Puzzles for the development of non-standard thinking. Team board game

Logic problems- perhaps the most effective tool for the development of logic and thinking in both children and adults.

Solving a logic problem involves a complex thought process. This is the sequential performance of certain logical actions, working with concepts, using various logical structures, building a chain of precise reasoning with correct intermediate and final conclusions.

Unlike most mathematical and other types of problems, when solving logical problems, the key is not to find quantitative characteristics object, but the definition and analysis of relationships between all objects of the task.

Take an integrated approach

Among the variety of logical problems, children often choose a couple of their favorite categories and immerse themselves in solving them. is that enough?

Surely most of us have taken logic level tests at least once. Most of them are made up of nothing but syllogisms or trick questions. We do not offer such tests because we know for sure that it is impossible to determine the level of development of logical thinking with the help of a dozen or two questions, even approximately. Just like developing non-standard thinking by solving only certain types of logical problems.

Classical logical, combinatorial and truth problems, patterns and mathematical puzzles, problems about figures in space and development, permutations and movement, weighing and pouring; solved from the end, using tables, segments, graphs or Euler circles - this is not the whole variety of logical problems, the solution of which activates all sorts of mental operations and creative, out-of-the-box thinking develops.

Logic is a tasty treat for the mind

This is exactly what the students wrote on the board before the start of one of our logic circle classes. What is the beauty of logic problems?

• they will be equally interesting to both children interested in mathematics and “humanities”;
• many of them do not require knowledge of the school curriculum;
• Even a preschooler without reading skills can solve them (for example, Sudoku, puzzles, puzzles with matches, “gears” and other problems in pictures).

Children love solving logic problems and riddles. They are interested! When I worked at school, I saw that the children coped with the program, mechanically memorizing how to solve certain standard problems.

And problems with stars immediately enlivened the class; both strong and weak students were included in the discussion process. At home, the children could and wanted to explain this task to their parents themselves. But even these problems with asterisks were located randomly on the pages of the textbook; no system was developed.

Bitno Galina Mikhailovna

LogicLike head teacher, highest category teacher

Only system and A complex approach creates favorable conditions for the formation of non-standard thinking. “Food for the mind” should also be balanced and varied. Try it yourself and invite your children to solve just such a selection of problems. This will help identify those links in logic that need to be worked on more diligently.

Try it yourself

In the online platform Logiclike, created to develop logic and mathematical abilities in children 5-12 years old, the authors tried to implement everything that is often lacking in both students and teachers in school programs. Systematicity, involvement, interactivity, visibility, motivation... But first of all, this is food for the mind, that same “yummy” that makes a child think, reason, test his strength, express himself creativity and rejoice when you manage to find the right solution.

• If you want to develop non-standard thinking and flexible logic in your child, give him good exercise for the mind in the form of a variety of logical problems, for solving which you need to use different logical laws and solution methods (method from the end, tabular method, using graphs or Euler circles, etc.)
• Approach learning systematically: from theory to tasks, from simple to complex, from familiarization with new types of tasks to reflection.
• Consider the specifics of thinking in younger children school age– use visual images and visual materials.
• It is important not to impose a solution method on children, but to try to carry out the analysis in such a way that they themselves, through logical reasoning, find the correct answer.
• Introduce game elements into the learning process, use the educational capabilities of IT.
• Logic classes, like sports training, require regularity and a gradual increase in the complexity of tasks.

Exercise with your child and have fun!

Entertaining puzzles for lateral thinking

Paul Sloan and Des McHale

Translation from English N. Chupeeva; illustrations by Myron Miller

INTRODUCTION

The brain needs and benefits from exercise. These puzzles are a kind of mental fitness course aimed at developing your ability to think outside the box. You can even do an additional exercise once you hear the answers.

The puzzles contained in this book consist of unusual, often far from real life situations. Each of them has a completely logical explanation. You have to get to the heart of the matter every time. The "Clues" section contains guiding questions and hints in case you find yourself stuck. You may enjoy these puzzles more if you solve them not alone, but with friends, colleagues, etc. It will be best if someone who knows the solutions to the puzzles answers questions asked by other group members. Questions should be formulated in such a way that they can be answered with “yes,” “no,” or “irrelevant.”

