6 Favorite Stoke Activities
This is part of my 4–5–6 series on Design Thinking Listicles.
4 Favorite Brainstorming Processes // 5 Favorite Design Thinking Charts // 6 Favorite Stoke Activities.
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If we think of creativity as a muscle then we should warm up it before exercising it. The objective of stokes is to do just this — we want to stretch our creativity in new and unusual ways so it will preform at its best for our brainstorm. Below are six of my favorites stokes that warm up different parts of our creative muscles.
1) Finger Joust
Objective: Break the ice. Get out of your seat.
Directions: The team partners up 1:1. Partners stand across from each other and plant their feet and join hands while keeping the index finger out (see picture). The goal is to poke your partner. End the match with a hand hug.
Example: How to Finger Joust or Learn About Finger Joust
2) Yes and…
Objective: Build on the ideas of others
Directions: The team partners up 1:1. Partner A plans Partner B’s party for 1 minute. Partner B answers each suggestion by starting their sentence with “yes, and…”. A fun variation is to switch “yes, and…” with “no, but…” this should help the group notice the importance of building on the ideas of others rather than judging ideas.
One variation is to have the team stand in a circle. The facilitators picks a scenario (like “If I had a magic carpet….”) and each person has to build on the idea before theirs by starting their sentence with “yes, and…”
3) Squiggle Birds
Objective: Stretch visual thinking muscles
Directions: Tell each participant to make scribbles on a page for 30 seconds. It’s helpful if the facilitators holds up a sheet of their own scribbles as an example. After everyone has a sheet full of scribbles the participants should turn the scribbles into birds by adding beaks, eyes, legs, and tails. Give them another 30 seconds to do this. After the birds are made have participants share their flocks with one another.
Runner up for a similar objective is 30 Circles [template]
4) Wise Sage (a.k.a. “Proverb”)
Objective: Wild and absurd ideas
Directions: “Stand in a circle, choose one person to begin. Going around the circle, each person can only say one word. When you have created a phrase together, everyone nods and says, “so wise, so wise, so wise,” or “yes, yes, yes.” Then, do it again!” -Stanford d.school
What I like about Wise Sage is that it helps the group prepare groups that nonsense and absurdity may emerge
5) Guess the pattern
Objective: Embrace failure and avoid confirmation bias
Directions:
Instead of using the website the facilitator can record guesses and respond if the guess is correct. Read the directions on the website out loud. You’ll find that the participants struggle with this problem because they do not seek hearing a no.
This puzzle exposes a particular kind of confirmation bias that bedevils companies, governments and people every day: the internal yes-man (and yes-woman) tendency. We’re much more likely to think about positive situations than negative ones, about why something might go right than wrong and about questions to which the answer is yes, not no.
Example: A Quick Puzzle to Test Your Problem Solving
6) Keychain build
Objective: Build to think and build quickly
*Disclaimer, this is a longer, more involved stoke*. This stoke is ideal for a team that is not use to building (“I can’t draw”) and teams that are not use to building at a low resolution (“I need a 3D printer”)
Directions: The team partners up 1:1. Each partner interviews the other about their keys (great way to get to know your team). “What helps?// What hassles?”. Distribute 2 pipe cleaners and about 1 foot x 1 foot piece of tinfoil to each person. All participants should create a new key chain for their partner with the given material. The prototypes are tested quickly and a new variation is created (Distribute additional materials if necessary). Present the final prototype.
More Stokes!
Stokes from Stanford d.school method cards & k-12 lab methods & more
Improv warm ups Learn Improv & Improvencyclopedia Games
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What is your favorite stoke? Share it with me!
