Activity: Create a Personal “Invention Notebook” Like a Real Inventor

Perfect for: Indoors, quiet time, or paired with hands-on projects

Best for: Ages 6+ (great for idea development, design thinking, creativity, and literacy)

Activity Description:

Turn a plain notebook into a child’s personal Invention Notebook—just like real inventors and engineers use to sketch, plan, and refine ideas. It becomes their space to think, imagine, experiment, and even dream up solutions to real-world problems. Over time, it becomes a treasure trove of their best ideas—and it plants the seed for lifelong creativity, curiosity, and innovation.

1. Set the Scene: You’re an Inventor Now

Explain how great inventors like Leonardo da Vinci, Nikola Tesla, and even modern entrepreneurs kept notebooks full of wild ideas.

Say something like:

“This is your private lab on paper. Any idea, no matter how strange or amazing, belongs here.”

Give the notebook a special name like “Alex’s Brilliant Book of Future Inventions.”

2. Add Idea Pages and Prompts

Encourage daily or weekly entries. Suggested prompts:

• “A problem I noticed today is…”
• “An invention that could make school more fun is…”
• “If I could fly, my machine would work like this…”
• “Here’s how I’d redesign the toothbrush/car/shoe/fridge.”

Leave space for diagrams, arrows, exploded views, lists, names, and labels.

3. Include Design Challenges

Add fun missions:

• Invent a gadget for people who hate getting out of bed
• Design a backpack for explorers in space
• Solve the problem of soggy cereal
• Create a new tool that helps people be kind

Let them pick one and draw it out—form, function, how it works, who would use it.

4. Reflect and Improve Ideas

Encourage notes like:

• “What could make this better?”
• “What would be a silly version of this?”
• “How much would this cost to build?”
  This part helps develop real-world thinking and creativity.

5. Celebrate Progress and Share

You could hold monthly “Inventor Exhibitions” at home where kids present their top 3 inventions to family or friends, Dragons’ Den-style!

This activity blends literacy, creativity, observation, and logic—and helps children start thinking of themselves as problem-solvers.

Type n when you’re ready to invent the next great idea!