When you start solving puzzles, it is best to test all your assumptions and hunches. Ask questions broadly and clearly to find out what is really going on in the situation at hand. You will have to be both logical and imaginative. When a series of questions lead you nowhere, you will have to approach the solution “from the other side.” This is when the ability to think outside the box will play its decisive role.

The puzzles contained in this book are divided into 4 main groups with two tests VASLYA, included in the text for variety and light respite. The easier tasks are included in the “Test Puzzles” section, and the most difficult ones are included in the “Devil Puzzles” section. There is also a section in this book called “Scary Puzzles”. They are all about death, accidents or injuries. Such puzzles are among the most popular, but scrupulous and fastidious readers have a hostile attitude towards such riddles. And here are the tests VASLYA, may appeal to the most cheerful readers. These tests are specifically designed to make you laugh.

The world needs people who can think outside the box and find new, original approaches to solutions. current problems in all areas of life. Humanity needs people who can find new and exciting solutions to the problems that confront us. Our puzzles are, of course, primarily entertainment. But for all that, they can help form a new legion of people who can think outside the box.

PUZZLES

1. Test puzzles

1.1 A story about a fish

One woman had a favorite that was very dear to her - gold fish. Once a woman noticed that the fish in the aquarium was not swimming as well as before, was weakening and wasting away. Then this woman took the fish to the veterinarian, who told her to come back in an hour. When the woman returned, she saw that her goldfish had become as active as before and seemed to have recovered. How did the vet manage to cope with such a task?

1.2 Missing passenger

Little Billy was only 4 years old, and his father and mother were no longer in the world. The man who cared for Billy sent him by train to the village where Billy would now live. Billy could neither read nor write.

He also did not know the place where he was sent. Only the large sign hanging around his neck could help Billy get where he needed to go, because on this sign his name and destination were written. However, despite all the efforts and all the goodwill of the railway employees, Billy never got to the village where he was sent. Why?

One woman approached a man standing behind the counter and handed him a book. The man looked at this book and said: “That’s four dollars.” The woman paid the stated amount and left without taking the book. The man saw that the woman left empty-handed, but did not call her back. Why?

1.4 "Hairy" problem

Why - in general - does the hair on a man's head turn gray before his mustache?

Two naturalists, determined to protect nature and save endangered species of animals and plants, are talking to each other. One says to the other, “I liked the way you hit that bird.” The second responds to this: “Yes, it turned out well, but worse than what you did with the big bird.” What were these naturalists talking about?

1.6 Blind while drinking tea

One man was drinking tea when he suddenly became blind. What happened to this man?

1.7 Miscalculation

One man was slowly counting something, but unfortunately lost count. A little later he felt a sharp pain in his back. Because of which?

1.8 Weather forecast

John was watching TV. Just after the midnight news, the weather forecast said: “It is raining now and will not stop for the next two days. However, in 72 hours it will be clear and sunny.” “They’re lying again,” John snorted. He was right, but how did he know that the forecast was wrong?

1.9 You can’t look to the West...

Agree that at the North Pole it is impossible to look at the North, but at South Pole- South. Where, then, would you be if you could look from there to the North and the South, but could not look either to the East or to the West?

1.10 Beggar

The beggar had a brother who died. How is the beggar related to his dead brother? (Do not answer “Brother.”)

1.11 Truck driver

The officer saw the truck driver driving the wrong way on a one-way street, but made no attempt to stop the driver. Why?

1.12 Mountains ahead

You are sitting next to the pilot of a small plane 1 mile above sea level. You can see huge mountains right in front of you. The pilot does not change speed, direction, or altitude, but you remain unharmed. Find an explanation for this.

1.13 Strange baptism

During the baptism ceremony godmother The baby is suddenly grabbed by the priest who is leading the ceremony, pushes him so that he ends up on the floor, and then she rolls the priest along the floor. Why is she doing this?

1.14 Pond problem

One person wants to get to an island located in the middle of a decorative pond and remain dry. An island is separated from each side of the pond by a distance of 20 feet (see figure), and the man has 2 boards, each 17 feet long. How will this person be able to get to the island?

1.15 Walking and running

Once upon a time there were two avid athletes. One evening, exactly at 6:00 p.m., one of them started on foot at 4 miles per hour, and the other started on a bicycle at 12 miles per hour. After an hour, each of them stopped. Then they both ran for 15 minutes at 8 miles per hour. Both athletes started at the same point A. Both moved the entire time in the same direction, never changing course and without resting for 45 minutes. Both reached point B at the same time. How could this happen and what was the distance from A to B?

1.16 Church Bells I

One detective lay in bed on a Sunday morning listening to the local church bells ringing. Suddenly he realized that he was listening to a soundtrack. How did he guess this?

1.17 Church Bells II

One night the vicar noticed that the old church clock was striking 13 strokes at midnight. The same thing happened the next midnight, and the vicar checked the clock mechanism. The mechanism was in in perfect order, but the clock struck 13 again. Why?

1.18 Popular book

When this book was first published, only a few very rich people read it. Now almost everyone has a copy of this book, and many people often look into it. However, you cannot buy it in a bookstore, just as you cannot borrow it from a library. What is this book?

1.19 River crossing problem I

One man came to the river, bringing with him a fox, a duck and a bag of grain. Near the very bank of the river, he saw a boat in which it was possible to transport only a fox, or only a duck, or just one bag of grain across the river at a time. A man could not leave a fox alone with a duck or a duck “alone” with a sack of grain. How did this man get the fox, duck and sack across the river?

Preschoolers solve this problem in 5-10 minutes. Some programmers take up to an hour to complete it. But many people, after writing several sheets of paper, give up.

Parking space number

It usually takes a six-year-old child no more than 20 seconds to solve this problem. But it often confuses unprepared adults. So what number is hidden under the car?

Riddle for a genius

A genius finds a solution in 10 seconds. Bill Gates - in 20 seconds. Harvard University graduate - in 40 seconds. If you found the answer in 2 minutes, then you belong to the 15% of most gifted people. 75% of people are unable to solve this problem.

Ruler of the Island

The autocratic ruler of one island wanted to prevent aliens from settling on the island. Wanting to maintain the appearance of justice, he issued an order according to which anyone wishing to settle on the island must, after thinking carefully, make any statement, and after a preliminary warning that his life depended on the content of this statement. The order read: “If the alien tells the truth, he will be shot. If he tells a lie, he will be hanged." Can an alien become an island resident?

Project approval

According to the agreement, the procedure for approving a new project in the development of which institutions A, B, and C participate is as follows: if A and B participate in the approval first, then institution B must also participate. If approval occurs first in institutions B and C, Institution A also joins. The question is: are such cases possible when approving a project when only institutions A and B would take part in it, while the participation of institution B would not be necessary (while maintaining the agreement on the procedure for approving projects)?

Two tribes

There are two tribes living on the island: well done. Those who always tell the truth, and liars who always lie. The traveler met the islander, asked him who he was, and when he heard that he was from a tribe of fellows, he hired him as a guide. They went and saw another islander in the distance, and the traveler sent his guide to ask him to what tribe he belonged. The guide returned and said that he claimed to be from a tribe of fellows. The question is: was the guide a good guy or a liar?

Aborigines and Aliens

Three people stand before the court, each of whom can be either an aborigine or an alien. The judge knows that natives always answer questions truthfully, but aliens always lie. However, the judge does not know which of them is a native and which is an alien. He asks the first one, but does not understand his answer. Therefore, he asks first the second, and then the third, what the first answered. The second one says that the first one said he was an Aborigine. The third says that the first called himself an alien. Who were the second and third defendants?

Beetle on tape

The beetle went on a journey. He crawls along a tape, the length of which is 90 centimeters. At the other end of the ribbon, two centimeters from the end, is a flower. How many centimeters will the beetle have to crawl to the flower: 88 or 92 (provided that it crawls all the time on one side and only at the end can it cross the end of the tape to the other side)?

