A creative mind is usually one that is active. Creating an active mind is not difficult – you just need to exercise it on a regular basis in order for you to go beyond mediocre thinking. Below are some interesting exercises designed to bring out the best in creative thinking. Try your hardest to resist looking at the answers until you have a solution (if you can). Enjoy…

1. 10 Apples

At the end of a birthday party, the hostess realises that there are 10 apples left in a basket. She distributed an apple to each of the 10 children who are leaving. After all the 10 children have taken their apples, there is still one apple left in the basket. Why?

2. The Jump

A man is drinking coffee at his table by the window. He is enjoying the view outside when suddenly he decides to jump out of the 20-storey building. He lands safely, unhurt in any way, although there is nothing to cushion his landing. How is this possible?

3. The Clock

The clock in the tower of the main City Square takes 2 seconds to strike 2 o’clock. How long will it take for the clock to strike 3 o’clock?

ANSWERS

1. Ten Apples

After giving away 9 apples, the hostess gave the basket away with the last apple still inside.

2. Jumping out from a 20-storey building

The man jumped out from the window of the ground floor of the 20-storey building

3. The Striking Clock

Start your stop-watch at the first strike and stop the watch at the second strike. You would have measured the time interval between the 2 strikes (which is 2 seconds in this case). This interval is a constant. To strike 3 o’clock there will be two time intervals of 2 seconds each, which means that 4 seconds will be required. Try it out, and you’ll see.

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