Students come up with as many ideas as possible together.
The method is great for creating a creative space without judgment and for fostering a sense of community within the group, as everyone gets the chance to contribute.
Introduce the brainstorming method and its purpose: To generate as many ideas as possible without evaluating them. Go through the rules:
- All ideas are welcome – even those that seem silly or unrealistic
- No ideas may be criticized or judged during the brainstorming
- Feel free to build on others’ ideas to create more possibilities
Present or ask the students to choose the challenge or question they want to generate ideas for.
Set a time limit (e.g. 5–10 minutes) and/or tell the students that they must come up with a minimum number of ideas (e.g. 20 ideas). The short time frame and high idea count help keep the energy level high and allow ideas to flow more freely.
Hand out an A3 sheet or a flip chart page to each pair/group, along with post-its and writing tools. The students write the question or challenge on their paper/flip chart.
Students brainstorm together. Taking turns, they say an idea out loud and write it down on a post-it (one idea per post-it), placing it on the A3 sheet or flip chart.
Continue until the time is up or until the students have come up with a set number of ideas.
Didactic tips
- Students can stand around a table or a whiteboard to engage their bodies in the process.
- Optionally, ask students to say “Good idea!” whenever a classmate shares an idea, and “Yes, and…” to help build on it.
- If students struggle to make space for each other’s ideas, the method Brainstorming can be used to give everyone a chance to speak one at a time.
- Students can also write their ideas directly on A3 paper, a flip chart, or a whiteboard, but using post-its makes it easier to sort, categorize, and prioritize the ideas afterward.
- After brainstorming, students can go through all their ideas and sort them using the Brainstorming method, and group them into categories using the Category Development method.
- Optionally combine with variations such as Brainstorming, Brainstorming, Brainstorming, and Brainstorming.