Creativity ADVENTures, Christmas Style
25+ Days of a Twisted, Challenging, Silly, Prompt-filled Story
By Chris Dunmire | Posted 12/1/22 | Updated 12/8/24
ADVENTure #1
Think Outside the Gift Box
How many times have you heard, "It's always been done this way?" Try this challenging puzzle to learn how to 'think outside the box' and free yourself from limiting beliefs.
ADVENTure #2
Playful Ways to Ramp Up Creative Energy
It doesn't take an Einstein to realize that playing is good for us. Play is essential for everyone at every age and stage of life, says life coach and speaker Marianne St. Claire, who writes about the multiple benefits of play which include increased creativity, longevity, and energy.
ADVENTure #3
Orange-aments
Christmas ornaments do a fine job at dressing up the ol' pine. But, making your own ornaments can have a huge practical purpose! And, what if you were asked to make something that nobody's ever seen before anytime of the year?
ADVENTure #3 Bonus Project
Classic Flyer Sled Ornament
Craft a clever "Rosebud" poetry sled gift-away. Includes easy, no-cut, sled-making instructions and a printable card for a memorable keepsake.
ADVENTure #4
Spills — The Beauty of ImperFlection
Spills the Imp takes us by the hand through the domain of "releasing perfection, enjoying the process, and knowing the power of practice and patience."
ADVENTure #5
What If… Two Words Can Alter Your World?
In Kaizen-Muse™ creativity coaching, asking small questions such as, "What if?" can open tremendous spaces of possibility. What if you were to enter this magic space right now?
ADVENTure #6
Wabi-Sabi: ADVENTure Count-Update
A Venn diagram of elf specializations plus Spills the Imp takes us by the hand through the domain of "releasing perfection, enjoying the process, and knowing the power of practice and patience.
ADVENTure #7
ReminiScent Ol'Factory
Use these questions to prompt you into time travel. List the scents that trigger fun childhood memories. Where do they come from? What were you doing when you encountered them?
ADVENTure #8
Let Me Sk8
A horizontal number "8" looks a lot like the symbol of infinity. If you are ice skating around this curved shape, you might see yourself on a limitless path without end. Or, you might experience it as a returning or coming back around to familiarity.
ADVENTure #9
Halls Deck History + Foreshadow Card
Existing in the Northern Hemisphere at least since the 14th Century, the highly-intuitive, suggestive, The Halls™ Deck is used by skilled practitioners of the Arts and Crafts coterie to interpret, forecast, and crochet symbols, motifs, and typography into affirming messages.
ADVENTure #10
Graham Wallas' '4 Steps of Creativity'
When we look at creativity through the lens of "process", a common framework emerges as stages to research, develop, and implement ideas and solutions.
ADVENTure #11
Shoehorning in Lessons
As part of their benefits package, the shoe-making elves negotiated a lesson on shoemaking in the ADVENTure calendar, which turned into two actual lessons, one shoe-adjacent fact, and four unlaced claims.
Setbacks + ADVENTure #12 Email
Ugh! I've just lost four elves. Two thought we were doing the 12 days of Christmas and quit. Another is moving into the gig economy to drive for Grubhub. The last is ghosting me.
ADVENTure #13
Unfin
A thought experiment on what you might do when some things are just left hanging. Don't ask CheatGPT — this one's for you.
ADVENTure #14
Graham Wallas' Creativity Step 1: Preparation
Preparation as the first step in Graham Wallas' Four Steps of Creativity engages you into pulling together an array of tools, knowledge, and resources as the beginning of the problem-solving process.
ADVENTure #15
Slouchy Sock Card
The Slouchy Sock card bestows the wisdom to not give in to the urge to change your creative work too quickly. Learn from an accidental 20th century fashion trend made famous in movie singer Irene Cara says, "used dance as a metaphor for attaining anything in your life that you want to accomplish."
ADVENTure #17
Graham Wallas' Creativity Step 2: Incubation
Incubation is the "percolating" stage where collected information is milled over to allow ideas to filter and bubble forth.
ADVENTure #20
Graham Wallas' Creativity Step 3: Illumination
What does illumination look like in the creative process? It's enlightenment or understanding that manifests as a sudden realization, a clarity of thought, or a feeling of insight. It's like flipping a switch in a dark room, suddenly revealing all the details that were previously hidden. It's the Archimedes Eureka! I've found it!
ADVENTure #21: The Golden Ratio
ADVENTure #23
ChristmaStreess Card
Living on Kaffeklubben Island, Madam Bedazzle says when the North Pole's seasonal sleigh traffic ramps up, so do stress levels. Oh deer‽ Likewise, as Christmas approaches, the end-of-year wrap-up, gift-shopping, ADVENTURE-making, cookie-baking, and holiday-eating will use up your dashes and take its Toll House.
ADVENTure #24
Graham Wallas' Creativity Step 4: Verification
During Verification, the individual takes a step back to critically assess the ideas they have come up with, checking their validity, feasibility, and practicality. This may involve testing the ideas, gathering feedback, making improvements, or rejecting ideas that are deemed impractical or ineffective.
ADVENTure #26: Deadlines, Backword, Extra Credits