If your problem is to improve a table fan, you might set it up as follows:
Improve ___________ ___________ ___________ ____________ ____________ fan.
Next, begin free associating by filling in the blanks:
Finally, use the free associations to think of ideas. For instance, you might put a fan on wheels to roll around on a table (from “car”) or design a fan that blows air in pulses, like a cough (from “congestion”).
Here’s another example:
These words prompt ideas such as putting a chemical on the blades to blow scented air (from “butter”) and making a fan with gold blades (from “dough”).
Note: Although the connection between the words may not appear to be logical, that is O.K. Free association does not have to “make sense.” For instance, in the example immediately above, the word “butter” follows the word “better.” When I thought of butter, it was because that is what saying a word similar in sound made me think of. The connections between “butter” and “bread” and “dough” are more transparent. However, following “dough” with “blow” was based only on rhyming.
Taken From : Pfeiffer 101 Activities for Teaching Creativity