Purchase

Marina spent a long time choosing which jug to buy. Finally I chose. The saleswoman put the purchase in a box. What did Marina buy? How many jugs did the saleswoman put on the shelves, which ones they were on before?

Tourist

The tourist was walking towards the lake. He reached a crossroads, from where one road led to the right and the other to the left; one went to the lake, the other did not. There were two guys sitting at a crossroads, one of them always told the truth, the other always lied. Both of them answered either “yes” or “no” to any question. The tourist knew all this, but he did not know which of them was telling the truth and which was lying; he also did not know which road led to the lake. The tourist asked only one question to one of the guys. What kind of question was it, since he knew from the answer which road led to the lake?

broken window

During the break there were nine students left in the class. One of them broke the window. The following answers were received to the teacher's question:

How many triangles? What team?

Read carefully and do not write anything down: Torpedo tops the standings, Spartak is in fifth place, and Dynamo is right in the middle between them. If Lokomotiv is ahead of Spartak, and Zenit takes place immediately behind Dynamo, then which of the listed teams is in second place? You are given 30 seconds to think.

Project approval procedure

The enterprise has three workshops - A, B, C, which have agreed on the procedure for approving projects, namely: 1. If workshop B does not participate in the approval of the project, then workshop A does not participate in this approval. 2. If workshop B takes part in approval of the project, then workshops A and C take part in it. The question is: under these conditions, is workshop C obliged to take part in the approval of the project when workshop A takes part in the approval?

An evening walk

Which of these nine mustaches went for an “evening walk”?

7 buttons

Which of the 7 buttons should you press? For the bell to ring? It is recommended to find the path mentally.

Make a table

In the Moscow semi-final of the European Basketball Championship, held in Soviet time, the places were distributed as follows: USSR - 14 points, Italy and Czechoslovakia - 12 each, Israel - 11, Finland - 10, East Germany and Romania - 9 each, and Hungary - 7 points. According to the regulations. Each team received 2 points for a win, 1 point for a loss, and 0 points for a no-show. No draws were allowed. Make a summary table of the results of the games if you know that the Finnish team won against the Italian team and lost to the Romanian team.

Explanation is inevitable

On Tuesday at about 10 o'clock in the morning a stranger burst into Inspector Warnicke's room. He was extremely excited. His hands were shaking, his tousled hair stuck out in all directions. A few minutes later, having lit a cigarette and calmed down, the visitor began his story: - This morning I returned from vacation. I had to shake on the train all night. I didn’t get enough sleep and, when I came home, I decided to lie down on the sofa. Because of fatigue, I did not immediately notice that the piano had disappeared from the room, but coffee table and the chair are moved from their place. On this piece of paper I drew a plan for the arrangement of furniture in the room before I left. “Here’s what, dear,” said Inspector Warnicke, quickly glancing at the drawing, “First of all, it’s absolutely clear to me that you didn’t have a piano at all.” Now let's find out why you needed this lie. Why did Inspector Warnicke doubt the veracity of the visitor's story?

LOGIC PROBLEMS

Logic problems, just like mathematics, is called “mental gymnastics.” But, unlike mathematics, logic problems is an entertaining gymnastics that allows you to test and train your thought processes in a fun way, sometimes from an unexpected perspective. Solving them requires intelligence, sometimes intuition, but not specialized knowledge. Solving logic problems consists in thoroughly analyzing the conditions of the problem, unraveling the tangle of contradictory connections between characters or objects. Logic problems for children- these are, as a rule, whole stories with popular actors, in which you just need to get used to, feel the situation, visualize it and grasp the connections.

Even the most complex tasks on logic do not contain numbers, vectors, functions. But a mathematical way of thinking is necessary here: the main thing is to comprehend and understand the condition logical problem. The most obvious solution on the surface is not always the right one. But most often, solving a logic problem turns out to be much simpler than it seems at first glance, despite the confusing condition.

Interesting logic problems for children in a variety of subjects - mathematics, physics, biology - cause them increased interest to these academic disciplines and help in their meaningful study. Logic problems for weighing, transfusion, non-standard tasks logical thinking will help in Everyday life solve everyday problems in a non-standard way.

