Kid Inventors’ Day is celebrated on January 17th every year. This special day celebrates the creativity and ingenuity of young people all around the world. You would be surprised to know how so many of the things that we use every day have been made by kid inventors. From earmuffs, popsicles, trampolines, Braille, and even the television, kids have invented so many things are are common fixtures in our everyday lives.

Here are some fun ways to learn to foster the creativity of future inventors!

Learn about the history of #KidIventorsDay.

Did you know that January 17th was chosen as Kid Inventors’ Day since it is also the birth anniversary of the respected polymath, politician, and child inventor Benjamin Franklin. Benjamin Franklin is a man of many achievements but his earliest achievement was inventing swim flippers at the age of 12.

Build and play with blocks.

SoftZone Building Blocks foster open-ended, creative, and constructive play time. These unit-style foam blocks introduce color and shape recognition, and early math concepts like doubling, comparison, and symmetry. Allow kids to take a hands-on approach to lead their own learning while encouraging problem-solving, critical thinking skills and collaboration as they build with increasing complexity. 

Read about inspiring inventors.

Take inspiration from a cast of creative characters and their invention process! These books are great way to spark curiosity and inspire children to take an interest in inventing and engineering.

Subscribe to a service.

KiwiCo is a subscription designed to inspire the next generation of innovators and problem-solvers. They offer a range of engaging educational projects for ages 0-14 in a single box that promotes the development of important STEAM skills.

Invent online.

Provide user friendly ways to give children opportunities to design their own games and stories! This selection of free websites introduces coding for children (and adults).

• Code: A non-profit organisation providing a free curriculum for children to learn to code. Comes with instructions and teacher notes.
• Code Avengers: Online courses to teach programming, problem-solving, computer, and math skills.
• Crunchzilla: A fun introduction to programming concepts with interactive tutorials.
• Daisy the Dinosaur App: Learn the basics of coding.
• Hopscotch App: Learn to code and make your own games.
• Khan Academy: Computer programming activities.
• Kodable App: Coding curriculum for elementary students (ages 4-11).
• Scratch: Create stories, games, and animations. Created by the Lifelong Kindergarten Group at the MIT Media Lab.