Exercises for the development of creative thinking,

Memory, quick wit and intelligence

This book contains many of the latest tests that will help you develop your intelligence. A wide variety of puzzles and tests cover such areas of intelligence as creative thinking, logical thinking, ingenuity and memory. Here you will find hints, as well as answers to tasks.

Introduction

A bit about the human brain

Creative thinking

Memory Puzzle Wits

Intelligence testing

Hints

Introduction

The brain is the most important and valuable human organ. With the help of the brain, the perception of the surrounding world is carried out; the brain stores memories; the brain shapes our speech, skills, thoughts, feelings, and at the same time, it is this part of our body that we probably tend to neglect the most.

This intricate web of nerves and nerve endings, an organ that has emerged over hundreds of years of evolution, somehow manages to control all the systems of our body, while at the same time processing a powerful stream of new information and acquiring new skills.

Many people take their brain for granted. They quite sincerely believe that mental abilities are given from birth and that nothing can be done to improve them. This book aims to demonstrate clearly that this is not the case and that your mental potential can be greatly increased and your brain used to its full potential.

Gymnasts, for example, hone their skills by constant training. We give exercises for the mind, by performing which, you can train your brain in the same way as muscles are trained.

We did not intend to write a textbook on the structure of the brain and how it works, but sometimes it is very important to understand how the brain works. Therefore, we devoted several pages to its device in the second chapter.

"A little about the human brain". In the rest of the book you will find a large number of entertaining tasks and exercises in all major areas of mental activity: creative thinking, memory, logical thinking, quick wits and intelligence. The exercises are selected and presented in such a way that the classes bring you pleasure.

By exploring new areas, by being interested in the unknown, by self-education, one can expand

horizons of your mind. We hope that this book will be a kind of starting point on this path.

Creative thinking

The concept of "creative thinking" covers the thought processes that lead to solutions, the creation of unusual and original ideas, generalizations, theories, as well as art forms.

For many of us, creativity remains undeveloped throughout our lives; we cannot know what exactly we are capable of until we try our hand. We all have creativity

(right) hemisphere of the brain, and therefore, we are all capable of creativity. Of course, someone is born with the makings of a great composer, someone is an artist, and someone is an athlete. Yes, young Mozart

started writing music when he was four years old. But Anna Marie Robertson (1860-1961), also called Granny Moses, was an American self-taught artist who spent most of her life as a farmer's wife. Only when she was already over seventy did she suddenly begin to paint rural landscapes for her own pleasure. By the time she was eighty years old, her first author's exhibition opened at the Saint-Étienne Gallery in New York, and a career as an artist opened up before her. In this case, the old adage “you never know what you are capable of until you try” turned out to be more true than ever.

Educators and teachers are faced with the task of revealing and supporting the creative abilities of all young people. However, this is not always possible. Often in our age of narrow specialization, one talent of a person is directed into the mainstream of a certain professional activity, and all other hidden talents of youth fade away without being developed. However, each of us, through new leisure activities or new hobbies, can use the potential of our brain, which is often used very little.

Many of us are well enough "equipped" to realize this potential: after all, our brain has received and processed a huge amount of information during our lifetime. In music, for example, there is improvisation - the art of creating a work directly in the process of its performance. To learn how to improvise, a musician must first master the basics of the style in which he is going to play. Having mastered the generally accepted norms of style, the musician, as it were, accumulates

head a library of actionable chord progressions and melodies, which become the starting point for improvisation. These reserves of memory connect his music with cultural heritage, but he always has the opportunity for spontaneous creativity.

CREATIVE THINKING TEST

1. Study this series of figures, find a pattern and continue this series in accordance with the found pattern. You have 30 minutes to complete ten tasks.

For example:

Answer:

Explanation: Four circles and two squares are divided into four parts. The black sector in each shape moves one segment clockwise.

This task will test your imagination and your dominant brain.

2. Take matches and nine coins. From matches, lay four pens for piglets on the table. coins

Your piglets. Arrange the piglets in the pens so that each has an odd number of piglets.

3. This is a task of imagination. There is such a game: some incomprehensible situation is told to the players, and you need to find out from the host what is happening. You can ask questions to which the facilitator answers "yes", "no" or, in extreme cases, "no answer".

We present several such mysterious situations. Use your imagination and find explanations for how situations like this could happen. At the end of the book you will find our explanation options. However, our answers do not have to match yours. The more answers you can come up with for each situation, the better.

(one). London. A man sits in a restaurant and reads a newspaper he has just bought. In the breaking news section, he reads: "A passenger on a cruise ship in the Caribbean fell overboard and died." He immediately realizes that a murder has taken place.

(2). A dead man lies next to the cactus. A piece of paper is pinned to the cactus.

(3). A man is driving in a car on an empty road. Suddenly, the car loses control and crashes into a lamppost. At the noise of the accident, people immediately come running and find the driver lying dead on the steering wheel with a crossbow arrow in his back.

(4). A man lies in bed in a hotel room. He cannot sleep. He picks up the phone, dials the number without saying anything, hangs up and immediately falls asleep.

(5). A man is walking along the road, and a pebble has fallen into his sandal; he stops and, leaning against a post, tries to shake it out. His head is lowered down. Suddenly another person

rushes to him, pushes him with all his strength, and breaks his arm.

4. A rebus is a way to encrypt a word in the form of a picture. Rebus is a Latin word that literally means "through objects." You can encrypt a word or a whole phrase as a picture.

Here are four sample puzzles. To solve such riddles, you can not do without creative thinking.

1. Bear (i.e. Honey in E d)

2. Wrong behavior (venidepoe is an anagram of the word "behavior")

3. Bone

4. Short vowel (voice. - short form of vowel)

In this task, we do not set you time limits. Our goal is to test creative thinking. If you can't solve some puzzles, come back to them later and look at them again with a fresh look. Very often, the answer comes by itself, because your brain subconsciously continues to work on the task, even when you are busy with something else.

5. Here you have to interpret the figures below. The more surprising your explanation, the better. Suggest this game to your friends. You can make the most incredible assumptions - they will be the most creative. For example, the first thing that comes to mind when looking at drawing number one is a tiled roof. Or...? Turn on your imagination and see what comes of it (20 drawings).

6. The next task is based on a test for abstract thinking. The subject is asked to come up with a way to use some household item in a completely new, unknown capacity.

In ten minutes, come up with twelve new ways to use your comb.

Strictly observe the time limits, otherwise your score may be considered invalid.

1 ....................

2...................

3....................

4..................

5....................

6....................

7....................

8....................

9....................

10...................

11....................

12...................

7. We encounter symmetrical patterns every day, both in nature and in everyday life - they can be seen on wallpaper or on tiles.

For our experiment, we created a symmetrical pattern based on hexagons.

Take a close look at it and fill in the gaps in it so as to restore our pattern.

8. Call on the imagination to help and complete each next drawing so that something recognizable comes out.

You have twenty minutes to complete this task.

9. One farmer has 11 trees growing on his land (T). He has 22 cows, and he needs to divide his land into 11 separate pens so that 2 cows are placed in each and so that they have one tree to protect from the sun. How can he subdivide his land using as few fences as possible, so that there is only one tree in each paddock?

10. Make four cuts of the same length and divide this figure into 9 parts so that later you can add 4 identical squares from them.

This is a rather difficult task - a hint is given on page 106.

11. We bring to your attention a well-known paradox, the main purpose of which is to stimulate creative thinking and learn to think philosophically. So let's say I retire next week and I'm supposed to be presented with a gift on that occasion. But I do not know what day of the week it will be given to me, and this is the surprise. I only know that I should be given a gift, but I do not know on which day this will happen: on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday or Friday.

It is worth thinking about this: can this gift even be given to me, provided that it should be a surprise? I know that they won't give it to me on Friday. Friday is the last day you can give this gift. Therefore, there will be no surprise then. So, the gift can be handed to me on Thursday. But then Thursday becomes the last day when they can surprise me, therefore, on this day, the gift will not be a surprise for me, and, therefore, it will not be presented to me that day. If you think logically in the same way further, then no day of the week, including Monday, is suitable. And then it remains to come to the conclusion that the gift will never be given to me. Are there any other ways to solve this paradox?

At first, when we read this paradox, the arguments seem strange to say the least. However, like all paradoxes, it is designed to mislead, and the more you think about it, the more difficult it is to maintain clarity of thought.

12. These puzzles are designed to test the level of creative thinking in tasks where you need to correctly cut an object and put the pieces together so that you get a different geometric figure. With each task, the level of difficulty increases.

(one). Cut out a hexagon from cardboard and cut it as shown in the picture. Fold the resulting parts so that you get a square.

(2). Cut the star and fold the resulting parts into a hexagon.

(3). Make two more cuts the same length as before, to make five pieces. From the resulting parts, make an equilateral triangle.

(4). Cut the square into five pieces so that you can fold the octagon. (On the page

106 we give a hint for this problem.)