In the process of solving logic problems you will get acquainted with mathematical logic - a separate science, otherwise called “mathematics without formulas”. Logic as a science was created by Aristotle, who was not a mathematician, but a philosopher. And logic was originally part of philosophy, one of the methods of reasoning. In his work “Analytics,” Aristotle created 20 patterns of reasoning, which he called syllogisms. One of his most famous syllogisms is: “Socrates is a man; all people are mortal; So Socrates is mortal." Logic (from ancient Greek. Λογική - speech, reasoning, thought) is the science of correct thinking, or, in other words, the “art of reasoning.”

There are certain techniques solving logical problems:

way of reasoning, with the help of which the simplest logical problems are solved. This method is considered the most trivial. During the solution, reasoning is used that consistently takes into account all the conditions of the problem, which gradually lead to a conclusion and the correct answer.

table method, used in solving text logic problems. As the name suggests, solving logical problems involves constructing tables that allow you to visualize the conditions of the problem, control the reasoning process, and help you draw correct logical conclusions.

graph method consists of brute force possible options development of events and the final choice of the only correct decision.

flowchart method- a method widely used in programming and solving logical transfusion problems. It consists in the fact that first operations (commands) are allocated in the form of blocks, then the sequence of execution of these commands is established. This is a flowchart, which is essentially a program, the execution of which leads to the solution of the task.

billiards method follows from trajectory theory (one of the branches of probability theory). To solve the problem you need to draw a pool table and interpret actions with movements billiard ball along different trajectories. In this case, it is necessary to keep records of possible results in a separate table.

Each of these methods is applicable to solving logical problems from different areas. These seemingly complex and scientific techniques can be used in solving logic problems for grades 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9.

We present you a wide variety logic problems for grades 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9. We have selected for you the most interesting logic problems with answers, which will be of interest not only to children, but also to parents.

• choose for the child logic problems in accordance with his age and development
• take your time to reveal the answer, let the child find it himself logical solution tasks. Let him get there on his own the right decision and you will see what pleasure and feeling of delight he will have when his answer coincides with the given one.
• in progress solving logic problems Leading questions and indirect clues indicating the direction of reflection are acceptable.

Using our selection logic problems with answers you will really learn to solve logical problems, expand your horizons and significantly develop logical thinking. Go for it!!!

Solving logical problems - the first step towards child development.

E. Davydova

Logic is the art of arriving to an unpredictable conclusion.

Samuel Johnson

Without logic it is almost impossible to enter our world brilliant discoveries of intuition.

Kirill Fandeev

A person who thinks logically stands out nicely against the backdrop of the real world.

American saying

Logic is the morality of thought and speech.

Jan Lukasiewicz

A journalist from Singapore posted on his page in social network puzzle, which he said was intended for 10-year-old children. A few days later, this problem blew up the Internet community and heated debates broke out in the comments. However, even the TV presenter himself did not know the correct solution when he published this task - his friend’s niece told him about it. The journalist quarreled with his wife over this puzzle.

After his post became very popular, specialists from the SASMO organization contacted him and said that the problem was actually for children over 14 years old.

Don't be discouraged if you can't give a solution right away, as this task is worth thinking about.

Develop your brain every day through play with the whole family with

• Puzzle:

Two friends recently met a girl. They really want to know what day she was born. The girl named 10 dates, one of which could theoretically be her birthday: September 15, September 16, September 19, October 17, October 18, November 14, November 16, December 14, December 15 and December 17. Then she told one of them (A) the correct month, and the other (B) the date.

“I have no idea what day she was born, but I’m sure B too,” A says after that.

“Initially, I didn’t know which day was correct, but now I’m 100% sure,” B answered him.

“I know exactly the correct date, after phrase B,” A ended the conversation.

When does the girl celebrate her birthday?

