Fun Games to Foster Divergent Thinking Skills in Your Class

One of my favorite topics to teach in my art class, no matter what the age or skill level, is divergent thinking.

What is divergent thinking?

One of my favorite videos to introduce divergent thinking to my students is the lecture by Ken Robinson. 

Divergent thinking is the ability to come up with multiple solutions to one idea/prompt. This skill is the opposite of convergent thinking, which would be one solution to a problem (2 + 2 = 4).

Divergent thinking is such an awesome skill for individuals to foster. By teaching divergent thinking, we can help students to deepen their brainstorming process and awaken parts of the brain that may be sleeping. Did you know that research has shown that adults perform WORSE on divergent thinking prompts than children? Many of my students would always say that they feel the school system focuses more on passing high stakes tests than fostering any type of creativity. While that is heartbreaking in some ways, it’s not definitive.

So what can we do as teachers to help foster divergent thinking skills in our classroom?

Here are four quick, easy, and fun games that you can play with your students to help to foster divergent thinking skills that your students will LOVE.

#1- Open ended prompts

This is one of my favorites! Ken Robinson’s prompt example was “how many uses can you think of for a paperclip?” Here is how it works:

1. Get students into groups of 4-5. Collaboration is key to divergent thinking. The more brains, the better! 
2. Add some competition! This will help your students get engaged, especially the ultra competitive types. Tell them that the group with the MOST solutions will win. I gave bonus points to the winning group.
3. Set a timer. I usually did about 10 minutes of total brainstorming.
4. Give them the prompt and let the divergent thinking happen! 

Some of my favorite prompts:

• You have to get from Earth to the moon in one day. You cannot use a spaceship. How will you get there? 
• How many uses can you think of for a flower pot? *warning– you will immediately get students saying they will use it a potty*
• You have to build a city on the bottom of the ocean. What is your city made out of? 

#2- Finish the shape drawing activity

This one is pretty straightforward. You draw a shape on the board and instruct students to complete the shape. Another version of this is the ‘circle challenge’ which I’ve seen circulating. Here is an example showing the prompt shape in the middle, surrounded by the many divergent solutions transforming the original shape into something new.

#3-Collaborative story

For this activity you will get students into partners or small groups. One piece of paper will be pass among the team. Each person will write one word and pass it to the next. The possibilities and pathways this story can diverge are endless. Some of the “rules” I give with this activity is that the sentences can be bizarre, wacky and weird but they must be coherent and school-appropriate. 

#4- Collaborative drawing game. Draw. Pass. Collaborate. Repeat.

This is a great activity to transfer divergent thinking skills into drawing output. For this each student is given a paper and colored pencil of their choice. Students each draw for 1 minute then pass it. Next, they’ll add onto their peers drawing quickly. I encourage students to draw within 10 seconds of receiving the paper (to avoid over thinking it), draw simple shapes if nothing comes to mind, and draw the entire time until I say pass. By the time they get their original paperback, they’re amazed to see what it’s evolved into. 

I have students give the final work an art gallery name. You know, something really pretentious. They love this 🙂 

#5- Random object drawing challenge

For this drawing challenge, you will need:

• A bunch of random small objects around your classroom (scissors, fabric, paintbrush, clips, cups, tape rolls, etc)
• White boards & dry erase markers -OR- paper and pencil

Students were given random objects and had to creatively drawn in and around the object. The random objects take on a whole new life in these spontaneous drawings and really challenge students to think outside the box. I paired students up to encourage collaboration

---

I hope you found something useful here that you can use in your own classroom. Feel free to comment below if you have any feedback or feel inspired to share. Thanks for reading! Go out and make your mark!

-Stephanie Villiotis, art teacher and creator of Make a Mark Studios