(5). Cut the cross into five pieces and make a square out of them.

Memory

Memory is the ability of the brain to store information and retrieve it. It is thanks to this ability of our brain that we are able to think and learn.

Although the mechanisms of memory have not yet been fully explored, it is absolutely known that the more often we use memory, the better it works.

Psychologists distinguish four mechanisms of memory: recall, superficial recall, recognition, and relearning. The names of the first three mechanisms speak for themselves, and the fourth is that when you need to learn material that we have already encountered, the memorization process is easier than when we are dealing with a completely new one.

material.

Memory is divided into: immediate (sensory), short-term and long-term.

Sensory memory remembers every second events, such as noises or movements of other people, and captures it in the form of pictures. Much of what she remembers is of no interest and is quickly forgotten.

Short-term memory stores memories, for example, about where, when and with whom you need to meet in the near future, what needs to be done and by what time.

Long-term memory remembers things like phone numbers, people's names, addresses, summer plans, and memories from long past, such as childhood.

We don't know much about how the brain stores information. Some scientists

believe that memories are stored only in certain parts of the brain, others - that the entire brain is used to store memories. It is believed that for each type of memorization, short-term and long-term, there are own mechanisms and that if the information does not move from short-term memory to long-term, it will be irretrievably lost.

Different parts of the brain perform different memory functions. Animal studies suggest that the hippocampus and thalamus seem to be involved in motor memory, and the amygdala and thalamus in emotional memory.

Research has also shown that motor skills are "remembered" apart from intellectual ones.

When we see something or mentally imagine something, this memory is stored in our brain as a picture, like a negative, and it can be recalled again and again. So

All episodes of our life are “photographed”, although many of these “pictures” turn out to be unnecessary for us. Sometimes even the most insignificant events can leave a deep imprint in the memory and be recalled from memory in the blink of an eye.

However, all scientists, without exception, agree on one thing: although our memories cannot be corrected, memory itself can be improved: train it, learn more by heart, repeat what was once learned, re-learn what was forgotten. There are special techniques for mnemonic memorization, that is, memorization based on associations, and many other techniques.

The tests that we present to your attention are aimed not only at testing your memory, but also at developing it and learning to concentrate on the subject being studied.

MEMORY TEST

1. Take 20 seconds to look at these figures, wait 2 minutes, then turn to page 36 and answer the questions.

2. Take 20 seconds to look at these shapes, wait 3 minutes, then turn to page 36 and answer the questions.

3. You have two minutes to study these figures. Then immediately start answering the questions on page 36.

4. Thanks to this exercise, you will be able to check if you can memorize words in pairs using associations. You have 15 minutes to learn 12 pairs of words. Mentally connect these pairs of words with some associations. Then answer the questions on page 36.

CHEESE BRUSH APPLE PHONE

MINEFIELD COTTON

WOOD HANDCuffS

BUTTERFLY BRIEFCASE

WATER BOOK

MAIL BALL

FIELD SPIN YACHT CHAIR

VASE NEEDLE WINDmill SAND

BRICK ZEBRA

5. Study the shapes for 15 seconds, then immediately answer the questions on page 38.

6. Look at the drawing for 2 minutes and answer the questions on page 38.

7. You have 20 seconds at your disposal, during which you must consider this drawing; then answer the questions on page 39.

8. Try to memorize the following text in 60 seconds. Wait another 60 seconds without looking at the text and answer the questions on page 39.

In the prayer "Our Father" - 66 words. Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address has 286 words. The Declaration of Independence has 1,322 words, and the State Law for the Sale of Cabbage has 26,911 words.

Newspaper "National Review".

9. Take 90 seconds to look at and study this drawing. Wait 2 minutes and answer the questions

listed on page 40.

10. You have a minute to study this table with numbers; after one minute, answer the questions on page 40.

11. Here are 20 items from everyday life. Try to memorize as many items as possible in 3 minutes; then turn to page 40 and answer the questions.

12. Try to remember as many of these fifty words as you can. After 5 minutes, turn to page 41 and answer the questions.

ANIMAL BIRD FRUIT VEGETABLE COIN Llama Grape Rutabaga Ruble Walrus Finch Orange Beet Piastre Elephant Tit Pear Carrot Zloty Cow Weaver Plum Pea Brand Lynx Swallow Apple Cucumber Lyra

Puzzle

Puzzles are not only entertaining, but also useful; in addition, they perfectly develop thinking. The best puzzles are tasks that do not require special knowledge, that is, those that any person can solve not with special formulas, but with their own intellectual potential. Let's take this task:

You have written four letters and inscribed four envelopes for them. You put letters in envelopes at random. What is the percentage chance that only three letters ended up in their envelopes?

At first glance, the task seems very difficult, but this is only if we look for special formulas to solve it. But here they are not needed, and everyone can find the correct answer by simple logical thinking.

Answer: the probability that only three letters will end up in the right envelopes is zero. If three out of four letters ended up in their own envelopes, there is only one letter and one envelope for it, and therefore the right letter will also fall into this envelope.

Of course, there is a certain difference between problems and puzzles. The puzzle has an author and a solution that he knows. For example, if you ask what number is 35 less than itself multiplied by six, or, for example, ask someone to rearrange the letters in words

"slave" and "moon" and get the name of the city, it will be a puzzle.

Problems arise in the process of our life. They are not invented for their own sake, and, of course, they do not have solutions that are initially known to anyone. They don't have a correct answer - there are only many different solutions, some of which are better, while others are worse.

Some people like solving problems more, while others like puzzles. Problem solving has practical benefits for life; by solving puzzles, we train our brain, learn to think, and this may turn out to be useful in life when we really have to solve real problems.

In this section, we have placed 50 puzzles on different kinds of thinking; the most difficult of them

we have provided hints. At the end of the book are answers to all problems with detailed explanations.

Before you get started with the problems, take a look at the two puzzles that we offer as an example to show how you need to think in order to solve such problems.

Example 1

My wife usually leaves work at 4:30 pm, enters the store and catches the five-hour train that arrives in our town at exactly 5:30 pm. Every day I drive to the station by 5:30 pm to meet my wife. Last week, she was released 5 minutes earlier than usual, and decided to immediately go to the station without going to the store. Therefore, she managed to catch the train, which departed at 16.30, and at our station she was already at 17.00. I was not there yet, and she went home on foot. I picked her up from the house at the usual time, met her on the way, and we arrived home 12 minutes earlier than usual. Q: How long did my wife walk before I met her?

Answer: 24 minutes

Explanation: There are two easy ways to solve this problem.

1. My wife was at our station 30 minutes early. As a result, we saved 12 minutes. Thirty minus twelve gives us eighteen minutes. If we add half of the time saved by us - 6 minutes to 18 minutes, we get 24 minutes.

2. You can subtract half of the saved time, 6 minutes, from the total time difference, 30

minutes = 24 minutes.

However, even if you do not know these formulas, such a problem can be solved by simple logical thinking. I always leave home at the same time and we know that I leave before 17.30. Since we saved 12 minutes, this is the time I usually spend to get to the station from the place where I met my wife and back, because this is the distance I did not have to overcome. So it takes me 6 minutes to get from where I met my wife to the station and another 6 minutes to get back. So, I met my wife 6 minutes earlier than usual, that is, at 17.24. Therefore, she walked exactly 24 minutes from the station.

Example 2

The woman has two children. What is the probability that both children are boys?

Explanation: The simple formula for solving this problem is 50 x 50 = 2500, which is 25%. However, this formula can be derived independently, by logical reasoning. Let's draw a diagram like this:

Now multiply the numbers following the arrows where the boys are.

50 x 50 = 2500 or 25%.

If we want to know the probability that the children are a boy and a girl, we need to multiply the probability of those options where a boy and a girl are obtained. Since there are two such options, you need to multiply in both cases and add the results.

We hope that our examples are a good illustration of how to solve such problems, and that they will help you think in the right way. The main thing to remember is that sometimes there are several paths leading to the same correct answer.

Puzzle

1. In the given series of words, move one word so that the sequence is in alphabetical order.

Wits

Intelligence is the ability to think quickly and react instinctively to certain situations. All tasks in this chapter are for quick thinking, and it is very important to meet the allotted time, and you will not only have to think quickly, but also be able to keep your cool in conditions when time is limited.

Time trials are usually used to test a person's ability to successfully solve a certain number of problems under time constraints. The opposite of such tests are tests of mental endurance, in which the complexity of tasks gradually increases, but the test subject is not limited in time.

The items on our test are not particularly difficult in themselves, but when they are given in aggregate and given only a certain amount of time to solve them, the brain needs to be able to adjust in order to develop mental flexibility and focus to the extent that will ensure a high final score.

INTELLIGENCE TESTS

1. You have 25 minutes to answer 10 questions, the difficulty of which will gradually increase.

(one). Which letter is two spaces below the letter to the left of the letter three spaces above Y?