Answer

Show answer>

If the girl was born on October 18 or September 19, then B would name the month, purely logically, so we ignore it. In the case where a girl told B that she was born in October or September, then theoretically it would be October 18 or September 19. But, given this reasoning, why is A absolutely sure that B does not know her date of birth? October and September can be removed - the girl was born either in November or December. Remains November 14, November 16, December 14, December 15 and December 17. Here 14 is repeated, and if the girl gave B this number, he still could not give the correct answer. After B's response, A found out when the girl's birthday was. If she said December, he would not be able to give an exact answer, so there is only one correct answer left - November 16th.

Logical problem about a pet store

Stepan Alekseevich recently purchased a store and decided to devote it to selling animals. He started with decorative dogs because he already had them. Stepan Alekseevich bought spacious enclosures for them. If he lets one dog into each enclosure, then one will be left without a house. And if he places two dogs in each enclosure, then one enclosure will be empty. How many enclosures did Stepan Alekseevich buy, and how many dogs did he have?

Task “Two flocks” - developing logical thinking

There are two packs of wolves in the forest: the truthful ones - who never lie - and the liars who never tell the truth. One day, a traveler came across a wolf and, when he learned that he was from a true pack, he asked to be escorted to the edge of the forest in order to get out of it. When they walked further together, they met another wolf, and the wolf guide, at the request of the traveler, ran to find out which pack the second wolf belonged to. When he returned, he said that that wolf claimed to be part of a true pack. Question: What pack does the wolf that accompanied the traveler belong to?

Logical riddle about a broken vase

Nine children were left in one room without parental supervision. When an adult came into the room and saw that the vase self made All that was left were fragments on the floor, he began asking everyone who was the culprit. The answers were:

Masha: It's all Roller!

Pasha: Not true.

Alina: I did it.

Katya: Either Alina or Natasha broke it.

Valik: Pasha is lying.

Sasha: Alina did it.

Nastya: No, this is not Alina.

Natasha: Neither Alina nor I broke the vase.

Andrey: Natasha is right, but Valik didn’t do this either.

Of all the replicas, only three are true. Who broke the vase in this situation?

Attention task about football

In the football championship, where each team fought each other once, 4 teams participated: “Alpha”, “Beta”, “Omega” and “Gamma”. A team was awarded zero points for a loss, two for a win, and one for a draw. The final match was over: Alpha lost to Omega. But “Alpha” still became the winners of the games, and “Omega” did not improve their team’s score. How did the Omega and Gamma teams play among themselves?

Answer

Show answer>

There were 6 games in total, which means 12 points. Alpha has no more than 4 points because the final game is won. But a team cannot have even 3 points, because then other teams have no more than two points (Alpha is in first place), so all groups have no more than 9 points. That. “Alpha” has four points and they defeated “Beta” and “Gamma”. Until the final game, Omega could not have two or even one point. Otherwise, if they had defeated Alpha, they would have moved up to a higher place. Therefore, Omega lost the other two games and therefore scored only two points. Consequently, “Beta” and “Gamma” defeated “Omega”, and there was a draw between them.

Logic problem “Three sisters”

Three sisters, Anastasia, Ekaterina and Anna, teach various items in colleges in New York, Berlin and Amsterdam. Anastasia does not work in New York, and Ekaterina does not work in Berlin. The one who lives in New York does not teach English language. She who works in Berlin teaches higher mathematics. Ekaterina does not teach psychology. What discipline does Anna teach, and in what city college?

Answer	Show answer>
Ekaterina does not work in Berlin, but in New York or Amsterdam. She does not teach psychology, and since she does not work in Berlin, she therefore does not teach higher mathematics. Ekaterina teaches English, so she works not in New York, but in Amsterdam. This means that Anastasia works in Berlin and teaches higher mathematics. Thus, Anna teaches psychology at a college in New York.

A number of words - eliminate unnecessary ones

Flounder, trout, dolphin, shark, stingray.

What word is missing in this series?

Logical problem about sons

Ivanov and Kotov each have 2 sons who are under nine. Their names are Andrey, Vitalik, Lesha and Vasya. Andrey for three years younger than brother. Vitalik is older than all the boys. Lesha is two times younger than the youngest Ivanov. Vasya is 5 years older than the youngest Kotov. 5 years ago, the difference in the sum of the years of the Ivanov and Kotov children was equal to the sum today.

