Play and being playful are considered cornerstones of creativity and idea generation. There is significant evidence that many ideas for new products and services were developed through playing around with ideas, materials, and products. Play itself gives us a fresh perspective, which is often critical in solving problems and being innovative. Play also helps us better understand the world around us because we can explore things in a fun way - we can make and build, create new worlds and personas, play new games, and break the rules, without fear of consequences. Play helps entrepreneurs innovate because it's risk-free-there's no judgment or failure when you're playing.

In Activity 1, students will be using their imaginations to transform everyday objects into something different and playing through design challenges during Activity 2. Students will rotate in teams to four different stations with a challenge to create something at each. Finally, Activity 3 will involve creative play as students create a menu and play food for an alien planet. To close out the activity and lesson, students will role play waiters/waitresses and customers at each other's diners.