(2). Which letter is above the letter to the right of the letter, which is two cells below that letter,

which is to the left of the letter M?

(3). Which letter is two cells to the left of the letter that is three cells above that letter

which is located immediately above the letter to the left of the letter I?

(4). What letter is in the second cell to the right of the letter that is exactly in the middle between the letters D and X?

(5). Which letter is two cells above the letter to the left of the letter three cells below the letter two cells to the right of the letter E?

(6). What letter is under the letter that is in the middle between the letter that is under the letter J and the letter that is above the Y?

(7). Which letter is three cells to the right of the letter located under the letter located two cells to the right of the letter that is two cells below the letter I?

(eight). Which letter is two cells above the letter to the right of the letter below the letter two cells to the left of the letter F?

(nine). Which letter is two cells to the left of the letter that is under the letter that is two cells to the right of the letter that is in the middle between the letter to the left of the letter C and the letter that is two cells to the left of the letter H?

(ten). Which letter is two cells to the right of the letter that is three cells above the letter,

standing to the left of the letter that is above the letter, standing three cells to the left of the letter I?

2. In each line with numbers, skip the repeated numbers, and write the rest in reverse order. You have 6 minutes to complete this task.

For example: 4723869764 = 9832

a) 9482374827981

i) 98243159752168

j) 29374271824781

k) 1974384569172

d) 14631296847235

m) 861932825786243

e) 921638427952

m) 728361751692483

e) 746983471892

o) 6379132758462

g) 1524693521725

n) 9832176854721638

h) 743892176521387

3. In this task, you will have to find an extra figure in each sequence. You have 20 minutes to complete this task.

For example: (picture)

Figure C is redundant because it is the only figure with straight sides, and all other figures in the row have rounded sides.

(9)

Regroup these sequences of numbers in such a way that first all even numbers go in ascending order, and then all odd numbers in descending order. You have 4 minutes to complete this task.

For example: 76524 = 24675

5. This task should test your ability to operate with words and the ability to complete a table in the form of a crossword puzzle. You must place all the words in this crossword puzzle: 30 minutes are given for this task. Three words are already in place. (They stand in the crossword puzzle: horizontally 20 - DOL, 22 - BOW, vertically 18 - ERA.)

SPARK, STREAM, ONAGER, QUARK,

HELMET, OVAL, CROWN, WALL, GLASS, WAREHOUSE, COMPANY, METAL, ATHLETE, AVRAL, SALARY, MAVR, VALLEY, NITROGEN, ACRYLIC, DELIVATION, SHELL, CLOCK, LYRIC, ROLLER, SIDOR, LOCATION, SCOREBOARD, OTARA, OCEAN, FROST, ATOLL, FILE. SWAMP, JASPER, TEST,

6. This task is performed on time. It consists of 10 questions and is designed to test your ability to think logically and calculate mentally. The questions themselves are not difficult, but to achieve good results, you need ingenuity and speed, since your time is limited. You have 15 minutes to complete ten tasks.

(one). Find two identical figures.

(2). If there are 90 liters of water in a full barrel, how many liters will remain in the barrel if we pour out 60%

all the water?

(3). The volume of the cube is 1 m x 1 m x 50 cm. How many such cubes will fit in a cube with a volume of 4mx3mx3m?

(4). What is the product of these numbers? 1U8*2/z

(2). The largest even number and the smallest cube;

(3). The smallest prime and the largest odd number;

(4). The smallest square and the smallest even number;

(5). The largest even and largest prime numbers;

(6). The largest cube and the smallest prime number;

(7). The smallest square and the smallest cube;

(eight). The smallest odd and largest even numbers;

(nine). The largest prime number and the largest square;

(ten). The largest odd number and the largest cube.

The shape of the letters is such that they always have a certain number of unfinished lines. For example:

B \u003d 0 P \u003d 1 Yu \u003d 2 E \u003d 3 X \u003d 4

Find the meaning of these expressions. You have 10 minutes for this task.

(one). N + P = ? (6). N:L=?

(2). K-M = ? (7).YxD=?

(3).V + D = ? (eight). E: Y = ?

(4).AxC = ? (9).FxO = ?

(5). H-B = ? (10).T-L = ?

9. Study this crossword puzzle and answer 10 questions. You have 10 minutes.

(one). How many letters H are in the crossword puzzle?

(2). How many words in the crossword puzzle with only one but repeated vowel?

(3). How many letters E are in the crossword puzzle?

(4). How many U's are there?

(5). How many six letter words are there?

(6). How many place names are in the crossword puzzle?

(7). How many letters U are in the crossword puzzle?

(eight). How many 10 letter words are in the crossword puzzle?

(nine). How many A's are there?

(ten). How many 5-letter words are in the crossword puzzle?

10. In front of you is a square in which seven words are arranged in the form of a “snail” twisted inside the square, and each next word begins with the same letter that the previous one began with. Each letter here has two coordinates. For example: the letter C is in the squares Al, E7 and G6. Carefully study the "snail" and answer the questions; You have 5 minutes to do this.

Write all the coordinates of the following 8 letters:

Intelligence testing

Intelligence is the ability to learn or understand, which is inherent in all people. Some people have it to a greater extent, others to a lesser extent, but in each person this ability remains practically unchanged throughout life. It is thanks to the intellect that we are able to act correctly and learn from our mistakes.

In psychology, intelligence is defined as the ability to perceive knowledge and use it in other, fundamentally new situations. In testing conditions, it is possible to determine how successfully a person adapts to unusual situations.

Any test that attempts to measure intelligence is an intelligence quotient test, or IQ test. Such tests usually consist of blocks of progressively more difficult tasks, designed for the average level.

IQ stands for intelligence quotient. The coefficient, in turn, is the result of dividing one value by another. It is generally accepted that intelligence quotient is an inherited characteristic and that in adults it practically does not change with age. Up to about 13 years of age, intelligence develops rapidly, from 13 to 18 years there is a slight slowdown in the rate of development, and after 18 years no major changes are observed.

When measuring the IQ of a child, he is asked to take a standard test for intelligence, and for each age the level of performance of the test and the score will be different. If a 10-year-old child performs a task at the level of a 12-year-old child, his IQ is calculated as follows:

Intelligence testing

This method, however, is not applicable to adults: their IQ is estimated relative to the average score - one hundred percent. Their results are either above or below this norm, in accordance with a predetermined scoring system, and the distribution of IQ (among the population) appears on the graph as a fairly constant final curve (?).

Although IQ is a hereditary factor that does not change throughout life, IQ test pass rates can be improved. That is the goal we are pursuing in this and other similar books.

IQ tests are usually designed and administered with the assumption that test-takers know nothing about testing methods in general and know very little about the methods on which questions in such tests are built. Therefore, if a person has an idea of ​​what questions they can ask him, and if he knows how to approach solving test problems, his results will be much higher.

What does life look like for the average person who spends most of their time at work? Deadlines, business meetings and communication with clients, day after day is the same. All this fuss mercilessly sucks energy and burns thoughts about creativity with napalm. But what is there, there is no energy left even for work affairs. Three simple creativity exercises that you can do anywhere will save you. They take little time, and the result, they say, is simply magnificent. I suggest you check it out for yourself.

Exercise #1: Handwriting

What is good: relieves stress, removes from a creative stupor.

This task is based on a well-known technique described by Julia Cameron in The Artist's Way. The original version suggests writing three pages of text every morning about anything. Its artistic merits do not matter, you just spill a stream of consciousness onto paper. This frees the brain from random thoughts and experiences, awakening the ability to create.

It is not at all necessary to allocate time in the morning, you can take 10 minutes for this at the workplace. The main thing is that you write by hand, so more parts of the brain will be involved. Even if the enthusiasm is only enough to repeat the phrase “I hate this useless garbage” for all three pages, the brain will be grateful for the respite.

Exercise #2: Making a Haiku

What is good: arranges thoughts.

The next task is simply amazing in situations where you start work on a new project and try to get to the bottom of it. Each task can ultimately be reduced to three questions:

What do you want to say?

What is the key idea?

What is the point here?

The answers do not always lie on the surface, often they are even difficult to formulate.

To clean up your head, try composing haiku. Let me remind you that this is a genre of Japanese poetry, a distinctive feature of which is a special system for constructing a poem. There are a total of 17 syllables in a classic haiku, and they are usually divided into lines in the following order: 5 - 7 - 5. Write about what inspires you at the moment, about things you want to understand, or just thoughts about to the current project.

Exercise number 3: draw with both hands

What's good: Helps to have fun and comprehend Zen.

From the outside, the process may look rather silly and funny, but it relaxes with a bang. By drawing with both hands at the same time, you stimulate both hemispheres of the brain. Take a marker in your right and left hand and draw whatever you like on a piece of paper.

An important point: the drawings made by each hand should repeat each other in a mirror image. Perfectionism is not required here, focus on the movement and the process itself, and not on the final result.

