Activities

Imagination Construction, Building the Impossible!

In this activity, kids will explore multimodal prompting by learning how to build everyday objects using unconventional materials. This activity will enhance their curiosity and enable them to understand generative AI’s role in creativity / brainstorming and its potential inaccuracies.

Introduction to the Activity:

Imagine a world where you can create anything you want using the most unusual materials. A chair made of yogurt or a bicycle made out of spaghetti! Today, we will use photos and an AI tool that can help us come up with wacky and imaginative ways to build everyday objects with the strangest materials you can think of. Remember, the AI might come up with some wild ideas, and it's your job to think about how practical or crazy those ideas might be!

Materials Needed:

Camera or smartphone for taking pictures
Access to ChatGPT or another generative AI tool
(Optional) Actual materials to try and build the crazy creations

Prompts:

We will be using the following basic prompt for the activity:

"How would I build this out of [Insert Material]"

This prompt has some a placeholder that you need to fill in. The "[Insert Material]" is the placeholder. You will replace this with a material to explore.

For example, you could replace this placeholder with "rice" to create the prompt "How would I build this out of rice."

You will always include a photo with the prompt. The steps for taking the photos will be described later. For now, just know that you will use the prompt with a photo.

Here are some more examples of the prompt AFTER the placeholder is filled in:

"How would I build this out of spaghetti?" (with a photograph of a bicycle)
"How would I build this out of marshmallows?" (with a photograph of a house)
"How would I build this out of balloons?" (with a photograph of shoes)
"How would I build this out of candy canes?" (with a photograph of a bookshelf)

Activity Steps:

Introduction to the Concept:
- Discuss the idea of making ordinary objects with extraordinary materials.
- Emphasize exploring different approaches and material properties.
- Example: "Today, we’ll imagine building everyday items with unusual materials – like a chair made of yogurt or a toy car made of pasta!"
- We want to understand how changing the material will change the properties of that item.
Photo Session:
- Ask kids to take clear photos of everyday objects like chairs, toys, utensils, etc.
- Try to make sure that each photo has a clear subject matter, like a chair.
- Spend a few minutes collecting various pictures.
- Example: "Let’s find some interesting objects around us. Take clear photos so the AI can understand what we’re looking at."
Generating Prompts with AI:
- Fill in the placeholder and type in the prompt:
  - "How would I build this out of [Insert Material]"
- Attach one of the photos to the prompt (typically this is done by finding the "+" or paperclip icon near the prompt)
- Example, take a picture of a car and type in the prompt:
  - "How would I build this out of recycled shoes."
- Show each photo to the AI with your prompt:
  - "How would I build this out of <Insert Material>"
- Review the AI's responses together.
- Examples of alternate prompts:
  - "How would I build this out of yogurt?"
  - "How could we build it out of Cheerios?"
  - "How could we build it out of steel?"
Exploration of Materials:
- Compile a list of materials such as yogurt, Cheerios, marshmallows, pasta, etc.
- Ask the AI about building the same object with different materials to compare methods.
- Example: "Let’s see how we can make a chair out of marshmallows and then see how different it is from making a chair out of pasta."
Continue the Generative AI Conversation to Compare & Contrast Different Materials:
1. Pick a conversation where you have already prompted the generative AI with a photo.
2. Follow up to the AI's response (e.g., type in one of these messages after its response) with one of these prompts:
  - (Follow-up Prompt) "If I wanted to make this creation stronger, give me four options for similar cost materials that I could use to build it."
  - (Follow-up Prompt) "Why might I want to build this object out of this material? What would be its unique and unexpected properties that could make it practically useful?"
  - (Follow-up Prompt) "Is there a process I could use to make [Insert Material] stronger?" (fill in placeholder)
  - Compare AI Suggestions:
    - Discuss the feasibility, strengths, and weaknesses of each material suggested by the AI.
    - Compare and contrast the approaches for different materials.
    - Example: "Which do you think would be stronger for making a chair: yogurt or pasta? Why?"
    - Example Follow-up Prompt:
      - "I want to build a chair out of yogurt. Is there a process I could use to make the yogurt stronger?"
Comparing Different Prompts
1. Instead of filling in the material as a placeholder, use this prompt instead and attach TWO pictures to the prompt
  1. Prompt: "How would I build the thing shown in the first photograph out of the material shown in the second photograph"
Reflection on Findings:
- Talk about the practicality and creativity of AI’s suggestions.
- Highlight the importance of understanding material properties in real-life construction.
- Example: "Could we really make a chair out of yogurt? What about the durability and practicality of such ideas?"
- Example: "Why might I want to build this object out of this material? What would be its unique and unexpected properties that could make it practically useful?"
Interactive Discussion:
- Discuss other potential uses of AI for creative problem-solving.
- Nurture the kids' imagination and critical thinking.
- Example: "How else can we use AI to think creatively? Can you think of a fun new project to ask the AI about?"

