Practice builds fluency

People tend to become really good at things they practice. The more your child is playing the game of connecting things that seem unconnected, the more connections they'll make which increase the probability of you coming up with creative ideas.  Keep practicing whilst brushing your teeth. This is level 4.

As your child feels more comfortable with level 4, it's time to move to level 5, where you provide 2 unconnected words (the more unconnected the better e.g. sun and plant) and ask him or her to hop from the first word to the last by thinking of one or more intermediate words which connect the first word with the last. For instance if you say sun and plant, the hops could be sun -> sunlight -> food -> leaves -> plant.

At this point, your child is training his or her mind to hop from one connected word to another, then another, in the chain, thus strengthening the ability for connected thinking.

But more importantly, the child is also learning about the connective meaning of objects and things, I.e. the description of the relationships between things. This is where the magic happens when new things emerges as you connect 2 concepts together.

For example what is a flower to a bee? A word that may emerge is nectar. What is nectar to a bee? A new object emerges which is honey. What is honey to a bee? The answer is food... and as you explore the hidden mysteries of the inbetweeners, you create more and more connections.

It trains your brain to be more open and responsive to new things which will lead to new concepts and ideas, that is the primary purpose of connected thinking.

So, beloved parents, using a simple game of connected thinking  and gradually increasing its difficulty, and practicing this daily whilst brushing your teeth and your child's, you will create a revolution in the world of creativity and imaginations.

It is not hard to do at all and is fun and is also a good way for you to create a stronger bond with your child or children.