And how do you slow down your creative thinking? Share your tips in the comments.

We have already considered past articles, and today we will talk about such an important concept as "Creative thinking".
We often hear the phrase: "Creative idea, I am sure of its success." The question arises, what are creative ideas, where do they come from, and how to develop the ability to think creatively?

Creative thinking is a necessity for a businessman who wants to create a promising, interesting project, stand out among many similar companies, become unique and recognizable. But not only in business, creative thinking will be useful. In everyday life, in personal relationships, in your career - everywhere try to think outside the box, because this will allow you to open up new opportunities, go along roads unknown to the village.
Today we will tell you about a few exercises, the daily performance of which will help you to look more creatively at what is happening. There is nothing complicated in these exercises, everything is elementary, and in time you will spend no more than 15 minutes a day.
To be honest, we try not to write about what we have never tried ourselves. All these tips have been tried in practice, and after a few weeks the result became noticeable. New ideas, interesting solutions, not a standard vision of a way out of this situation.

The First Creative Thinking Method: Play Changeling

Our first piece of advice is called “shifters”. When you walk down the street, or ride in transport, then try to read the ad, signs, names of stores ahead of time. For example, the pizzeria "Naples", and you read "Lopaen". It will be hard at first, but the brain also needs to be trained. A few days and you will be able to read short words without much effort, then longer ones, then phrases, and eventually long sentences.
What is it for? First of all, you train the brain, let it understand that there is more than one way to see the situation, there are alternatives, and these alternatives need to be noticed. When a problem arises and you need to find a way out of it, your thinking will no longer resist non-standard, incomprehensible solutions.

Morning starts in the evening

Morning starts in the evening - another interesting way to develop creative thinking. We all know that reading books has a good effect on the development of mental abilities. By the way, not the information itself, but the process of reading. And in order to develop creative thinking, you need to read creatively. Try to start reading the book from the end, and even from the bottom up. It turns out that all events will go from the climax to the beginning.
What is it for? Thinking creatively is thinking outside the box. Reading the book from the end, you get used to the fact that there are absolutely incredible solutions. It would seem that everything should be completely different (after all, we are used to established norms), but in fact there are other options. When you read backwards, you think the same way. For the brain, this type of thinking is not normal, but it will quickly accept it, and will gladly use it in everyday life.

There is something that is not

This exercise is one of my favorites. When you go to work, to study or somewhere else, that is the time to think. Try to spend it usefully, practice creative thinking. The essence of this method is that you must invent something that does not exist. Think of some kind of animal (for example, Leopandyr), then describe it, how it looks, where it lives, what it does, what it eats. If it’s hard with animals, then you can fantasize about female and male names. Think of things that don't exist in nature.
What is it for? It's often hard to come up with something that you haven't come across before. Our brain tries to use already well-known images, names, functions of objects. But we need to rebuild, teach him to abstract from all this, to concentrate on more interesting, little-known facts.

Kalyaki-malaki

In childhood, when we drew something unusual, fantasized, creative, we called such a drawing “kalyaki-malaki”. For adults, for the development of creative thinking, it is also useful to chat and paint. Take a sheet of paper, draw something unusual, give it a name, think about where this item can be used, what properties it has. Believe me, this process is incredibly addictive. In general, creativity, and especially drawing, develops your non-standard thinking very well, helps to break out of the standard world.

Yes, no, probably

The essence of the next exercise is to come up with phrases with words that have the opposite meaning. For example, hard fluff, a tall dwarf, a square ball, cold boiling water, and the like.
What is it for? Thus, you learn to perceive reality not in a standard way, to go beyond the usual. We all understand that a dwarf cannot be tall, but creative thinking lies in coming up with something unusual, non-standard, something that will be of interest to many.

Words are not what they seem

Take any word and imagine that it is an abbreviation. And now try to decipher each letter, and even so that everything logically fits into a sentence. For example, the word "summer". Let's decipher: Light Raccoon Tramples Sawdust. The point is clear. At first it will be hard, but over time the brain will get used to such games and will do everything automatically.

Common Unusual

Every day we use dozens of items, and we are already accustomed to the fact that they perform a certain function. But this is not enough, you need to think creatively, develop unusual abilities in yourself. Imagine something mundane, like a chair, and then come up with 10 ways to use it. But immediately discard the standard ones like sit, stand, throw. Think big, don't stop at one thing. The train of thought can be like this: the chair is made of parts, which means you can take it apart, you can make something new out of the resulting one, what? For example, a stand, and if you remove the back, there will be a small table. And also it is wooden, then you can make a fire.
In general, the idea is clear, then get creative. Thus, you will learn to see the unusual in ordinary things, you will be able to find non-standard applications for what you use daily.

Stimulate the flow of thoughts

A creative idea never comes just like that. Of course, there is a meager chance of insight, but, as a rule, thoughts need to be stimulated to achieve maximum effect. It's not that hard to learn this. Always make associations. Take a word, think about what you associate it with, and so on. Spend no more than 5 minutes a day doing this. And at the moment when you need a creative idea, the brain will be ready to give out a number of associations, come up with something new, not ordinary, not standard.

Edible and non-edible

This way of developing creative thinking is also good. Take a sheet of paper. Divide it into two columns. Write any noun at the top. In the right column, write down 10 properties that are suitable for the written word, and on the left, those that are not.
For example, take the word "shoes". On the right we write - beautiful, shiny, leather, etc., and on the left - sweet, thick, high-calorie, and a dozen more unusual characteristics.

director himself

And the last exercise that can develop creative thinking is that every time you see something interesting, then imagine that this is a picture. Your task will be to name the picture.
For example, you see a young couple kissing on the street. Such a picture can be called "Emotion of the cosmic self." It is very important that the name is not standard, such as "kiss" or "love".

Psychological games

for the development of creativity(creative thinking)

Game "Show the concept"

Theatrical creative game on teams. Here, as in all team games, it is clearly shown who copes with leadership and creativity, and who is simply a performer, and sometimes a ballast for the group. The team is given a concept and the task is to show it in real time with movement, sound, interaction. Using yourself, your bodies, movements, voice, any props and, most importantly, creative possibilities. It should not be just an illustration, but a joint implementation of some team ideas and thoughts. Preparation time 15 min. Approximately 1 minute for demonstration.

List of concepts:

• Hive.
• Clock.
• Fountain.
• Battle of Borodino.
• Samovar.
• Wedding.
• Football.
• Universe.
• Dinosaur.

Game "Search for common properties"

Children are offered two words that are little related to each other.

For example: a dish and a boat, a pencil and charcoal, chalk and flour, a nesting doll and a designer, a tin can and a cup, etc.

In 10 minutes, the child should write as many common features as possible for these items. If the parents deal with the child individually, then they must also complete this task in order to then discuss the results with the child, i.e. common properties of the pair of items they found.

Answers can be standard: in the example “dish and boat”, such general properties as “man-made”, “have depth” can be named, but it is very important to find as many of these features as possible. Unusual answers are especially valuable, allowing you to see the proposed words in a completely new light.

In group work, it is very important to listen to all the answers of the guys. The game is won by one of the students who has a list of common features more, longer. When discussing these features with children, attention should be paid to the characteristics of these features, how significant or insignificant they are for these items, i.e. - secondary. This work is necessary in order for children to learn to discover the connections between objects, and also to understand very clearly what the essential and non-essential features of objects are.

Zoo game

Acting game. 7-8 people participate, everyone chooses any animal for himself: a sheep, a horse, a pig, a cat, a dog, a crocodile, a platypus, a jackal in winter, a deer during the mating season, etc. Further acquaintance: each in a circle expressively demonstrates to the rest the characteristic movement of this animal. After that, in turn, you must first show "yourself", and then any other "animal" present. This "animal" gets a move, shows itself and then another animal. Etc. Then you can declare a "superzoo". This is when all the animals are shown as exaggerated and bright as possible!

You can play right through. Made a mistake in the transfer of the move - dropped out of the game.

Exercise "Rhyming Names"

Participants need to compose a couplet in their name, which begins with the words: “My name is ...”

Example:

• My name is Nikita, mosquitoes love me!
• My name is Nina, I came from the store!
• My name is Sasha, my porridge burned down!
• My name is Nastya, hello from me to everyone!
• My name is Rita, everything is watered in the garden!

Exercise "Writer"

Target : development of speech, children's vocabulary, thinking and creativity. Can be used as an icebreaker for adult training.

Progress : Three words are given. For example, a table, a watermelon, a wagon. It is necessary to come up with as many sentences as possible, in each of which all three words would be used. Words can be changed in any way.

Exercise "Find a Pair"

Target : Development of predictive capabilities and intuition; formation among group members of an attitude towards mutual understanding.

