Resources

1) Invention Challenges to Get Kids Started: Here is a cool booklet to help educators, parents and kids start inventing. Unlike many programs that focus on robotics and coding, this one uses every-day objects for mechanical/building-based challenges. I think an Invention Party would be a cool birthday theme for any age! The last few pages have even more resources listed.

(It prints funny unless you save as a pdf, then print from Adobe)

https://pbskids.org/designsquad/pdf/parentseducators/DS_Invent_Guide_Full.pdf

2) Kid Inventors: These kids invented some familiar items, like earmuffs! So inspiring.

https://www.greatbusinessschools.org/10-great-inventions-dreamt-up-by-children/

3) Invention One-Page Handout: I created this to share at our table at Engineering Week at The Children's Museum of Houston. "What Could You Invent?" You're welcome to copy this jpeg image. For a pdf or Word document, contact me through my contact page and I'll email it to you.

4) Providing a Creative Environment

If you ask Owen how to be creative, he will say, “You need a lot of junk and a lot of time.” This might be the hard part for parents! He filled his room with odds and ends that he collected.

When he was younger, his mom provided him with open-ended toys like blocks, magnets, scissors, foam craft sheets, pipe cleaners, clay, and other interesting things from the craft store. She lamented that he wouldn’t sit still in front of the tv because he always wanted to do something!

He loved playing outside with water, filling bins, dumping them out, and watching little toys float on the waves. Bath toys were an extension of this kind of play. He spent hours playing in the sandbox, which was strategically placed in the far corner of the yard in an attempt to minimize sand in the house!

For lots of simple play ideas that stimulate creative thinking, search online for Montessori education toys, Waldorf education toys, and a fantastic list of ideas on this webpage: http://www.besthomeschooling.org/articles/lillian_jones_ps_kdgtn.html