Whether you’re looking for fun ideas for the weekend or activities to reinforce academic skills, there are many invention ideas for kids that you can do at home! 

Inventions ideas allow kids to simultaneously express their creativity and strengthen their academic skills! With the freedom to “tinker,” kids can build confidence in their abilities and learn how to problem-solve.

Plus, who knows… maybe your child will come up with an idea that changes the world! There’s no age limit when it comes to inventing new things.

Kid Inventors’ Day 2023

Kid Inventors’ Day is celebrated every January 17, on Benjamin Franklin’s birthday. Although any day is a good day for kids’ creativity, this day honors the imagination and ingenuity of youngsters!

We have kid inventors to thank for many of the things that we enjoy today—like popsicles, trampolines, braille, and earmuffs! In fact, Benjamin Franklin invented swim flippers when he was only 11 years old. 

Making an invention isn’t as hard as it might sound. All that’s really needed is an open mind and the freedom to explore and create without being critical of the result!  Creating fun inventions also helps support kids logic skills. 

4 Easy Inventions to Do at Home with Kids

1. Fashion Forward 👗

Inventions aren’t just about robots and fancy gadgets! Challenge your child to create a full outfit using only household items. 

Instructions:

• Gather foil, toilet paper, glue, tape, string, buttons, and anything else that you don’t mind being used for this project. 
• Have a family member be the “model.” 
• Encourage and help your child create an outfit using the materials provided—dresses are often the easiest to create, but the sky’s the limit! Tip: It’s easiest to create the outfit directly onto the model.
• Have a fashion show! Let the model walk down a runway and have your child take a bow. 

There are many ways to adapt this activity. Create a hat, a special pair of shoes, a cape, etc. 

2. Drop the Egg 🥚

This is a great game for critical thinking and problem-solving. It may get a little messy, but the mess is half the fun! 

Instructions:

• You’ll need a carton of eggs, straws, duct tape, balloons, cotton balls, and bubble wrap. 
• Tell your child that they need to invent a structure to protect the egg from cracking. Why? Because they are going to drop that egg from a tall height! 
• Help your child use the materials to create a structure around the egg.
• Once the structure has been built, have your child stand on a chair to drop the egg! 

Remind your child that it’s okay if the egg cracks, they can learn from what didn’t work and try again! 

3. The Leaning Tower of Marshmallow and Spaghetti 🏗️

This activity is a fan favorite—mostly because of the marshmallows! With this activity, kids use the materials provided to build the tallest tower they can. 

Instructions: 

• You’ll need uncooked spaghetti, a bag of marshmallows (big and small if possible), and tape. 
• On a flat surface, let your child start building away! They’ll learn pretty quickly that it’s actually harder than it looks to build a marshmallow tower. 
• You can also make it a competition! Have one family member help your child, and another family member or friend compete. Whoever’s tower is the tallest, wins! 

4. Toy Mania 🤖

Have your child create their own toy! This is a really fun activity that will last beyond the building process (hopefully). 

Instructions:

• Gather household items that can be used for creation! In addition to glue and tape, look for things like toilet paper rolls, wrapping paper rolls, foil, beads, shoe or cereal boxes, cotton balls, pipe cleaners, straws, etc.
• Ask your child to create a toy they’ve always wanted! It can be something that exists, like a doll or a race car, or something that doesn’t exist… yet. 
• Then let them get to work putting together all the materials to invent a new toy. 
• Once their toy has been invented, it’s time to play! 

Innovation, Inventions, and Lingokids

Interested in learning more about how Lingokids helps kids strengthen their innovation skills? Download the app and check out the content on our YouTube channels.

What things has your child invented? A funny word? A toy? Let us know by tagging us on Instagram!