Learning Points:

Understanding how to use multimodal prompting with AI.
Encouraging imaginative thinking and evaluating practicality.
Encouraging exploration of different design options with AI.
Thinking through "why" we might want to use AI to help us explore different ways of doing things.
Emphasize the distance between "AI suggestions" and actually building the object out of the material -- there is a lot of testing, engineering, and other work that needs to happen to ensure it would actually work

#AimazingFun - Sharing Aimazing Ideas

If you are a parent or teacher and post something amazing that your kids did, please tag it with #AimazingFun. We love seeing incredible ideas.

Below are tagging and sharing instructions for Instagram and Facebook.

Instagram:

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In your caption, include the hashtag: #AimazingFun.

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Facebook:

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In your caption, include the hashtag: #AimazingFun.

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If you enjoyed the activity, consider tagging other parents and teachers to share the Aimazing Fun with them.

Sign Up for Updates (Optional)

Sign up for our email list to receive exclusive updates and be eligible for other exciting awards!Objective: Introduce kids to the concept of multimodal prompting and encourage creative thinking by exploring how to build everyday objects using unconventional materials. This activity will enhance their curiosity and enable them to understand generative AI’s role in creativity / brainstorming and its potential inaccuracies.

Introduction to the Activity:

Materials Needed:

Camera or smartphone for taking pictures
Access to ChatGPT or another generative AI tool
(Optional) Actual materials to try and build the crazy creations

Prompts:

We will be using the following basic prompt for the activity:

"How would I build this out of [Insert Material]"

This prompt has a placeholder that you need to fill in. The "[Insert Material]" is the placeholder. You will replace this with a material to explore.

For example, you could replace this placeholder with "rice" to create the prompt "How would I build this out of rice."

You will always include a photo with the prompt. The steps for taking the photos will be described later. For now, just know that you will use the prompt with a photo.

Here are some more examples of the prompt AFTER the placeholder is filled in:

"How would I build this out of spaghetti?" (with a photograph of a bicycle)
"How would I build this out of marshmallows?" (with a photograph of a house)
"How would I build this out of balloons?" (with a photograph of shoes)
"How would I build this out of candy canes?" (with a photograph of a bookshelf)

Activity Steps:

