How to inspire little inventors

This is a sponsored post by Origin Energy

 

As a teacher and a mother I’ve always been fascinated by the innovation and creativity that can come from children. Their gorgeous young minds are so free to explore and experiment and they don’t instantly feel the need to apply rules or guidelines to what they are doing. It’s wonderful and something we all need to embrace and encourage in children because they certainly have great ideas.

 

littleBIGidea Competition

Origin Energy have recognised the potential of young children and created an exciting new initiative called LittleBIGideas. It’s a fabulous competition where Australian students in grades 3-8 are encouraged to submit a creative and innovative idea, big or small. It might be an invention, energy saving idea or something that could make everyones life just a little easier.

With an opportunity to win an incredible overseas trip, theme park experiences and huge education grants, it’s a great competition that will certainly inspire their creative ideas. Check out this video –

This is an exciting opportunity for Australian children to participate and get their ideas recognised by a wider audience. The top 12 ideas will be selected based on originality, creativity, practicality, imagination and innovation. Entry into the competition only requires them to describe their ideas in 200 words or less and accompany it with a drawing or 1 minute video! The 12 finalists will be flown to Sydney in October to present their ideas to a judging panel.

Click here to enter the competition. 

How to inspire little inventors

There are certainly ways that we can help children find inventive ideas and this is a great approach to take.

1. Brainstorming  problems and/or frustrations

Some of the greatest inventions have been developed from simple, everyday problems or frustrations. Without the need to find a solution, have your child write down some problems they have experienced or witnessed others experiencing.

2. Let your imagination go wild! 

“If you could invent anything in the world, what would you invent?”. Have your child list their most craziest ideas, even if they aren’t the most practical. Encourage them to imagine anything is possible and put aside barriers or what might be considered as impossible.

3. Find inspiration in other inventions

Investigate other inventions and consider what you like about them. Have your child ask themselves –

• Can this existing invention be developed and improved on any more?
• Can I target this to another audience?
• What are it’s limitations?

4. Combine two inventions

The idea of combining two products so they work together for a purpose can result in a great new invention.

5. Adding and removing

A great approach to creating a new invention is to remove existing parts from a product that already exists. This can result in something new and wonderfully innovative. Take a bicycle as an example. Remove it’s wheels, which may seem very drastic, however, with some tinkering it’s a stationary exercise bike!

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So if you are in Australia and a parent, teacher or friend of someone who has children in grades three to eight, I ask you to tell them about littleBIGideas and encourage them to enter by clicking this competition link. This is an exciting opportunity for Australian children to participate and take their ideas to a whole new and exciting level.