Exercise progress : A sheet of paper is attached to each participant with a pin on their back. The name of a fairy-tale hero or a literary / historical character who has his own pair is written on it. Let's say: Crocodile Gena and Cheburashka, Ilf and Petrov, Daedalus and Icarus, etc. Each participant must find their “half” by interviewing the group. At the same time, it is forbidden to ask direct questions, for example: “What is written on my sheet?” Questions can only be answered with “yes” and “no”. Participants disperse around the room and talk to each other.

Game "Fortunately... Unfortunately..."

Target : development of imagination and creativity.

Time spending: 30 minutes.

materials : small ball.

Players have to compose a story. Each participant comes up with his own proposal, which must necessarily begin with the words “Fortunately” or “Unfortunately” (alternately).

Whoever is ready to be first gets the ball. After finishing the sentence, he passes the ball to another participant, and the story continues.

The length of the story is not set in advance. Any player can decide to end it if they see fit.

The game can be played in different ways. You can start it yourself or give the ball to the player who, in your opinion, is ready to take the initiative. If you want to give group members more confidence, you can ask them if they have any themes in mind around which to unfold the story.

Possible options:

• The group was lost on a desert island.
• Odysseus enters Red Square.
• Vasya and Masha open a toy store.
• The boy fell in love with the girl.
• Two parents are arguing over birthday gifts for their son (daughter).

Exercise "Lace"

The group becomes in a narrow circle and stretches their arms forward. The trainer ties shoelaces in random order to the brushes. The task of the group is to unravel. At the same time, you can't talk. You can invent all sorts of sound signals, gestures.

Verbal communication is prohibited.

After the exercise is completed, a discussion is held: each of the group shares their impressions, expresses their opinion about the work of the group, for example, why it did not work right away to do something that was successful, etc.

Exercise for managers "The Princess and the Peasant"

Target : encourage people to think creatively.

Group size : from 5 to 15 people.

Conditions : cool room. You will need one copy of the story text for each participant.

Procedure:

1. Tell a story about a princess and a peasant.
2. Give each participant a copy of the story and allow them to discuss the problem for as long as they like - most likely it will take 5-10 minutes.
3. Offer your own answer to the riddle, but if someone else thinks differently, so much the better.

Text:

The peasant wanted to marry the princess. The king, her father, was furious and ordered the peasant's head to be cut off for insolence.

But the peasant was handsome, and the queen was kind and wished her daughter happiness, so she persuaded the king to put the peasant to the test. It was decided that he should draw one of the two cards from the box and accept what was written on it as his fate. On one card will be written "wedding", and on the other - "death". If he refuses, he will die. However, the king cheated: he marked both cards with the word "death" and put them in a box.

The queen noticed this and hurried to tell the princess about everything so that she could warn her lover of the impossible task and the terrible danger that hung over him. However, when the time of testing came, the peasant kept calm. He drew a card, after which he married a princess and lived happily after that. The king became so enraged that he died from a blow, and the queen inherited the throne.

How did the peasant escape the trap set by the evil king?

Correct answer: the correct answer is that the peasant pulled out a card and, without looking at it, tore it to shreds, swallowed it and said: “Let the king get another card, and I will know my fate from his hands. If he draws "wedding", I will know that my card was "death", and I will resign myself to my fate. But if the king's card is "death", I will understand that "the wedding" was mine, and I will be able to marry the princess.

Completion : Participants often believe that the king was cheated in one way or another. For example, they will say that the peasant bribed the man who put the cards in the box, or that he asked the princess to replace "wedding" with "death". One participant suggested that the story was an old French fairy tale, and that the queen made the king write the letter "s" which would mean "death" and the king was so stupid that he did not remember that "s" also means "wedding" .

It doesn't really matter what assumptions people make. The sole purpose of the class is to shake their brains a little.

Required time: about 20 minutes.

Exercise "Creative insight"

Target : development of creative thinking and ability to concentrate.

For two minutes, using 14 words (the trainer himself selects the words in advance, the set of words may change in connection with the goals and objectives of the training), come up with a coherent story. You can put words from the list in any order, as well as add any other words.

Exercise "Development of creativity"

Find similarities between the objects below. For example: "What do an elephant and a banana have in common?". Possible answers: thick skin, hot climates, etc. Three minutes are allotted for each pair.

1. What do coffee and the people of Lapland have in common?
2. What do shoelaces and trains have in common?
3. What do mountains and chocolate have in common?
4. What do walking and talking have in common?

The time for conducting and discussing the results is 25-30 minutes.

Exercise "Capital letter"

To stimulate the emergence of creative ideas, you need to learn to look for associations in the usual stream of thoughts.

This exercise can be done anywhere, anytime, with any letter!

Let's start with the letter J. In three minutes, write down as many words as you can that begin with the letter J.

Time spending: 10-15 minutes

Exercise "Transformation"

Target : development of creativity.

For the development of technical intelligence, it is very useful to imagine the design of various machines and devices, as well as the principles of their operation. We offer you a new and effective exercise. If you do not know what the principle of operation of a device is, just invent it!

1. Imagine that you are a sheet of paper, about to go to the copier. With your eyes closed, imagine the process happening to you in as much detail as possible.
2. Imagine that you are the gasoline in the gas tank of a car entering the engine. You turn into an explosive force and move the car. With your eyes closed, imagine the process happening to you in as much detail as possible.
3. Imagine that you are a signal emitted by the transmitter of a local TV station. With your eyes closed, imagine in as much detail as possible your journey from the transmitter antenna to becoming a picture on a television screen.
4. Imagine that you have become your own voice and make the journey from your handset through a communications satellite to your friend's handset on the opposite side of the planet. Close your eyes and visualize your journey in as much detail as possible.

Exercise "Tie the shoelace"

Target : development of creativity.

In two minutes, find as many uses for shoe lace as you can and write them down.

This is an exercise that develops creative intelligence for consideration, you can take any other object: a paper clip, a toothbrush, a pencil, a match ... etc.

The time for conducting and discussing the results is 10 minutes.

Exercise "Read the text"

The smarter a person is, the longer he will be able to read this text, despite the gaps. The context will help him in this.

Exercise "Put a dot"

Target : test for originality of thinking.

Exercise : Here is a sheet of paper with a circle drawn on it. Put a dot where you want! (and no additional comments).

Grade : In order of increasing originality of thinking, the point is located as follows: in the center of the circle, on the same side of the sheet, but in the center of the circle, on the other side of the sheet, on the cut of the sheet (on its edge).

Exercise "Circles"

Target : measuring the properties of intellectual activity.

Age : preschool, primary school.

Rules for holding: Children are asked to draw 20 circles in such a way that complete images (sun, flower, ball, etc.) are obtained.

Work is performed within 7-10 minutes depending on age.

Processing of results: the total number of drawings is counted, the number of topics of drawings is determined. There are supposed to be 9 of them. This is the universe: the sun, the moon, the planet. Nature: flowers, trees, animals. Science and technology: globe, glasses, car, wheels, etc. A man, an image of parts of his body: head, ears, eyes. Life: food, clothing, household items. Folk art, fabulous images (kolobok, snow woman, Cheburashka, etc.). Sports, sports equipment: rings, rackets, discs, etc. Economy: coins… Art, any decorations: beads, toys, medals, etc.

The flexibility of thinking is determined by the number of drawings, the total amount of points.

Originality is measured by the sum of points for original drawings. Point system: 1 point - the pattern is found in half of the children and more often; 2 points - the pattern is found in less than half of the group; 3 points - the drawing is found in the singular.

Exercise "UFO"

Target : development of imagination, activation of attention, thinking and speech.

Age : junior school.

Equipment : paper and colored pencils.

Game progress : - Guys, today you will draw an alien. In order to draw it, first think about how it will be. Turn on all your imagination.

Children are given about 15-20 minutes to draw. After each child talks about his character, where he lives, what he eats, how he interacts with others, about his qualities.

This exercise can be used for psychodiagnostic purposes, since when talking about his hero, the child projects his own qualities and feelings.

Exercise "Conversation with hands"

Target : to teach to control their actions, the development of imagination.

Age: preschool.

Conduct form: individual.

Rules for holding: For a psychologist, circle the silhouette of the palms of a preschool child on a sheet. Then invite the child to “revive” the palms - draw their eyes, mouth, hats, hairstyles. You can paint each finger with a certain color. After completing this work, you can start a conversation with your fingers, ask: “What is your name?” (maybe the child will come up with his own names with his fingers), “What do you like to do?”, “What do you not like?”, “What are you like?”. At the same time, it must be emphasized that the hands are good, they can do a lot (list what), but sometimes they do not obey their master.

Game Disaster in the Desert

Tasks : to develop the skills of behavior in a discussion, the ability to debate, to be convincing, to study the dynamics of a group dispute on specific material, to discover the traditional mistakes made by people in polemics, to train the ability to highlight the main thing and weed out the “husk”, to see the essential features of objects, to learn to be aware strategic goals and it is to them that tactical steps should be subordinated, etc.