Introduction to the Concept:
- Discuss the idea of making ordinary objects with extraordinary materials.
- Emphasize exploring different approaches and material properties.
- Example: "Today, we’ll imagine building everyday items with unusual materials – like a chair made of yogurt or a toy car made of pasta!"
- We want to understand how changing the material will change the properties of that item.
Photo Session:
- Ask kids to take clear photos of everyday objects like chairs, toys, utensils, etc.
- Try to make sure that each photo has a clear subject matter, like a chair.
- Spend a few minutes collecting various pictures.
- Example: "Let’s find some interesting objects around us. Take clear photos so the AI can understand what we’re looking at."
Generating Prompts with AI:
- Fill in the placeholder and type in the prompt:
  - "How would I build this out of [Insert Material]"
- Attach one of the photos to the prompt (typically this is done by finding the "+" or paperclip icon near the prompt)
- Example, take a picture of a car and type in the prompt:
  - "How would I build this out of recycled shoes."
- Show each photo to the AI with your prompt:
  - "How would I build this out of <Insert Material>"
- Review the AI's responses together.
- Examples of alternate prompts:
  - "How would I build this out of yogurt?"
  - "How could we build it out of Cheerios?"
  - "How could we build it out of steel?"
Exploration of Materials:
- Compile a list of materials such as yogurt, Cheerios, marshmallows, pasta, etc.
- Ask the AI about building the same object with different materials to compare methods.
- Example: "Let’s see how we can make a chair out of marshmallows and then see how different it is from making a chair out of pasta."
Continue the Generative AI Conversation to Compare & Contrast Different Materials:
1. Pick a conversation where you have already prompted the generative AI with a photo.
2. Follow up to the AI's response (e.g., type in one of these messages after its response) with one of these prompts:
  - (Follow-up Prompt) "If I wanted to make this creation stronger, give me four options for similar cost materials that I could use to build it."
  - (Follow-up Prompt) "Why might I want to build this object out of this material? What would be its unique and unexpected properties that could make it practically useful?"
  - (Follow-up Prompt) "Is there a process I could use to make [Insert Material] stronger?" (fill in placeholder)
  - Compare AI Suggestions:
    - Discuss the feasibility, strengths, and weaknesses of each material suggested by the AI.
    - Compare and contrast the approaches for different materials.
    - Example: "Which do you think would be stronger for making a chair: yogurt or pasta? Why?"
    - Example Follow-up Prompt:
      - "I want to build a chair out of yogurt. Is there a process I could use to make the yogurt stronger?"
Comparing Different Prompts
1. Instead of filling in the material as a placeholder, use this prompt instead and attach TWO pictures to the prompt
  1. Prompt: "How would I build the thing shown in the first photograph out of the material shown in the second photograph"
Reflection on Findings:
- Talk about the practicality and creativity of AI’s suggestions.
- Highlight the importance of understanding material properties in real-life construction.
- Example: "Could we really make a chair out of yogurt? What about the durability and practicality of such ideas?"
- Example: "Why might I want to build this object out of this material? What would be its unique and unexpected properties that could make it practically useful?"
Interactive Discussion:
- Discuss other potential uses of AI for creative problem-solving.
- Nurture the kids' imagination and critical thinking.
- Example: "How else can we use AI to think creatively? Can you think of a fun new project to ask the AI about?"

Learning Points:

Understanding how to use multimodal prompting with AI.
Encouraging imaginative thinking and evaluating practicality.
Encouraging exploration of different design options with AI.
Thinking through "why" we might want to use AI to help us explore different ways of doing things.
Emphasize the distance between "AI suggestions" and actually building the object out of the material -- there is a lot of testing, engineering, and other work that needs to happen to ensure it would actually work

#AimazingFun - Sharing Aimazing Ideas

If you are a parent or teacher and post something amazing that your kids did, please tag it with #AimazingFun. We love seeing incredible ideas.

Below are tagging and sharing instructions for Instagram and Facebook.

Instagram:

Follow Our Instagram Account

Ensure you are following @AImazingFun on Instagram to stay updated on new activities, courses, and other Aimazing Fun. https://www.instagram.com/aimazingfun

Use the #AimazingFun Hashtag

In your caption, include the hashtag: #AimazingFun.

Tag Friends

If you enjoyed the activity, consider tagging other parents and teachers to share the Aimazing Fun with them.

Sign Up for Updates

Facebook:

Follow Our Page

Ensure you are following our Facebook page AImazingFun to stay updated on new activities, courses, and other Aimazing Fun. https://facebook.com/aimazingfun

Use the #AimazingFun Hashtag

In your caption, include the hashtag: #AimazingFun.

Tag Friends

If you enjoyed the activity, consider tagging other parents and teachers to share the Aimazing Fun with them.

Sign Up for Updates (Optional)