New Uses for Cotton Candy

One of the ways we practice critical thinking in our class is to do activities throughout the year where the students come up with a new use for something. I demonstrate for them with a pencil. A pencil can write-but what else can it do. I can put my hair up with it. I can open a can with it. Then we try it with other objects,

Because this week is the rodeo in Houston, we read the story:

It's a story about a boy who inadvertently distributes cotton candy all over the fair. We discussed how we might solve that problem (many wanted to eat their way out :). And then they wrote about what else we can use cotton candy for-thinking about the color, the texture. Now when we first do these activities it's like pulling teeth. But trust me when I tell you the more you do activities like this, the more creative their thinking becomes.

Here's what they came up with: