The Child’s Inventor’s Box

An “inventor’s box” full of odds and ends that has a permanent place in your home play area or in your classroom–this is the child’s invention kit, the perfect tool for science exploration and innovation. The idea is to create the atmosphere of an inventor’s workshop, where there is no fixed set of materials and no particular goal established in advance; rather, the bountiful collection of materials is there for the child to explore, experiment, and give creative expression to his ideas. And voila, an enthusiastic and independent science mind is being created in the process.

I. For the frugal and simple approach, here is a list (in no particular order) to get you started. These materials can be gathered over time from a craft store, RadioShack, around your house and garage, thrift stores, garage sales, lumber yards, and more. Let me know what else I should add to my list, and some simple experiments to go with this list!

• mirrors
• magnets
• metal rods
• weights
• small motors
• coils of insulated wire
• mounting base and mounting bracket
• insulated tubing
• D-cell battery
• balloons
• paper clips
• string
• rope
• tape-duct tape, scotch tape, two sided tape
• tacks
• rubber bands
• washers, nuts, bolts, screws, nails
• pvc pipes with connector corners
• wire
• springs, hinges, clothes pins
• pulleys
• pipe cleaners
• casters
• straws
• pins
• scissors, exacto knife (be careful, adult supervision!)
• cloth patches, scrap material
• cotton balls
• bottle caps, wine corks
• markers
• pencil
• ruler
• drawing paper, notebooks
• paint
• paint brushes
• felt
• poster board
• popsicle sticks, toothpicks, craft wood, dowels
• connector ties, zip ties
• clamps and glue
• knobs, dials
• cardboard–toilet paper rolls, paper towel rolls, empty cereal boxes
• 1-quart milk cartons
• tinker toy pieces
• styrofoam pieces
• propellers
• tuning fork
• plastic soda bottles
• pH test strips
• hammer and small saw
• cheesecloth
• droppers
• filter paper
• forceps
• funnel
• litmus papers
• magnifiers
• fluorescent light

Now, what can you do with all these materials? Here are some ideas cards to keep handy, if your child/student wants a specific activity:

1. Human conductor of electricity

Supplies:
one ballon, one flourescent light.

Directions:

• Darken the room. Hold the fluorescent bulb in one hand and the balloon in the other. Rub the balloon vigorously on your hair.
• Bring the balloon near the bulb and watch what happens. Was that a flicker of light? Did the bulb really light up?
• Move the balloon up and down the bulb without touching the bulb. The light should sort of follow the balloon.
• Touch the balloon to the glass and see if you can get a spark to jump.
• You can’t believe your eyes… so, go back to step 1 and do it again.

2. Periscope-mirrored tube that lets you see over walls and around corners:

Supplies:
Two 1-quart milk cartons
Two small pocket mirrors (flat, square ones work best)
Utility knife or X-Acto knife
Ruler
Pencil or pen
Masking tape

Directions:

• Use the knife to cut around the top of each milk carton, removing the peaked “roof.”
• Cut a hole at the bottom of the front of one milk carton. Leave about 1/4 inch of carton on each side of the hole.
• Put the carton on its side and turn it so the hole you just cut is facing to your right. On the side that’s facing up, measure 2 3/4 inches up the left edge of the carton, and use the pencil to make a mark there. Now, use your ruler to draw a diagonal line from the bottom right corner to the mark you made.
• Starting at the bottom right corner, cut on that line. Don’t cut all the way to the left edge of the carton-just make the cut as long as one side of your mirror. If your mirror is thick, widen the cut to fit.
• Slide the mirror through the slot so the reflecting side faces the hole in the front of the carton. Tape the mirror loosely in place.
• Hold the carton up to your eye and look through the hole that you cut. You should see your ceiling through the top of the carton. If what you see looks tilted, adjust the mirror and tape it again.
• Repeat steps 2 through 6 with the second milk carton.
• Stand one carton up on a table, with the hole facing you. Place the other carton upside-down, with the mirror on the top and the hole facing away from you.
• Use your hand to pinch the open end of the upside-down carton just enough for it to slide into the other carton. Tape the two cartons together.

For more amazing science activities for the home or classroom, visit The Exploratorium.

II. A more high-tech and a bit more costly approach, but nonetheless an excellent option, is the PicoCricket Kit. This is an invention kit that integrates art, music, and technology, and is especially attractive to girls as well as boys.

The PicoCricket Kit uses a tiny computer which allows the student to make things spin, light up, and play music; you basically make your creations come to life with simple robotics. The price tag is $250 for the complete kit, which includes the following: motor and motor board, display, beamer (send programs from your computer to your PicoCricket), resistance sensor, sound sensor, colored lights, sound box, PicoCricket programmer (to control your creations), touch sensor, and light sensor.

Also included in the kit is easy-to-use software for programming the Cricket (PC and Mac compatible), USB cable, a collection of craft materials and lego bricks to create motion modules, and ten project placemats with sample Cricket activities.

This is a reusable kit–only the craft materials are consumable, but are inexpensive to replace.

Mitchel Resnick, an MIT professor who worked on the project, made an important point about the accessibility of the PicoCricket kit:


We knew that lots of kids are interested in art and music, so we wanted to make sure that there were lots of ways for them to be able to use art and music as an entry point to explore math, science and engineering.   

Wow~whether your budget is small or large, there are options. The basic inventor’s box is more time consuming to put together, but cheaper; and the pre-packaged kits offer efficiency but at a cost. I hope you’ve been inspired to provide some creative science outlets for your child or classroom!