Match the boys' first and last names and their ages.

Logic problem about elections

Six people - let's call them 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 - are running for the positions of president, vice president and secretary of the Magic Kingdom. However, it is not at all easy to assign roles for them.

• 1 does not want to dominate in any way.
• If 5 is not the president, then 2 does not want to be in charge, because then it will be necessary to dominate 3. 2 will not cooperate with 6 in any case.
• 3 will not work in the company if 5 and 6 are in charge together. 3 will resign if 6 is the president, or 2 is the secretary.
• 4 does not work with 3 or 5 because he does not want to be subordinate to one or the other.
• 5 does not want to be deputy president. But he does not want to take the post of secretary if 4 is the boss. Plus, 5 will not work with 1 unless 6 takes one of the leadership positions.
• 6 will cooperate only if he or 3 is president.

Everyone thought about who to put in the leadership positions of the Magic Kingdom, but after thinking logically, they still satisfied the needs of each candidate.

How did they distribute the roles for all the candidates?

All logic problems have answers, so you can find out the answer using the button below.

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An interesting task - “Who?”

The editorial staff consists of an editor-in-chief, a proofreader, a layout designer, a deputy editor and an ordinary journalist.

Their surnames are Kovaleva, Krichkovskaya, Ivanchenko, Motyga and Tulka.

When the proofreader and journalist studied at a linguistic university, they rented an apartment together. Editor-in-Chief at this moment not a family man. Tulka and Kovaleva are enemies. Ivanchenko’s husband was very happy when he learned that the editor-in-chief allowed his wife to take another vacation in August. Hoe was upset when he learned from the editor-in-chief that the layout designer and proofreader would soon get married. Kovaleva and Krichkovskaya are not yet married.

Question: What is the last name of each editorial employee?

Product designer of the Foursquare recommendation service John Steinback published a note on his blog on Medium in which he described how the company’s employees develop their creativity and what exercises they use for this.

The editors of the site publish a list of “creative exercises” that Steinback recommends.

Every Friday PX team (Product Experience - ed.) Foursquare gets together and “practices creativity” - performs special team tasks that help employees show their creative side. PX includes UX specialists, visual designers, copywriters, research and analytical departments of the company.

According to the author of the material, such meetings raise the spirit of the team and help each participant develop creativity. They allow PX employees to look at the problem through the eyes of their colleagues. In addition, they help to establish connections between employees of different departments.

Each week the meeting is led by employees from different departments. The team, writes Steinback, is quite large, so the results of completing tasks are very different for everyone. For approximately half of the time allotted for the meeting, employees solve a problem posed by one of their colleagues, and then exchange the results and their thoughts.

John Steinback has compiled a list of some of the exercises that Foursquare employees have been doing during their Friday meetings over the past two years. The author believes that they will also be useful to employees of other companies.

Create your own sandwich

The point of the exercise is to come up with a sandwich that reflects the personality of the specialist. The photos below are examples of work created by the Foursquare team.

"Blind" portraits

Participants are divided into pairs, and each employee tries to draw a portrait of their partner in five minutes without looking at the paper.

New “interface” of an office facility

An exercise about which FastCompany wrote a separate article. Each employee who took part in the meeting received a photo of some office object - for example, a trash can or a ping-pong table. The employee was required to come up with a new “interface” for the object - to think through how office workers could interact with it.

So, a trash can, for example, could get angry at an employee when he doesn’t throw out the trash:

Dial design for smart watches

The team was faced with the task of inventing new way displaying information on the watch dial. “We were way ahead of our time,” Steinback says.

Matt's maneuver

Employees must place an object in the center of a piece of paper. It is best if it is something that the employee likes to draw, or that suits his life interests. The photo below shows a couple of employees who chose headphones as such an item.

After this, four words or qualities are located in different corners of the sheet. The employees in the photo chose adjectives such as “cheap,” “expensive,” “random,” and “predictable.”

Now workers can begin performing the task itself. Its essence is to gradually “move” the selected object in the direction of each quality - and redraw it in accordance with its position on the piece of paper. For example, the closer “headphones” are to the word “expensive,” the more “expensive” they should look.

