Kids are full of imaginations, and sometimes, with the right encouragement, they just can create something amazing.
Below are 7 things you didn’t know were invented by kids:
Toy Truck
In 1963, 6-year-old child inventor Robert Patch created a convertible toy truck. Patch had two goals for his truck: one, that it could easily be taken apart and put back together; two, that it could transform into all sorts of different vehicles. After drawing up a sketch, the boy got a patent for his idea, and the rest was playtime history.
Trampoline
In 1930, when George Nissen was a 16-year-old high school gymnast, he began tinkering with an idea for a bouncing apparatus to train on. But it wasn’t until 1934 that Nissen and his University of Iowa tumbling coach Larry Griswold built a device that actually worked. Then, in 1937, when Nissen was travelling the carnival circuit, he came across the Spanish word. Trampolin, which means “diving board.” Adding an “e” to the end, he trademarked the name for what was to become a backyard family favourite.
Snow Mobile
In 1922, when Canadian Joseph-Armand Bombardier was 15 years old, he was tinkering around with his dad’s old Ford Model T motor and decided to attach it to a sled to see if the machine could power through the snow. He enlisted the help of his brother to steer while he took control of the motor, and the first inklings of a powered snow machine were born. Fifteen years later his device, the B-7, was the first snowmobile to hit stores.
Television
Just about everyone owns a TV, but did you ever dream that a teenager came up with the idea? In 1920, 14-year-old Philo Farnsworth first conceived of it, supposedly while he was plowing a potato field. In 1926, he and his business partner founded Crocker Research Laboratories (later named Farnsworth Radio and Television Corporation); only one year after that, the first-ever transmitted images were sent.
Popsicles
In 1905, when Frank Epperson was 11 years old, he was trying to concoct his own version of soda pop. One particularly cold night, he left his beverage—a glass filled with soda water powder and water—outside on the porch by accident, with the mixing stick still in it. The ingredients froze overnight and Epperson was inspired. In 1924, after the young inventor had some success in the real estate business, he applied for a patent, naming his creation the Epsicle. Later, it was changed to the now well-known Popsicle.
Earmuffs
Braille
