Tock's Idea Sparks Book
Wonder. Imagine. Make it. Make it better.
What is creative thinking?
Creative thinking means coming up with ideas that are new and useful. It isn't only for artists. Scientists, cooks, builders and coders all use it.
Nobody is born "a creative person" or "not a creative person". Creativity is a set of skills, and skills get stronger with practice. This book gives you eight of them.
AI can make pictures and stories in seconds by remixing what it has seen. Deciding what is worth making, and why it matters to people, is still your job.
How this book works
Every chapter has the same four parts.
- Read it. One big idea, with pictures.
- Try it. An activity you play right here on the screen.
- Away from the screen. A game for paper, pencils and friends.
- Quick check. Three questions. Get them all right to earn a star.
There are 9 stars to collect. Got a question wrong? No problem. Read the hint and have another go. That's how thinkers learn.
Choose a chapter
Chapter 1 · Creative skill one
Wonder and notice
New ideas start when someone notices something and wonders about it. Why is it like that? What if it were different?
The hook-and-loop fastener on your shoes began on a walk. A man noticed burrs stuck to his dog's fur, looked at them closely and wondered how they held on so well.
The two best idea-starters are "I wonder why…" and "What if…?" They turn an ordinary thing into a puzzle.
Some questions spark new ideas. Others stop them with one quick answer. Sort each one.
Away from the screen: the wonder walk
You need: a notebook and a pencil
Walk slowly around your home or playground for ten minutes. Write down five things you have never noticed before. Next to each, write one "I wonder why…" or "What if…?" question.
Quick checkEarn your star
Chapter 2 · Creative skill two
Lots of ideas
Your first idea is usually everyone's first idea. The surprising ones turn up later, so the trick is to keep going.
When you brainstorm, you aim for a big number. You write down everything, even the silly ones, because a silly idea often points the way to a clever one.
In maths: set a target
If you think of 4 ideas a minute, how many will you have after 5 minutes? 4 × 5 = 20. A number target and a timer make brainstorming feel like a game.
During a brainstorm, some things you say are fuel for ideas and some are brakes. Sort each one.
Away from the screen: thirty circles
You need: paper, a pencil and a three-minute timer
Draw 30 circles on a page, or trace a coin. Start the timer and turn as many circles as you can into different things: a clock, a pizza, a planet. Count them. Try again tomorrow and beat your score.
Quick checkEarn your star
Chapter 3 · Creative skill three
Look another way
Having lots of ideas is good. Having lots of different kinds of ideas is better.
Ask someone for uses for a cup and they might say: drink water, drink juice, drink milk. That is three ideas, but only one kind. A flexible thinker says: a drum, a sandcastle mould, a home for a snail.
To switch kinds, change your point of view. How would a mouse use it? A giant? A gardener? What if you turned it over or cut it in half?
Three ideas are the same kind. Pick the idea that is a completely different kind.
Away from the screen: one thing, ten jobs
You need: an ordinary object such as a peg, a spoon or a sock
Hold up one object. With a partner, take turns naming a new use for it. You can't repeat a kind: if someone said "a hat", you can't say "a helmet". How far can you get past ten?
Quick checkEarn your star
Chapter 4 · Creative skill four
Mix and match
Lots of inventions are two old things joined together. A suitcase plus wheels. A phone plus a camera. A spoon plus a fork.
You don't need to invent from nothing. Take two things that have never met and ask what they would make together.
Most mixes are nonsense, and that's fine. You only need one good one. A "book plus torch" sounds odd until you want to read under the blanket.
In maths: counting combinations
With 3 animals and 4 vehicles you can make 3 × 4 = 12 different mash-ups. Add one more animal and you get 4 × 4 = 16. A small list makes a big pile of ideas.
Two things have been joined. Which invention do you get?
Work out how many different mash-ups each mix-up machine can make.
Away from the screen: mash-up cards
You need: twelve small pieces of paper and a pencil
Write six animals on six cards and six objects on six more. Turn over one of each and draw the mash-up. Give it a name and one thing it is useful for. How many pairs are possible altogether?
Quick checkEarn your star
Chapter 5 · Creative skill five
Use the limits
It sounds backwards, but limits help you be creative. "Draw anything" is hard. "Draw a monster using only triangles" is fun.
A limit gives your brain something to push against. A haiku poem has only 17 syllables. A famous picture book, Green Eggs and Ham, uses only 50 different words.
When you're stuck, add a limit of your own: only three colours, only ten blocks, only one minute.
Each challenge has a strict limit. Pick the answer that fits it exactly. You'll need to count!
Away from the screen: the one-page tower
You need: one sheet of paper, 20 cm of sticky tape and a ruler
Build the tallest tower you can using only one sheet of paper and 20 cm of tape. It must stand by itself for ten seconds. Measure it. Then try again with a new idea and compare.
Quick checkEarn your star
Chapter 6 · Creative skill six
Flip it
Stuck for a good idea? Think of a terrible one. Then flip it over.