"Murder Mystery"

Using cards from the board game Cards Against Humanity (they list various phrases, names famous people etc.), the employees had to explain how the “mysterious murder” was committed and explain whether the suspect was to blame. Participants were required to use all the words given to them in their story:

Flipbooks made from stickers

This task was to create a “flipbook” (a small book with pictures that “move” when flipped through) with your own hands from ordinary office stickers.

Movie title puns

Each employee chose a famous painting, changed one letter in its title - and painted a scene from the new film. For example, Quentin Tarantino's film Mad Dogs"("Reservoir Dogs") workers turned into "Mad Logs" ("Reservoir Logs"):

"One day of life"

Each meeting participant received the name of someone on the Foursquare team, as well as four different places. The employee was required to describe one day in the life of a person that he got, in such a way that during this day the hero managed to visit all four designated places. The story had to be sketched in the form of a small comic book.

"Emoji Song"

The employees split into pairs and together chose some famous song and wrote down her text using emoji. After that, other participants tried to guess what song was represented in each sequence of symbols.

"Mountain Paradise"

Each participant in the meeting had to draw a mountain, and at its top - a place where he would feel completely happy.

Comics featuring Swarm stickers

Employees who took part in the meeting received a sticker from the Swarm application (a service that added the check-in function after Foursquare). Each of the workers was asked to come up with a comic strip featuring the sticker they were given, which would describe the story of its appearance.

Soundscapes

The employees were to be divided into groups of three. A video demonstrating the functionality was prepared for each group mobile application Foursquare. Participants were required to come up with an unusual soundtrack for their video recording.

"Guess the celebrity by her preferences"

To complete this task, each employee had to choose a celebrity or public figure, and then collect ten “preferences” for her, which are available to Foursquare users.

"Collectible cards"

The names of everyone present at the meeting are placed in a hat or other container. After this, each employee draws a card with a name - and draws playing card, personifying the hero:

Create your own Foursquare ad

In early 2015, Foursquare launched its first large-scale offline advertising campaign. Advertising posters show people using Foursquare. Next to them are “bubbles” with words and expressions that describe their tastes:

When completing a task, each employee received a photograph of one of the service team members. Participants were required to select and stick the appropriate “bubbles” with the preferences of the hero of the photo.

Extreme UX cases

Participants were required to imagine how Foursquare would function if the company did not develop an application for smartphones.

Iterative transformation of an object

Four participants in the task depict one object in each corner of a piece of paper and pass this piece of paper to the fifth participant. Now the one who got the sheet has to find one object to which the rest can be “reduced” in several iterations.

Organizing your cover collection

Each employee received a ZIP archive containing 100 different music album covers and singles. Participants were required to classify all covers in the way they themselves wanted.

Telestration

The first employee writes a phrase on a piece of notepad. The second illustrates it on the next sheet. The third writes on the next page what he thinks is shown in the illustration. The next one illustrates the phrase written by the third, and so on until the notebook returns to the first participant.

Saudade

Saudade is a word that does not have an exact translation into Russian and means nostalgia, longing for the past. The meeting participants were asked to come up with something that would help some person cope with this melancholy and for a while “reunite” with those who are no longer with him. Options the team suggested include a tattoo with the coordinates of every place a person has ever called home, or a “super creepy” shawl made from the skins of dead cats.

Website redesign on office sticker

Each employee presented their own version of the redesign of one of the Foursquare website pages. The only restriction set for participants was that they could only use one sticker.

New sticker design for Swarm

Assignment: come up with a new sticker for the Swarm app and tell its backstory.

"Pimp My Ride"

The presenter invited each meeting participant to draw the car of their dreams.

Team board game

Employees are divided into several teams, and each team member is given the task of completing a part of the board game field. Members of one team do not see what their partners have drawn.

"Your morning in 2065"

Each participant had to draw how he sees his morning in 50 years. What will happen outside the window, what will he eat for breakfast, what news will he read and how.

Beer tap design

To complete this task, the employees had to come up with a new beer brand, and after that, sculpt a figurine that would be installed on the beer tap in bars as a handle.