5 Activities to Stretch Your Imagination

By Brendan Boyle and Michelle Lee

Let’s take a moment to participate in a short thought exercise.

Imagine that you’re standing outside in an endless field of grass. It’s a beautiful summer day. The sky is blue, and there is a light, pleasant breeze. As I count down from three, use your imagination to transport yourself to the moon and back. Close your eyes while you’re traveling through space and open them once you return to Earth. Ready? Three, two, one… blast off! 

Welcome back! How was your trip? Did you travel in a spaceship? Did you wear a space suit? What did you see? 

When we’ve done this exercise with a room full of adults, only a few folks typically raise their hands in response to our questions about a spaceship or a space suit. Seems they aren’t particularly concerned about cold space temperatures, the lack of oxygen, or burning up upon re-entry. When we ask how many of them landed on the moon, only one or two raise their hands. Most adults simply make a trip to the moon and back without any adventures or exciting experiences along the way.

In contrast, we’ve seen very different answers when doing this exercise with kindergarteners. At least half land on the moon, and they can’t wait to tell us about the space station they built, a rocket they discovered, or the aliens they’ve befriended. We even get the occasional kindergartener who does a few loops around the moon and ends up on Mars!

This simple exercise helps us see the difference between how kids and adults approach tasks. As we get older, we get better at completing tasks, staying focused on what is Mission Critical, and doing away with the fluff. We’ve honed this ability as we’ve been rewarded time and time again for quickly arriving at the right answer. Because of this, adults are great at converging. 

Kids, on the other hand, are experts at diverging. Ask them to put on their shoes, and ten minutes can pass before the task is done. In that time, they’ve flown a shoe around like a plane, twisted their shoelaces into interesting new patterns, and become fascinated with a new way to wiggle their toes. While actions like these may appear to be distractions, these forms of play are actually key to driving kids’ imaginations and inspiring new ways for them to interact with the world. Being naturally open to divergent possibilities, kids can tap into their imaginations freely and whimsically, imagining something new that has never before been experienced. As we grow older, it’s challenging for us to retain this faculty for playful ideation.

Real innovation requires a combination of diverging and converging, challenging us to recall our inner imaginative child to go wild and come up with many ideas and possibilities, while also wearing our adult hat to focus our efforts, narrowing to the most promising opportunities and driving action towards executing on our best ideas. 

While it can be tempting to skip straight to converging and rush to a solution, creative people understand the value of diverging and the importance of allowing enough time for inspiration and exploration. Even better, they are comfortable with the ambiguity that surrounds this period of divergence, trusting that it can open up new possibilities. While we may see the value in this, hanging in ambiguity and making room to diverge can be difficult, so here are five playful ideas for firing up your imagination  

1. What’s for Dinner?

Long-time collaborator Neil Stevenson introduced us to this exercise. Think about a typical evening conversation around what to have for dinner. Chances are you’ll hear common suggestions like “Fish! Chicken! Spaghetti! Pizza!” Now, for this activity, instead of the quick 5-10 second brainstorm, have everyone spend 5-10 minutes coming up with dinner ideas. Take turns sharing and see if you might arrive at more interesting options – maybe octopus burritos or pastrami tacos? While we can’t promise you’ll eat better, we’re pretty sure you’ll end up with a more exciting meal overall.

2. The Most Imaginative Vacation Yet

You need at least two people for this exercise. Start with a blank sheet of paper. At the top, the first person writes: “Our next vacation will be our most imaginative vacation yet. We will go to…” and jots down an idea. Then, the next player adds to the vacation with “Yes, and then…” Pass the paper back and forth a few times. Push your imaginations. Think jet packs, celebrities or famous chefs! What fantastic vacations will you take?

3. Name Your Future Pet 

You can do this exercise by yourself or in a group. Each of you will come up with the most unique name for three separate pets – maybe start with a dog, then a bird, then a frog. The more exotic the pet, the better. Think about the animal, how it looks, what it does, the sounds it makes in order to inspire a truly unique, fitting name. Next, imagine that the three animals are friends. Can you come up with a trio of names that work together or follow a theme? 

4. Conversation-Starting Hats 

Imagine that you’re going to a virtual party where you don’t know anyone. You need an awesome hat to serve as a conversation starter. Start by sketching a few ideas and then bring your hat to life! Use construction paper, tape, pipe cleaners – whatever you can find. Aluminum foil is a great prototyping material for this challenge. Create the hat and present it to family and friends. You’re bound to get a good laugh. Plus, it’s a great way to get back in the habit of making things with your hands. If you do this exercise as a group, try to create a series of hats that go together in some way. 

5. One + One = What?

Look around your house. Pick two unrelated objects. Now think of a way to combine the two. What do you end up with? Attach your calendar to the end of your toothbrush to see what your day holds while brushing your teeth first thing in the morning. Or use your clear-bodied vacuum cleaner to suck up some glitter to create an instant snow globe! We can come up with all sorts of fun, ridiculous ideas when we combine two separate items. And, who knows? You might even find yourself creating the next ice cream cake, taco pizza or even the next printing press, which originally resulted from mashing up a coin punch and a wine press. Give it a try!

This past year has been full of challenges, and while we’re craving quick answers, we must also diverge, flexing our imaginative muscles to come up with new approaches and fresh solutions that take us beyond past efforts. Think of the amazing innovation that has emerged in this time: clear face masks that enable us to see expressions and allows those hard of hearing to read lips, new forms of contactless payment and delivery that make it safe for both vendor and recipient, and candy chutes that make trick or treating possible in a time when we must remain at least 6 feet apart. Now, more than ever, we need to use our imaginations and nourish our creative spirits. Doing so will help us live more fully, solve problems more effectively and have fun while tackling big challenges. 

So, next time you take a trip to the moon and back, what kind of adventure might you have along the way?

Illustrations by Yoshi Yoshitani