Say you need ideas for a great playground. First ask: what would make the worst playground ever? No shade. Nothing to climb. One swing for 200 kids.
Now flip each one. Shady trees. Lots to climb. Plenty of swings. Bad ideas are easy and funny to think of, and every one of them hides a good idea on its other side.
Here is a truly terrible idea. Which good idea do you get when you flip it?
Away from the screen: the worst sandwich
You need: paper and pencils
Design the worst sandwich in the world. Draw it and label five terrible things about it. Swap with a partner. Flip each of their terrible things to design the best sandwich in the world.
Quick checkEarn your star
Chapter 7 · Creative skill seven
Make it better
A first idea is a seed, not a tree. Creative people spend most of their time making a rough idea better.
Look at your idea and try three moves. Add something it needs. Take away something it doesn't. Change one part: the size, the shape, the material or the order.
Each idea has a problem. Pick the change that would fix it.
Away from the screen: three drafts
You need: paper and a pencil
Draw a new kind of school bag in two minutes. That's draft one. Now add one thing, take one thing away and change one thing to make draft two. Do it once more for draft three. Put the three side by side. What got better?
Quick checkEarn your star
Chapter 8 · Creative skill eight
Share it bravely
An idea that stays in your head can't help anyone. Sharing it takes a little courage, and courage is a skill too.
Every creative person makes things that don't work. Mistakes aren't the opposite of creativity. They are part of it. The useful word is yet: "It doesn't work yet."
Being original doesn't mean never using other people's ideas. Everyone builds on what came before. Be honest about it: say whose idea inspired you, and add something of your own.
Read each thought. Is it a brave thought that helps ideas grow, or a blocked thought that hides them?
Away from the screen: the idea gallery
You need: your best idea from this book, sticky notes and a wall
Pick your favourite idea from this book and put it up on the wall. Ask three people to add a sticky note that starts with "I like…" or "What if…?" Choose one note and use it to make your idea better.
Quick checkEarn your star
The last chapter · Put it all together
The big idea
You now have all eight creative skills. Here they are, with the question each one asks.
| Skill | Ask yourself |
|---|---|
| Wonder and notice | What do I notice? What if…? |
| Lots of ideas | Have I gone past my first ideas? |
| Look another way | What else could this be? |
| Mix and match | What could I join together? |
| Use the limits | How can a limit help me? |
| Flip it | What is the worst idea, flipped? |
| Make it better | What could I add, take away or change? |
| Share it bravely | Who could I show this to? |
Before you go, show what you know. Answer all ten questions to earn your last star and your certificate.
Final testTen questions, every skill
Certificate of Creative Thinking
This certificate is proudly given to
for learning to wonder, imagine, combine and improve ideas.
Look it up
Word bank
Every big word in this book, in plain language.
- Brainstorm
- To think of many ideas quickly, without judging them.
- Combine
- To join two or more things to make something new.
- Constraint
- A limit or rule you have to work within.
- Creative
- Able to come up with ideas that are new and useful.
- Curiosity
- Wanting to find out more.
- Draft
- An early version that you plan to improve.
- Elaborate
- To add details that make an idea clearer or better.
- Flexible
- Able to change the way you think about something.
- Imagine
- To picture something in your mind that isn't there.
- Original
- New and your own, not copied.
- Reverse
- To turn something the other way around.
Parents, carers and teachers
Notes for grown-ups
Creative thinking is the ability to produce ideas that are both new and useful. Researchers usually describe it through fluency (many ideas), flexibility (different kinds), originality and elaboration, and all four can be practised.
The most helpful thing an adult can do is delay judgement. Ask "What else?" before "Will it work?", and praise effort and revisions more than a finished product. Chapters 2, 3 and 7 map directly onto fluency, flexibility and elaboration.
How to use the book
- One chapter per sitting. Each takes about 15 to 25 minutes, plus the off-screen activity.
- Ages 7 to 8 will get more from it with someone reading alongside. Ages 9 to 12 can usually work alone.
- Chapters build on each other, so going in order works best.
- Wrong answers are part of it. Every quiz question explains itself and can be tried again.
- Stars are saved in this browser on this device. Clearing browser data may reset them.
What each chapter covers
| Chapter | Idea | Where it helps at school |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Wonder and notice | Curiosity, observation, asking "what if" | Science inquiry, descriptive writing |
| 2. Lots of ideas | Fluency, brainstorming | Planning writing, multiplication facts |
| 3. Look another way | Flexible thinking, perspectives | Problem solving in maths, art |
| 4. Mix and match | Combining ideas | Combinations and arrays, design and technology |
| 5. Use the limits | Working within constraints | Poetry forms, measurement, counting |
| 6. Flip it | Reverse thinking | Persuasive writing, opposites |
| 7. Make it better | Elaboration, drafting | Editing writing, design and technology |
| 8. Share it bravely | Originality, resilience, giving credit | Presentations, feedback, wellbeing |