7 Amazing Things Invented by Children ...

Of all the things invented by children, this is astounding on so many fronts. In 1824, Louise Braille was just a schoolboy in France when at the age of 15 he developed the raised dots reading and writing system that bears his name. Used by blind people the world over, Braille was invented by a boy who had lost his sight by the time he was 5 years old.

Can you believe that ear muffs were not around until the late 19th century? It is such a simplistic yet ingenious little design, but it took a kid’s imagination to think it up. Ear muffs were the brainchild of 15-year old Chester Greenwood. His inspiration – he hated his ears getting cold when he went ice skating in the Maine winter. He was granted a patent in 1870 and went on to make a fortune by providing “Greenwood’s Champion Ear Protectors” to soldiers in World War I.

Whether by design or by complete accident, the invention of the Popsicle is credited to 11-year old Frank Epperson. It was a freezing cold night in 1905 when little Frank left a cup of powdered drink mix, water and a stirring stick on his porch. He awoke to a frozen drink on a stick and called it the Epsicle. It wasn’t until 1923 that he changed the name to Popsicle and sold the rights to it.

So many kids (and big kids) love to bounce on a trampoline. For this wonderfully fun backyard toy and fitness tool we can thank 16-year old George Nissen of Blairstown, Iowa. A member of his school gymnast team, he was inspired by the safety nets used by circus performers to create a frame and a stretched canvas sheet he called the “bouncing rig”. It became a commercial product after some more years of development, with Nissen being assisted by his gym coach.

These days, things invented by kids can make big money. Such is the case for Sarah Buckel. Of course, it helps if you have someone handy to bring your idea to life. Daddy Buckel was CEO of MagnaCard so when Sarah went to him to ask him to create magnetic locker paper, it was no problemo. With Sarah’s designs and patterns, a winner was born and it racked up $1 million in sales within one year.

Don’t kids come up with the simplest ideas – especially for problems that mostly concern them? Such is the case for Crayon Holders, designed to enable kids to use wax crayons and pastels and chalk that have broken into pieces. Crayon Holders were invented by 11-year old Cassidy Goldstein. It was an invention that earned her the title of 2006 Youth Inventor of the Year, bestowed by the Intellectual Property Owners Education Foundation.

Yes kids can get in on modern technology too. Not really an invention but more a development of an idea, Oink-a-saurus is the product of the amassed 12 years of brain power of Fabian Fernandez-Han. It’s the simplest concept for a financial app for kids – the good old piggy bank. With kid-friendly language, it utilizes financial tools to help kids, save, manage a “portfolio” and learn the basic of money management.

The range of things invented by kids is truly wondrous. From toy trucks to ways to screen urine for cancer, to screen safety gates, it’s good to know the future of ingenuity is ensured. Did you have any great ideas as a kid but never followed through?