Carousel brainstorming is one technique you can use to generate ideas about the goals and design of your youth garden.

Materials:

1. Begin by identifying different questions your group needs to answer. They may include:

2. Invite everyone interested in helping start your youth garden to a brainstorming meeting.

3. Place large sheets of chart paper around the room and label each with a different question that needs to be answered.

4. Break into small groups. Give each group a colored marker and send them to one of the questions on the wall. Give participants 2 minutes to brainstorm responses and record them on the chart paper. When the 2 minutes are up, have groups move to the next question to read what's written and add their own ideas. Continue until each group has had a chance to visit each question.

5. When groups return to their original charts, give them 5 to 10 minutes to review and summarize the ideas, then take turns reporting to the full group. Are there any questions you haven’t covered in this process that need to be answered?

6. You will not be able to deliver on all ideas generated through brainstorming. To prioritize, give each participant five to 10 dot stickers for each question, and ask them to place the dots beside the features or ideas they think are most important. They can use all their dots on one item or spread them out across several suggestions.

7. Ask for volunteers to form groups to research each priority item. For instance, if one question was "Where will we put the garden?" have a group determine which of the suggested locations are viable options. Ask groups to report their findings at the next meeting.