Convergent Thinking Speech Therapy Task Ideas

Here's my next cognitive area in this series of posts adapted from my old student Janelle Barret's  "student project." Convergent thinking tasks! 

First of all, to better understand Convergent Thinking (CT), read my previous post HERE on the differences between CT and DT (Divergent Thinking).  It can be a tricky topic to understand in some ways.

Still having trouble understanding the differences?  Here are a couple of simple posts and quizzes I found on a blog about teaching children.

• http://imaginationsoup.net/2012/01/quiz-yourself-examples-of-divergent-and-convergent-thinking/
• http://imaginationsoup.net/2012/01/chimera-vs-stickman-the-difference-between-convergent-and-divergent-thinking/
• http://education-portal.com/academy/lesson/creativity-and-divergent-thinking.html#lesson
• http://chriscorrigan.com/parkinglot/?p=1265
• http://mrsaley.edu.glogster.com/divergent-and-convergent-thinking/
• Linear thinking, or convergent thinking, is about learning facts, follow instructions, and solving problems with one right answer.
• Divergent thinking is generating unique solutions and seeing various possibilities in response to questions and problems.
• - See more at: http://imaginationsoup.net/2012/01/quiz-yourself-examples-of-divergent-and-convergent-thinking/#sthash.rSdTZJ2c.dpuf
• http://bouncingideas.wordpress.com/2011/09/02/when-to-let-go/
• http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=divergent+thinking&FORM=HDRSC2&id=C11770466133B1ACFA59DA365BE002DAF3F7E1F1&selectedIndex=126#view=detail&id=C11770466133B1ACFA59DA365BE002DAF3F7E1F1&selectedIndex=0
• http://www.thinkingdimensionsglobal.com/problem-solving-through-divergent-and-convergent-thinking/
• A Test of DT: Break Point and Beyond

And without further ado:

Convergent Thinking Therapy Task Ideas:

• Identifying the “best” solution to a problem
• Given 4-5 examples, have patient name the category they belong to
• Basically any task with a SINGLE correct target answer.  General information questions, naming a target word based on a description.
• Name similarities between 2 items (this is an interesting cross between CT and DT!)
• Elimination tasks (which of these is not like the other?). WALC 2 has some good ones.
• List several foods with one ingredient in common- have the patient name the common ingredient (e.g., eggs, sugar, meat, etc.)
• Games and Apps:
• 20 Questions
• Riddles
• Crossword puzzle apps
• Analogies for Kids app
• Giving clues for figuring out the described object
• Taking several pieces of information and then making the best educated decision
• Following Directions tasks of all kinds (verbal, written, etc.).  Yes- this is convergent thinking too!
• Category and first letter grids (animal that beings with "O")
• Crossword puzzles

What do you do to target convergent thinking? 

Leave us a comment below!