Creative babysitting

Chloe: age 10 

Corbin: age 12

I had a fun experience when I was babysitting my cousins (ages 10 and 12). Of course, the worst part of babysitting is finding a way to entertain them enough not to go crazy. So, I put them to work. I asked them to do exactly what I do in my creative class. I gave them paper, a sharpie, and a task. The task was to create 20 ideas for marshmallows. The rules were that you could not talk to each other and try to create ideas that no one else would have. After the first 6 ideas, they began to struggle but finally made 20 ideas. In fact, it became a race/game of who could come up with their 20 ideas first.

Then I had them switch gears and do another 20 ideas for advertising a bug-exterminator. The second product was more for a brain rest from marshmallows, for marshmallows was the main product.

After they finished with the bug exterminator ideas, I told them to image they were actual creatives. I pretended to be their boss and told them to work together and come up with 20 more ideas for marshmallows. “WHAT?!” is how my cousin’s replied, but then they got busy working together and discussing new and better ideas. They worked well together coming up with another 20 ideas and it was no longer a race. I then told them to pick only one idea they both liked and to make an ad for marshmallows. Here is where it got interesting…

As my two cousins discussed which idea they liked best, they wanted to pick one of their own ideas. Neither of them wanted to give into the other’s idea, they wanted to best. The reason I found this interesting is because this is a reflection of how some people work together within the industry. Each person wants to be the one with the “Big Idea.” Sure enough, one of the two kids gave in and picked the other’s idea. Unhappy with the decision, he said he would come up with the saying that would go with the image/idea. The younger cousin, the one who won the idea, sat back and did not even try to contribute to the headline. Although she was satisfied with her win on the idea/image, she was unhappy with the headline but decided not to fight against it since she had already developed the image.

The final product turned out to be more than just sharpie marks on a piece of paper. It really helped me to understand how to approach working with people and why is it so important to contribute positive or negative feedback to every idea. Two people cannot “settle” with an idea or both will be unhappy. Therefore, two brains are better than one, only if you learn to work together instead of against each other.