away at your opponent in this grid-based strategy game.
Can your students come up with a one-syllable word to sum up their time away from school? And then rewrite The Beatles’ song Help!?
Let’s encode and decode secret messages like Julius Caesar!
A counting game where twos become “fizz” and threes become “buzz.” Easy to learn, surprisingly hard to survive.
Imagine Tic-Tac-Toe, but both players can both play as both X and O throughout the whole game!
St. Patrick Day’s themed word searches, crossword puzzle, reverse crossword, transition writing practice, and a math puzzle.
Everyone starts with the same squiggle. No two drawings end up the same. What do you see?
Let’s make valentines with an educational twist!
So, what CAN a CAN be used for other than storing liquids?
Here’s how you can draw The Penrose Triangle, an example of an impossible shape.
Nothing like a paradox to get your kids brains exploding 🤯! This one starts with five simple words: “This statement is a lie.”
So, what can a pencil be used for other than writing and drawing?
Let’s give our students an art history lesson while teaching them how to enhance their drawings using one-point perspective.
Pick a few numbers, draw some corresponding lines on grid paper, and you’ll end up with some interesting, looping math-y art!
Turn your students into a bunch of Monets with q-tips and some tempera paint.
A mosaic technique that makes watercolor approachable. Students walk away with something they’re proud of.
What if we played chess on a board that’s only 4×5?
So, what can a chair be used for other than, you know, sitting in?
What if we rewrote a piece of writing without using certain letters?
The barber shaves everybody who doesn’t themselves. So… does the barber shave himself?
What if you had really weak chess pieces, but you could always move twice?
What if you only played Tic-Tac-Toe with Xs and you could play on multiple boards?
You won’t believe how fascinating it is to watch a map of the most popular baby names by US state.
Worksheets for Earth Day! Featuring reading, writing, and math… with a pinch of Depth and Complexity.
What are these two women up to? What’s that thing she’s holding? Let’s make some inferences!
What if one player had, say, 32 pawns?
What if a students’ self-portrait was made of words that describe the student!?
