Lateral thinking in children

How can we inculcate lateral thinking in children?

Lateral thinking is concerned with the generation of new ideas…

Lateral thinking is also concerned with breaking out of the concept presence of old ideas. This leads to changes in attitude and approach; to looking in a different way at things which have always been looked at in the same way. Liberation from old ideas and the stimulation of new ones are twin aspects of lateral thinking.
(Edward de Bono, Lateral Thinking)

It is a myth that “out of the box “thinking cannot be inculcated. We bring a series of thought provoking activities that will help the child think laterally.
Here is what we can suggest for today.
Ask your child different uses of a common object. For instance, what all can you do with a ruler apart from measuring and drawing a straight line? I asked my 5 year old what all can a shop be used for apart from selling goods; he came up with 5 different options: one was “use it as a shelter when it rains”.
When we practice this repeatedly, the child does not take any object for granted. So, the child can build toys out of scrap. The child can use his school bag to protect himself /herself from rain. And so on………
We request each of you to share more such activities with this community.
So , wishing you and your child a happy lateral thinking!!