Foiled Again

 

            I was asked to work with a group of fifth-graders who are involved in the Destination Imagination creativity competition. They wanted me to help them with teamwork and short-term problem solving activities.

 

            I gave each youngster a piece of aluminum foil, told them it was a two-part problem, and then told them that in the first part, they were to make something out of their foil.

 

            Their solutions were creative:

 

            A wig

           

            A two-headed baseball bat

 

            An airplane

 

            A hot-dog wrapper

 

            Mount Everest and two sets of "finger skis"

 

            A swimming pool

 

            A "shrink ray gun"

 

            Those were about as random as you can get! I was worried about how they would respond to Part II: now they had to take those seven objects, and in two minutes, work them into a skit that they would act out.

 

            They were ready in about 20 seconds. They said it so fast, I'm not sure this is exactly right, but it was something like this: a hot-dog vendor at a ball game got hit with a two-headed baseball bat and developed a huge bald spot, so he required a wig, which he took off when he went swimming at the foot of Mount Everest, which made front page news when a space alien's shrink ray gun minimized it down to the size of a mouse.

 

            It makes you wonder just what they're putting in kids' Cheerios these days. . . .

 

By Susan Darst Williams • www.GoBigEd.com • Class Clown 007