When discussing the results, the facilitator should focus on such aspects as getting feedback from the participants about each other (because of its emotional richness, the game allows you to “turn off” the psychological defense mechanism at least for a while and become yourself - that is why it is effective on the first stages of group work).

Time : at least one and a half hours.

Each participant receives a special form (or draws it according to the instructions of the facilitator).

The facilitator gives the group the following instruction:

From now on, all of you are passengers of an airliner flying from Europe to Central Africa. While flying over the Sahara desert, a fire suddenly broke out on board the aircraft, the engines failed, and the airliner crashed to the ground. You miraculously escaped, but your location is unclear. It is only known that the nearest settlement is located at a distance of about 300 kilometers from you. Under the wreckage of the plane, you managed to find fifteen items that remained intact after the crash.

Your task – Rank these items according to their importance to your salvation. To do this, you need to put the number 1 next to the most important item, the number 2 - the second most important and so on up to the fifteenth, the least important for you. Fill in the first column of the form with numbers. Everyone works independently for fifteen minutes.

List of items:

• Hunting knife.
• Pocket flashlight.
• Flight map of the area.
• Polyethylene raincoat.
• Magnetic compass.
• Parachute red and white.
• A pack of salt.
• Sunglasses for everyone.
• A liter of vodka for everyone.
• Pocket mirror.

After completing the individual ranking, the leader invites the group to break into pairs and rank the same items again within ten minutes already together with the partner (in this case, the second column in the form with the list of items is filled with numbers). The next stage of the game is a general group discussion in order to come to a common opinion on the order of the items, for which at least thirty minutes are allocated.

Observing the work of the participants clearly shows the degree of formation of the skills to organize a discussion, plan their activities, make compromises, listen to each other, argue their point of view, and control themselves. Often unfolding heated disputes-battles, when no one wants to listen to the opinions of others, clearly demonstrate to the participants themselves their incompetence in the field of communication and the need to change their behavior.

At the end of the discussion, the facilitator announces that the game is over, congratulates all participants on a safe rescue and offers to discuss the results of the game. The first question that the facilitator asks all the participants to answer in a circle is the following: “Are you personally satisfied with the results of the discussion that took place? Explain why".

The answers of the participants are necessarily accompanied by reflection, the purpose of which is to comprehend the processes, methods and results of individual and joint activities. The resulting discussion is fueled by the facilitator asking clarifying questions like this:

• What caused your satisfaction (dissatisfaction)? How do you think your discussion was moving in the right direction or not?
• Has a common rescue strategy been developed? What prevented you from taking an active part in the discussion? Do you disagree with the decision? Why didn't you manage to defend your opinion?
• Who most influenced the outcome of the group decision, that is, in fact, turned out to be the leader who managed to lead the group?
• What exactly in the behavior of the leader allowed him to make him listen to himself? At what stage did the leader appear?
• In what ways did other participants seek agreement with their views?
• What behaviors were the least effective?
• What only interfered with the overall work?

How should the discussion be structured in order to reach a common opinion in the fastest way and not infringe on the rights of all participants?

Discussing the results of the game should lead the group to figure out on their own how to organize discussions in the best way, how to avoid rough clashes in an argument and encourage others to accept their opinion. As a rule, during the discussion a very wide range of problems is touched upon: the phases through which almost any discussion passes, the leader and his qualities, effective communication skills, self-presentation skills, etc.

If necessary, the facilitator only helps to more clearly formulate the patterns found by the participants. Self-analysis by the participants of their own behavior, which is enriched by feedback from other members of the group, is of great importance. It depends on the facilitator that this feedback does not turn into a series of mutual accusations, but is constructive and accepted by the participants.

Almost always there is a question about the "correct" answer to the problem of discussion. This answer is given by the moderators, but with the proviso that this is the opinion of foreign experts, with which we have the right to disagree, but are forced to take into account the importance of choosing a rescue strategy for ranking items: either move through the desert to people, or wait for help from rescuers. If in the group during the discussion the question of strategy was practically not raised, then at this stage it is found that some of the participants tacitly meant the first option, while the other part meant the second. This reveals another reason for mutual misunderstanding.

So the answers are:

The option “Wait for rescuers” (by the way, according to experts, is preferable).

• One and a half liters of water for each. In the desert, it is necessary to quench your thirst.
• Pocket mirror. Important for signaling air rescuers.
• Light coat for everyone. Will cover from the scorching sun during the day and from the coolness of the night.
• Pocket flashlight. Also a means of signaling pilots at night.
• Parachute red and white. And a means of covering from the sun, and a signal to rescuers.
• Hunting knife. A weapon for food.
• Polyethylene raincoat. Means for collecting rainwater and dew.
• Hunting rifle with ammunition. It can be used for hunting and for giving a sound signal.
• Sunglasses for everyone. Help protect your eyes from the glare of the sand and the sun's rays.
• Portable gas stove with cylinder. Since you don't have to move, it can be useful for cooking.
• Magnetic compass. It does not matter much, since there is no need to determine the direction of movement.
• Flight map of the area. Not needed, as it is much more important to know where the rescuers are than to determine your location.
• Key to edible animals and plants. In the desert there is not a wide variety of flora and fauna.
• A liter of vodka for everyone. It is permissible to use as an antiseptic for disinfection in case of any injuries. In other cases, it is of little value, since if ingested, it can cause dehydration of the body.
• A pack of salt. It has practically no significance.

Option "Move to people". The importance distribution will have a slightly different form:

• One and a half liters of water for each.
• A pack of salt.
• Magnetic compass.
• Flight map of the area.
• Light coat for everyone.
• Sunglasses for everyone.
• A liter of vodka for everyone.
• Pocket flashlight.
• Polyethylene raincoat.
• Hunting knife.
• Hunting rifle with ammunition.
• Pocket mirror.
• Key to edible animals and plants.
• Parachute red and white.
• Portable gas stove with cylinder.

Clarification of mutual impressions and open exchange of feedback at the first stages of the training are sometimes difficult, and although this game remains useful and effective, it is not able to completely remove the psychological defenses of the participants. To relieve tension at this stage, psycho-gymnastic games with a relaxation orientation are used.

Exercise "Silent and speaking mirror"

The host invites a volunteer to enter the circle, who will “look in the mirror”.

Your task is only to reflect in the "mirror", or rather in two "mirrors", to determine which of the members of the group approached you from behind. These two "mirrors" will be alive. One will be silent: it will be able to explain to you who is behind your back, only with the help of facial expressions and gestures. The second mirror is the speaker. It will explain what kind of person, of course, without naming him. Choose from the group of those two who will become a silent and speaking "mirror".

After the player has made a choice, the facilitator gives the "mirrors" more detailed instructions:

"Mirrors" stand next to the wall. The main player is in front of them. All the other members of the group are located behind him and one by one silently approach him from behind. Reflection by mirrors occurs in turn. At first, a silent “mirror” works. If the main player cannot guess the person standing behind him, then the "talking mirror" enters and pronounces one phrase. If the player again does not guess, then again it is possible in a different way - it reflects a silent "mirror" and so on. The player's task is to guess the person behind his back as quickly as possible.

For "mirrors" there is a certain condition - not to focus only on the image of purely external features of people, and even more so to emphasize some physical characteristics.

The following questions can be discussed:

• Which player needed the fewest mirror "reflections" to determine who was behind him?
• What is the secret of such insight?
• Which member of the group turned out to be the most talented "mirror"? What helped him in this?
• Which of the participants is surprised by how they were reflected by the “mirrors”?
• How did you feel when you saw your reflection?

Autotraining "Magic Forest"

Target : creation of a positive image of "I", knowledge and development of the "I-concept", learning auto-training as a way to change psychological and emotional states, development of perception and creativity.

Required time: 15-20 minutes.

Procedure.

1. The text of immersion in a relaxation state. Take a comfortable position. In this case, it is very important to straighten the spine because it has natural curves. The hands rest freely on the knees so that the thumbs and forefingers do not touch. Tune in to putting aside your emotions and worries for a while. Close your eyes. Let go of any judgments, expectations, and fantasies about what your auto-training experience will turn out to be. Let it take place. Relax your facial muscles. Adjust your breathing so that it becomes even.

Breathe deeply and evenly. Say to yourself: the word "inhale" - when you inhale, and "exhale" - when you exhale. Accompany these words with each inhalation and exhalation. If you find yourself thinking about something, gently remind yourself of the task ahead of you and start saying "inhale - exhale" again.

Focus all your attention on your breath. Feel your lungs filling and leaving the air (focus on the breath for 5 minutes).

