“Thinking Outside The BOx" is just the right thing for them! This class will give your child the opportunity to learn how to think on their feet and spend time in a wonderfully stimulating and creative environment while learning how to tackle challenging problems. 

This enrichment class is a great complement to the international competition Odyssey of the Mind https://odysseyofthemind.com/  since “TOB” teaches the students creative and critical thinking, problem solving and learning to look at concepts and ideas from different angles.

The teacher and founder, Paula De Brito Cohen, is an international business development consultant with extensive experience in project management, coaching and leadership development. A resident of Arlington for over 30 years she was presented in 2020 with the APS Honored Citizen Award for her important contribution as a volunteer for the APS schools as well as a coach and judge for Odyssey of the Mind .

While working from home as a consultant, she came up with the idea of an enrichment class, "Thinking Outside The BOx” as a way to complement the great education we have in Northern Virginia with very important life, business and work skills adapted for young minds. She has been offering “TOB” for more than 18 years at several APS schools and some camps in the Northern Virginia area.

The class usually starts with a brain warm up question or challenge, followed by a presentation and open discussion on a specific concept/topic, such as brainstorming, team building, problem solving, creativity learning, leadership development, etc and ends with a subject related hands-on project or activity, individual or team oriented. 

Children use their imagination to build and create all sorts of  contraptions, structures, bridges, vehicles, creatures, etc out of all kind of materials such as pasta, marshmallows, straws, toothpicks, elastic bands, paper, clay, popsicle sticks, pipe cleaners, bubble wrap, yarn, duck tape, card board, etc.  

They are introduced to brainstorming techniques such as the "time travel", "mind map", " Venn diagram", "superpowers", “SWOT”  analysis, “brain writing", etc, 

They learn and practice the basics of problem solving and conflict resolution, they apply creativity development techniques such as the "De Bono Six Thinking Hats" method of parallel thinking and the "SCAMPER" model of teaching creativity by Bob Eberle. 

We talk about leadership skills and traits and the crucial relationship amongst effective communication, trust and leadership. Students have the opportunity to lead a group brainstorm session, gather, organize and evaluate the answers from their team mates, and lead the team to a consensus and final decision.

They  work on and solve, individually or in a team, challenging problems and activities such as "human knot", “egg drop”, "paper fold", "blind walk, "balloon toss", etc. 

Most importantly, they will have fun and apply their creative and critical thinking while learning crucial concepts and skills for our new digital increasingly complex and challenging world.