Inventions by Kids
Have you ever thought what life might be like without certain things? Take, for instance, toilet paper. You probably haven’t given much thought to what life was like before it, but believe it or not, toilet paper wasn’t always used! Before there was toilet paper, people from different parts of the world used a variety of things, from coconut shells, to leaves and sticks to sponges soaked in salt water, to corn cobs!
Thank goodness for the inventor of toilet paper, Joseph C. Gayetty, who in 1857 manufactured the first packaged pre-moistened sheets of bathroom tissue!
Every day, inventors apply for patents for their new inventions. A patent says that the invention is yours and no one else can claim that they made it. This means that every day, more inventions are being created to make life easier for people. And guess what? Lots of these inventors are kids!
Check out what some kids have been up to and maybe get some ideas for an invention yourself!
Allan Chu is 17 years old and he has just invented a way to speed up the Internet! He was tired of how slow it can be so he took matters into his own hands. He invented an algorithm which will compress data and allow information over the internet to be presented to you much more quickly. An algorithm is a step by step mathematical procedure that solves a problem especially by a computer. Allan entered a math, science and technology competition and won first place and $3,000! Quite an accomplishment for such a young person!
If you have ever thought about inventing something yourself, you don’t need to be a math and science genius to devise something clever. Have you ever heard of a Popsicle? Well, in 1905 an 11-year-old boy named Frank Epperson invented it. He accidentally left his favorite fruit drink with a stirrer in it outside on the porch overnight. When he awoke, the drink was frozen and he found a new delicious treat. He went on to patent his idea and is the creator of the Popsicle, Fudgsicle, Creamsicle and Dreamsicle!
Or, how about Chester Greenwood? In 1858 at the age of 15, he was ice skating and kept getting irritated at how cold his ears got. He tried wrapping his head in a scarf but that probed to be too bulky and itchy. He went home and fashioned 2 ear shaped loops from wire and asked his grandmother to sew some fur on the loops. These became the first ear muffs which he patented and ended up making a fortune on his invention by supplying the US soldiers with ear muffs during World War I.
Maybe these stories will help inspire you to be the next big inventor. Sometimes it’s as easy as thinking about something that you’d really like to have and then making it! Good luck to all of you future inventors!