Your body begins to gradually relax. You feel the tension in your muscles disappear. With each uttered word, every muscle of the body is more and more filled with a feeling of peace and pleasant lethargy. Your breathing is even and calm. Air freely fills the lungs and leaves them easily. The heart beats clearly, rhythmically. Turn your inner gaze to the fingers of your right hand. The fingertips of the right hand seem to be touching the surface warm water. You feel the pulse in your fingertips. There is a feeling that the hand is gradually immersed in warm water. This magical water washes your right hand, relaxes it and rises up your arm .. Up to the elbow ... Even higher ... Now your entire arm is immersed in pleasant warmth, relaxing ... Fresh renewed blood runs through the veins and arteries of your right hand, giving it rest ... Breathing is even and calm. The heart beats clearly, rhythmically ... And now your inner gaze turns to the fingers of your left hand.

The text above is completely repeated for the left hand. At the end, be sure to give an installation regarding breathing and the heart.

Turn your attention to your feet. The feet are relaxed. They feel a pleasant warmth, reminiscent of the warmth of a fire burning in a fireplace. It feels like your feet are on a fireplace grate. Kind, gentle warmth rises up the legs, giving life-giving relaxation and rest to the muscles… Tension disappears… And now the muscles of the legs relax – from the fingertips to the thigh… The breathing is even, calm. The heart beats clearly, rhythmically ...

There is another source of heat in your body. It is in the area of ​​the solar plexus. It is as if a small sun impregnates your internal organs with its life-giving rays and gives them health, helps them function better ... The muscles of the abdomen and chest straighten, relax ... A pleasant, relaxing warmth spreads throughout the body, which creates a feeling of peace and relaxation ... Tension in the shoulders and in the cervical region disappears , in the lower part of the back of the head ... You feel how the tension accumulated here dissolves and disappears ... It goes away ... Breathing is even, calm. The heart beats clearly, rhythmically ...

Now your inner eye turns to the face. The muscles of the face relax ... The tension from the cheekbones disappears. From the jaws... The lips become soft... The wrinkles on the forehead are smoothed out... The eyelids are closed and motionless... All the muscles of the face are relaxed... A light, cool breeze washes over your face... The air brings its healing energy to you... Breathing is even, calm. The heart beats clearly, rhythmically ...

Your body enjoys complete peace… Tension subsides, dissolves away… Fatigue disappears… You are filled with a sweet feeling of rest, relaxation, peace… Peace that fills you with new strength, fresh and pure energy…

You are relaxed and free. You can be where you want to be. Where you feel good. For someone, maybe this is his own house, for someone it is a corner of the yard where he liked to hide in childhood. And for someone - just a clearing in the summer forest, where you can roll in the grass and see the dazzling blue of the sky above you ... Stay a little in this place. Soak up the positive energy of this place that is kind to you… Your breathing is even and calm.

2. AT text . You are in a wonderful, warm forest. He does not scare you, but on the contrary seems friendly and hospitable. The sun shines brightly, its warm rays break through the foliage of centuries-old giant trees and gently touch your hair, your face. The air is fresh, saturated with different aromas of the forest, try to smell the forest smells (pause). Do you hear the birds singing? Listen, the forest is full of sounds (pause) There is a path in front of you. Follow her. The path is narrow, you walk slowly, enjoy the beauty. Go to any tree, touch its bark, moss on it, raise your head up and look at its crown. The warm wind gently plays with your hair and soothes you, you feel at home in this forest. You go further along the familiar path and exit to a clearing surrounded by mighty trees. There is a small tree in the center of the clearing. Apparently very old, it is not high, but its trunk is too wide, the crown is sprawling, strong branches (pause).

An old wise man sits under a tree, he knows the answers to all questions. It does not cause you a feeling of fear or apprehension, on the contrary, respect and trust. Come closer, you see the sage is smiling at you. Take a closer look at him, try to remember his appearance, face, eyes. Do you want to talk to him? You didn't come here for nothing, he knows everything. Try talking to him about yourself. Ask him: "Who am I?" (pause). Continue the conversation with the old man, try to look at him carefully and listen to his words.

It's time for you to return. You will come here again, to this giant forest.

3. The text of the exit from the relaxation state.

Now I'll start counting from seven to one. With each next number, you will begin to get out of the state of relaxation more and more - until the moment when I call the number “one” and you will get up rested, cheerful, full of new strength and energy.

So seven … You feel the sensation of your own body returning to you… Lethargy and apathy recede. You begin to return to your normal state. Six ... Your muscles are filled with strength and energy ... You are still motionless, but it will take a few moments, and you will be able to easily get up and start moving ... Five … The state of calmness is preserved, but it begins to be filled with sensations of strength and the ability to act… Relaxation is replaced by composure… Four … You feel that you have finally come to your senses and are ready to be active. Cheerfulness and energy fill you more and more. Three … Move your feet. You fully feel your legs and are able to easily tense your muscles. Wiggle your fingers. Slowly clench your fingers into a fist Two . Without opening your eyes, turn your head. You are cheerful, filled with strength and energy. Did you have a good rest. You are calm and confident. One . They opened their eyes. We got up. Don't do it too fast.

Discussion.

What are your feelings? (pay attention to everyone who wants to speak, share their impressions, discoveries, emotions).

Starting today, we will end each lesson with auto-training and you will return to the “wise man” and continue the conversation with him.

Surely next time he will tell you much more than in your first meeting.

The game "Develop observation"

Age : junior school.

The participants of the game are divided into 2 teams.

Game conditions : within 10 minutes, the guys write down as many objects as possible, grouping them by shape, color, starting with the same letter, made from the same material, belonging to the same genus, etc.

You need to make the following lists of items:

1. Red,
2. black color,
3. Green colour,
4. of blue color,
5. oval,
6. square,
7. wooden,
8. metal,
9. stone,
10. beginning with the letter "k"
11. pertaining to furniture
12. related to dishes, etc.

For the longest list of items in one of the positions, 5 points are awarded.

Exercise "Completion of the story"

Age : junior school.

Children are offered the beginning of a story. For example: “It was a clear sunny day. A girl walked along the street and led a funny puppy on a leash. Suddenly out of nowhere…”

It is necessary to come up with a continuation and ending of the story.

Working time - 10 min.

The story can be evaluated according to the following criteria:

• completeness of the story;
• brightness and originality of images;
• unusual twist and plot;
• surprise ending.

Exercise "Talking on the phone"

Goals: the game is aimed at modeling social situations and behaviors, developing the ability to listen to another, as well as developing spatial thinking, visual perception; creative imagination, emotional adequacy.

materials : playing field: on the top of the paper sheet there are Leopold the Cat, Gena the Crocodile, Gingerbread Man, Wolf (from the cartoon “Just you wait!”); on the lower part - Fox, Hare, Cheburashka, Mouse. The characters are holding handsets, which are connected to each other in pairs (according to the cartoon) by a broken line, forming a kind of labyrinth.

Brief description of the content of the game:

“Different cartoon characters live in two large houses. Residents of one house - the cat Leopold, Crocodile Gena, Kolobok and Wolf called their friends. Find out who called who. What were they talking about?

Before the game, it is recommended that children read K.I. Chukovsky's poem "Telephone" to the children, followed by a discussion and / or a short conversation about the rules of telephone etiquette. Recall cartoons, fairy tales with the participation of the above characters.

Number of game participants- from 1 to 4 children.

If you believe the dictionaries - and if not them,then who is left to believe in thiscountry? - the word "creativity" means the ability of consciousness to create a) something new and b) having value ness. The second part of the definition is very important. Because it's clear that almost anyone can come up with a vinyl tear blotter or the word "kaliplyuk" - but no one will need these novelties. In Latin there is a verb creare ("to create, produce"), but it was applied only to the gods. It was believed that a person does not invent anything himself: poetry, the design of a tunic and a drawing of a catapult are whispered to him by spirits, which the Greeks called demons, and the Romans called geniuses. For the first time, a Polish poet dared to call a "creative" booger by the name of a man in the 17th century. Maciej Kazimir Sarbiewski. It was a story - surrender and forget. Farther information will go, without which the textbook cannot be used.

Today there are many theories explaining why some smart people can write jokes, songs, and nanobots, while others can't. Three of the most well-known creativity theorists - Alex Osborne (creator of the brain assault), Edward de Bono (who invented lateral thinking) and our compatriot Heinrich Altshuller (author of TRIZ, theory of inventive problem solving). They all wrote about different things and gave rise to a lot of schools in practical psychology, but on the whole their thoughts came down to about the same thing. We will use de Bono's metaphors.

1. Human thinking can be compared to a sandbox. If you pour water on sand, then at first it will spread over a small area, and then start no deepening the hole and gathering there. The same goes for the head. Pro Problems (and data in general) are water, that leaves traces. The hole is thought pattern.

2. Patterns help recognizesituation and respond quickly. It is enough to prick onceabout cactus to stop buying them.

3. Together, the patterns form vertical thinking (“the field of trial and error”). It helps in solving everyday routine tasks. Getting into the hole-template, the information flows down, deepening it.

4. Vertical thinking kills creativity. A person who thinks in patterns cannot come up with anything new. Because for this you need to go beyond the usual interpretation, break the pattern, master new horizons of data.

