Invention Game

Here is another kid created activity that my children enjoy.  The invention game is to either create something from scratch from different materials or recreate something with items from around the house.  One of the first challenges they did was to make your own water bottles.  Then they had people vote which one they thought was the best overall.  The one on the left was an attempt to make an insulated water bottle with a cup inside a cup and LOTS of tape.  The one on the right was super simple - plastic cup with coffee cup travel mug lid.  


They have done this activity many times since then.  Some inventions they work together on i.e. a water fountain out of a cereal box and duct tape (amazingly it did work).  Some inventions they create a contest for such as using only objects out of the craft bin make a puppy dog.  This was interesting because the end results were all different - pipe cleaner dogs, wood block dogs, painted dog and a clay dog.  


There are so many things that children could invent using materials around the house.  Leave it very open ended to allow for problem solving.