Winter weather rolled into our area again last week. Luckily, the storm did not impact school hours, so we managed to hold an entire day of school uninterrupted.
The freezing rain did, however, arrive right in time for the evening commute home and after-school.
We decided as a family that our newfound extra time would be best spent with a Family Game Night!
We chose one of our favorite games: Disruptus!
If you have never played, the idea is simple. Your goal is to look at an object or idea and design a change in one of four ways to improve it.
One person rolls the die to determine how you will change the object/idea:
Improve – Adding or changing one or more elements to improve the object/idea
Transform – Using an object or idea for a different purpose
Create 2 – Use two objects or ideas to create a new object or idea
Disrupt – Choose an object/idea. Determine what the purpose is, then think of a completely different way to achieve that same purpose.
We had an absolute blast playing the game! Ideas ranged from an umbrella that gathered rainwater and transformed into a water gun to a modifiable bandage that adapted to the type of wound that needed to be covered. During each round, a different person serves as the Judge to decide which idea is best, and this is where the game becomes enjoyable. Each person attempts to pitch their improvement, and the Judge needs to be swayed!
While the game is fun to play, I also love that my children begin to creatively think about the design process and how to innovate when thinking about common objects or ideas.
Try it yourself! Think about a Fly Swatter.
How would you improve it?
How would you transform it?
How would you disrupt the idea of a fly swatter?
Once you begin to get in the mindset of innovating and disrupting, you might be able to generate better ideas. As always, we can begin to use this thinking to improve education and learning.
I’m thankful that we had the opportunity to share some extra time together during the winter storm. I’m also glad that we were able to disrupt Family Night!
Rich (@RACzyz)
Comments are closed.