All of the above researchers have developed their own methods development of non-standard, creative thoughts. De Bono taught to let "water" sideways, hence the name of his method - lateral thinking (from the Latin word "lateral"). Altshuller created 76 protocols to to take thought beyond vychnogo. Osborn relied on the collective mind, believing that a group of people shouting different garbage ends up being smarter than everyone else. many of its members, seriously contemplating over the problem.

But enough about that. Prepare your brain, we will slow it down.

Part 2: lots of practice

And here are the promised exercises. Each of them is aimed atthe development of a certain aspect of the mouseleniya. If you read and cross out with a pencil not only the article, butand the books mentioned in itto become smarter and even, in particular, tolearn to draw. Jokes aside.

Picture 1

Aspect 1: lack of self-criticism

De Bono believed that people get dumber with age. This happens because adults begin to impose restrictions on thought. Many solutions to a problem are dismissed as "stupid" or "childish." Here, for example, is the famous figure test (Fig. 1). When Edward hits waved to her children and asked them to say that it, any schoolboy called about 40 options: a house without a pipe, a blank for a paper airplane, a bitten chocolate bar. adult lye called a maximum of 10 vari ants. They tended to frame themselves in a geometric pattern and describe the figure as a square with a triangle at the top or a truncated straight line. holnik.

Can you imagine? A person is able to cut off three-quarters of the options for solving a problem (and any image is already a task, material for interpretation) simply because they are not serious and supposedly unworthy of a thinking person! Adults do not even pronounce these options, cautiously looking around and expecting a hit with a stapler. People criticize themselves in advance! De Bono said that this complex must be disposed of first.

Exercise 1

Try to connect nine points with four segments (Fig. 2). You can't take the pencil off the paper. In this case, the line can pass through each of the points only once.

Exercise 2

And this is what you can do for the rest of your life. Take over the rule is to look at pictures (for example, an advertisement in a magazine) and come up with one or two options for what is happening in the frame. Here, for example, is a woman whose face was howling wife letter "T" from pills. Why? Was she trying to hide a bruise from bumping into the cast-iron Home Furnishings sign? She is one of the participants (third from left) of the march “We demand an increase in the duration of pregnancy!”? Or maybe... Fill in your three options. Let it be stupid. But your task is to learn to think precisely "stupid", unusual, like a child. And don't feel guilty about This. This is the beginning of creativity.

Figure 2

Aspect 2: Entry Point Shift

Another de Bono test (Fig. 3) looks like this: participants are asked to draw a figure that can be cut into four equal parts with one movement. 35% of participants immediately give up, put forward the idea of ​​a cross, very narrow in the central part, about 3% give a unique result (Edward collects them). On average, 12% of the remaining solve the problem is not prohibitively creative chemical, but all in an interesting way, because that fit re sewing from the end. That is, first four identical pieces are cut out of paper, and then they try to combine them into a figure. This is the entry point shift. Who said that the problem needs to be solved sequentially? What if you immediately imagineresult? Or try to associate it with a random word? Or with a picture?

Exercise 3

Open www.dzen.yandex.ru. Look for the "Find" button. Think of a problem: the husband is playing poker, the skin is torn on stiletto heels, the plots for the corporate calendar are not being thought out. Click on the button. The search engine will give you a random result: a word and a picture. Try to relate it to your problem. How do problems relate to search results? For example, you got a “steering wheel braid”. Maybe a dangerous hobby of a husband can be replaced with a safe one by giving (or breaking) a car to him? And braid the heels? Etc. Ask Zen-Yandex for advice (only not out loud, so as not to feel like a child). The more delusional the answer is, the more it will destroy the pattern of thinking. And remember, no self-criticism!

Figure 3

Aspect 3: Infinity of Questions

Another creative thinking skill that kids do better than adults is subverting the foundations. Why does thunder rumble? Because the clouds collide with each other. Why do they collide? Because the wind is blowing upstairs. Why can't they leave? The task of the child is not so much to tire you (he may not understand what pleasure bullying brings to adults), but to get to the bottom of the template. Children can’t stand answers like “it’s always been like this” or “this is how it should be.” "Who needs?" they continue their interrogation. This allows them to issue a hundred abstract and paradoxical judgments a day, such as “mom came in drunk because she was afraid to ride in an elevator.” You can do that too.

Exercise 4

A problem for those who know how to play chess - or at least know how the pieces move and that the pawn can turn into any piece after reaching the last line. Condition: Black starts and checkmates the white king in one move. The vertical enumeration of moves will not help (Fig. 4).

Exercise 5

You are probably familiar with this game: the host tells the situation. For example, a person comes to a bar and asks for a glass of water. The bartender points a gun at him. The man says "thank you" and leaves. Or: a husband and wife stop on a deserted road, the husband goes for gasoline, the wife locks herself. When her husband returns, she is dead, with a stranger in the car next to her, the doors locked from the inside. By asking unambiguous questions (for "yes" and "no"), the participants in the game must restore the picture of events. There are a lot of these tasks on the Internet - they are called “danetki”. They teach to ask questions to the last, without giving up. If a computer game does not captivate, train on real people, discussing the problem with colleagues or relatives to the last. Refuse to accept “no” and “it’s customary” as answers.

Figure 4

And enough about that.

While TRIZ, suitable mainly for solving engineering problems, began to be forgotten after the death of its creator, the brainstorming method was developed. Today, there are many techniques (for example, the Young procedure or the 3-6-5 method - they are in Google) for creative problem solving in a team. De Bono is alive and continues to write a book a year. His textbooks can be purchased at www.debono.ru. Especially good are “Serious creative thinking” and “Thinking outside the box. Self-taught".

Before and after

Aspect 4: Right Brain Mushing

This article would be even more incomplete if we didn't mention that some experts associate creativity with the right hemisphere of the brain. Until the 1950s, it remained unclear why a person should carry a walnut in his head - and why the brain should not be a perfect ball or cube. R. Sperry of the California Institute of Technology received the first answers. As a result of experiments on animals, he found out that the hemispheres work independently of each other. Then other scientists pulled themselves up, in particular J. Levy, who worked with epileptics who underwent commissurotomy - an operation to separate the hemispheres. Levy found that the left hemisphere is verbal, temporal, analytical. The right one is figurative, timeless, synthetic. In hindsight, his work explained the case of Lovis Corinth, a professional artist who forgot how to draw when a tumor grew in his right hemisphere.

But enough of the accompanying theory. Professor B. Edwards back in the 60s developed a method for teaching drawing, based on right-brain thinking. Her course allows a person to learn how to draw in a couple of months. And also improve handwriting, learn to enjoy beauty and look at your man with a fresh, uncluttered look. And also improve memory and see the connections between phenomena.

If you want to learn how to draw at least like the author of this article, buy Edwards' book "Discover the artist in you." Fortunately, it has recently been re-released, so there is no need to download the old edition from www.booksgid.com.

Exercise 6

You must have come across pictures-illusions: two faces form a vase (Fig. 5, but there are many more on the Internet). Drawing such paradoxes helps you connect with your right brain and understand the difference between the two types of thinking. On the left side of the sheet, draw a face, pronouncing its parts to yourself: forehead, eyes, nose, lips. Connect the extreme points with horizontal lines to the right side of the sheet. And now - attention! You need to draw a mirror image of the face. Now try not to have a mental dialogue with yourself, but just slowly draw a line, repeating all the curves in a mirror image. This technique will turn on your right brain.

Figure 5(1)

Figure 5(2)

Exercise 7

The easiest way to master right-brain drawing is to copy upside-down contour drawings (play with Fig. 6). The problem with people who think they can't draw is that they draw symbols, not images. That is, they use the left hemisphere for drawing (and this is a gross mistake). Sitting down to draw a face, they actually draw a diagram: a circle, two eyes, a stick-nose, a stick-mouth. Therefore, copying drawings in the mode of operation of the left hemisphere does not work: the brain adjusts each line to the finished symbol. But as soon as you turn the picture over, the associations disappear from the brain. The right half turns on - and everything starts to turn out. Try it yourself!

Figure 5(3)

Exercise 8

Well, if you want to seriously shake up your thinking, improve the exchange of electrical impulses between the hemispheres - try the following trick. Take two pens (better if one of them is a pencil) in different hands. Try slowly drawing a triangle with one hand and a circle with the other. For the first three minutes, you will get rounds or triangles, but then your hands will find the right rhythm and be able to stand apart. If at this moment your head hurts, drop this business and return to it after an hour or two or a day. Once you've mastered drawing with both hands, try writing words. They must be different, but consist of the same number of letters.

Figure 6

That's it. More precisely, everything is just beginning. Disinhibit thinking, do not criticize yourself, move the entry point, draw! We don't know how this will help you to be a good accountant or a wife - but for some reason you started reading this article after learning that it increases libido and creativity.

Photo source: Getty Images, press archives