Enrichment

Asking students to “think creatively” won’t get you far. They won’t know how to start, they’ll get stuck with simple ideas, or they’ll just go completely wild. SCAMPER is a tool for scaffolding the process of creativity.

Who can get to 100 first in this simple, but delightful, math game?

A favorite of mine! This task is delightfully complex and ambiguous, forcing students to make choices without enough information and with no right answer. How will they survive on the moon for three days?

So what are some new ways to use a paperclip?

Writing prompts, non-fiction analysis, and science topics related to Christmas and Hanukkah.

What if one side played with THREE QUEENS and the other had SEVEN KNIGHTS!? What if?

Anyone, yes anyone, can create a (somewhat) realistic self-portrait using these steps. Anyone!

So, what can a cardboard tube be used for other than holding wrapping paper?

Shaolin kung fu students as seen from a satellite.

Learn how to play the abstract, paper-and-pencil game Sprouts.

Who can guess the codeword first?

Watch astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti cook a meal in zero gravity on the International Space Station.

The story of the Fabergé Eggs is heartbreaking. It’s also the perfect way to build empathy in your classroom.

Oil paint floats on water and becomes a familiar scene.

Various desserts melt in surprisingly different ways.

How fast do you get your mathematical car going without crashing?

You could keep zooming in on this snowflake forever!

Imagine Tic-Tac-Toe if both players could play as both Xs and Os!

What happens when you blow a bubble in below-freezing temperatures?

Want to take Tic-Tac-Toe to the next level!? Imagine a 15×15 board. You must get five-in-a-row. You cannot get six-in-a-row. That’s Gomoku!

Can your students tell the difference between cubism and abstract art?

Try this a simple (but surprisingly strategic) subtraction game!

Hey! Our New Year traditions have a lot in common.

It’s Hamlet in just about five minutes!

What would the consequences be if a town’s tap water became… unreliable?

Crosswords, image analysis, and writing prompts for Halloween!

Shakespeare’s Much Ado summarized in just five minutes!

Put these animals into groups. Then do it again. Then… do it one more time. How does re-re-grouping the same creatures reveal new patterns and give new insights?

How to draw a more complex version of this twisty Henri Matisse knot!

Everyone starts with the same squiggle. No two drawings end up the same. What do you see?

The first person to run out of regions loses in this strategy game.

What if we rewrote a piece of writing without using certain letters?

What surprises can you spot when a kernel pops in super slow-mo?

What’s going on in this painting? Who is that guy? What’s his job? And where’s his other boot?

How to draw the final version of the twisty Henri Matisse knot!

These two tables are the same size. But how!?

How to draw a simple version of this twisty Henri Matisse knot!

What would the consequences be if all people lived much, much longer?

A music video filmed on 64 phones and then displayed on 64 phones. What?

Ready for a tricky counting and divisibility game?

A worksheet pack featuring writing prompts, a summer essay project, a science-based escape room activity, and image analysis prompts.