Create a Hat Pattern Picture Wall

Create a Hat Pattern Picture Wall

The aim is to illustrate the importance of the Thinking Hats in creating solutions.

1. The teacher places six coloured Hats in a prominent place in the classroom.  The teacher introduces the Hats and explains the meaning of each one. 
2. The teacher creates groups of 4-5 students.
3. The teacher introduces a challenge for the groups to solve e.g. How to organise online shopping for a grocery shop. 
4. The teacher introduces the Hats and explains the meaning of each one. 
5. The teacher asks each team to experiment with the order of the hats and note the solutions this creates.  The students should collect as many solutions per Hat, then role-play using different coloured Hats noting the different solutions created.  For example, are there more solutions from the white hat and none from the red one?
6. The teacher discusses with the groups which solutions they prefer and why. They can create short and funny pitches to present their ideas to the other groups. 
7. The teacher asks each group to create a slogan for their preferred solution.  The students write their slogan next to their solution then add the Hats used and take a photo of it. For example, 'Don't worry. How could you have known?' with a green or red Hat or 'Always prepared!' with recurring black and white Hats.
8. The students place their picture solutions to the challenge on the ‘Create Wall’. 
9. The teacher takes a picture of the group in front of the wall and puts it on the door of the classroom. 

It is essential that the students are aware of the meaning of each of the coloured hats.
Additional help on using the Six Hats can be found at: http://www.ideasforideas.com/

The activity could be done using online tools such as Padlet, virtual whiteboard and breakout rooms in Teams/Zoom.