Easy Steps to Join:

​

1. Provide the 7 common objects (described below) for your students, explain to them the simple rules below, and have them start playing with the  common objects to make something artistic, practical or whimsical. Encourage them to create a story to go along with their creations.

2. Upload pictures and explanations and stories of their creations to this form.

3. We will share the photos and explanations/stories on the Gallery page.

4. We will host Zoom sessions for participating students to share how they approached this challenge and to compare different facets of creativity, including how one's culture influences creative problem-solving and self-expression.

​

​​

The 7 Common Objects are:

​

1) a pencil or pen or straw or small stick of any material

2) a plastic bottle of any size with or without a cap

3) a plastic shopping bag of any size

4) a band made of any material (rubber, plastic, fabric, string, etc.)

5) a paper clip or short segment of wire made from plastic or metal

6) a sheet of paper or fabric (made of any material) less than 41 cm × 41 cm in size

7) a length of tape of any material (fabric, plastic, metal foil, Teflon, etc.) but no than 10 meters in length and the width of the tape is less than 10 cm.

 

Rules:

​

1. Any teacher and her/his students age 10 to 19 years old are welcome to join. Schools and home-schools are both welcome.

2. The students may choose to use all or just some of the 7 objects.

3. They may use more than one of each item.

4. They may also use glue and staples to bind or adhere the objects together.  For example, glue may be used to stick the pencil to the surface of the plastic bottle.

5. The students may use any tool they wish to manipulate the 7 objects.  Examples of such tools include: scissors, iron, hammer, saw, wrench, pliers, awls, etc.  Examples of using these tools to manipulate the 7 objects include: cutting, bending, shaping, smoothing, tearing, heating, cooling, twisting, crushing, pulverizing, folding, etc. These tools may not be used as raw materials and may not constitute part of the resulting creation.

 

Why Did You Start This Project?

​

We want to promote creativity and learn about different cultures by asking students around the world to design something interesting, artistic, or useful out of the same 7 Common Objects.

 

Why Limit Students to these Objects?

​

Creativity is channeled by constraints. These constraints enable us to compare and contrast how different students around the world approach the same challenge. It would be most interesting to see the diversity of designs that emerge from around the world and to hear about how each group of students from different age groups and cultures approached this design challenge and their resulting designs.

​