On Thinking

Hi
I would like to share a resource that I have made for low cost but great effect. Uses appear to be many and only limited by your imagination.

I have downloaded about 200 photos (royalty free from stock exchange) had them printed cheaply and then laminated them. The photos are abstract, of people, places, transport, weather, landscapes, you name it I have it.

How to use them: Well that is the fun bit. I will sometimes leave piles in the middle of the floor and ask an open ended question or sentence starter. The brief to the participants is to find 4 or five photos that portray their thinking surrounding the question or sentence starter.

Get the idea? Next we may break into pairs and the participants will share why they picked their photos. I sometimes go further by asking participants to pick out one photo from the other person s choices and ask them some questions about it to take the thinking even deeper or further.

At times I put the photos on chairs and get the participants to choose the photo that best describes their day, their feelings etc.

This is only a small example of uses so far. I think it works so well because the pictures get those neurons firing and make connections through sight, memory, sound, taste, smell, touch.

Sometimes participants (especially adults) will cringe and tell me that they just won t be able to pick anything but I have yet to find anyone who has not managed it and ended up loving the experience. Seems a fairly fail safe activity for most.

If you are interested I can certainly post more ways that I use the photo s and I would be happy to try and find a way to make the photo gallery I have available to whoever wants it.

Love to hear your feedback and thoughts on my post.