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Brainstorming  Activity

Overview

• The purpose of this activity is to explore the topic of happiness by using brainstorming techniques. This can be done on a plain piece of paper or by using brainstorming software that can be downloaded from the internet.    Below is a sample brainstorm (also referred to as a mind map).

Materials

• Sheet of unlined paper 

• Lined paper 

• Pen or pencil

• Trial brainstorming software

Objective

• Generate ideas that relate to the topic of  happiness .

• Experiment with freeing up your thinking.

• Promote spontaneity.

• Create one clustering diagram.

• Organize the brainstorming material and  write up the material in a short story, essay, or poem.

Procedure Outline

• Read about the concept of brainstorming.

• View examples of the different types of brainstorming. 

  • clustering 

  • just writing down a list on paper. 

• Create your brainstorm.

• Have a short discussion of the brainstorming exercise. 

• Individuals organize ideas into an outline .

• Participants create their own story, poem, or essay from the brainstorm. 

• Each individual shares their work with the group. 

Publish to HumanityQuest.com

• Next,  post your artwork  to the happiness discussion area.  Now that you have finished your brainstorm, you can share it with others.  If you used software to create the mind map, you can save the image as a gif file and post  it to HumanityQuest.com. If you used pen and paper to create your mind map, you can scan it into your computer. 

Expanded Activities

• Continue exploration by making branching of one aspect of happiness .

• Do brainstorming as a group activity
• Do a brainstorm with the theme and it's opposite. 
• Use Mind Mapping, which is to draw the ideas instead of only using words.

Add Your Comment about this Activity

• You can discuss general experiences about Brainstorming in the Art Activates discussion area.

Further Reference Materials 

Samples of Brainstorming

• Sample1, a bunch of sample brainstorms (in German)
• Sample2,  more samples in German but with English explanations.
• MindManager  Gallery
• Inspiration Gallery  - has sample created with Inspiration software
  • gallery1- business related brainstorming
  • gallery 2 - education related brainstorming

Lessons on Brainstorming

• Introduction to Concept Mapping"
• Understanding Literary Elements
• Several chapter of a new book Great Ideas on Demand. 
• Brainstorming step by step guide
• Instructions for doing brainstorming from Inspiration web site.

Indexes

• Creativityweb

Books;

• Five Star Mind : Games and Exercises to Stimulate Your Creativity and Imagination
• Creativity Games for Trainers : A Handbook of Group Activities for Jumpstarting Workplace Creativity
• Gabriele, Lusser Rico. "Writing The Natural Way" 
• Mindmapping : Your Personal Guide to Exploring Creativity and Problem-Solving
  by Joyce Wycoff  

 Software Reviews

• Computer shopper

Companies that make Brainstorming tools

• Brainstorming.org - Train yourself to generate ideas more easily.  Download 1.4MB - They have a training process.  
• Inspiration Software, Inc. - Download a creation and management tool for your business projects. OS: Windows 95/NT   License: Demo Download 1.4MB - looks very interesting. give it a try.  You can import clip art to jazz up your mind map.
• Inspiration: Professional Edition (32-bit) 5.0  - the best brainstorming software I've seen so far. 
• MindManager  - Sample Gallery,  gallery2, Download     2.9MB
• BrainStormer   JPB Creative Co, Ltd  - Think outside the box. OS: Windows 95   License: Shareware, Download 1.7MB, step by step guide - software is step by step, they have some written guides, but I don't like the software.
• Inovation-works -  They have software for brainstorming. There is  a lot of explanation of the creative process on there website. The software itself is more geared to problem solving than brainstorming.
• DSS Infotech Pvt. Ltd. - Has an interesting layout and process.  they are located in India.