Kids who have an interest in science and inventing can find many helpful websites online.
Kids are naturally curious about how things work. Some turn out very creative and interesting science projects. Some take their curiosity and interest further, and develop inventions based on their ideas. There are many helpful websites that offer young inventors advice, support and resources.
Building
Howtoons is a do-it-yourself comic website that combines information grounded in science and engineering with a cartoon format that offers instruction to kids on build or do inventive things. Content categories include energy, communication, engineering and music. Kids can use the Howtoons instructions to make items such as a trash bag raincoat, a soda bottle submarine or chopsticks that are spring-loaded.
More Projects
Welcome to Science Toy Maker provides instructions for making toys based on various scientific principles. The teachers who created the site did so with the goal of presenting projects anyone can do, using very common materials. Featured projects include a periscope, Cartesian divers and a robot hand. In addition to instructions for projects, this site offers information on historical context and links to further resources.
Support
Children who have ideas of their own for inventions and wish to develop these instead of copying projects that have already been done can find advice and resources at Life Tips. The site contains biographies and success stories of young inventors, underlines the importance of allowing kids to indulge their appetite for science and invention -- one tip involves giving kids old or broken items they can take apart -- and stresses the importance of protecting ideas.
Protection
Child inventors who wish to make and market their inventions need to protect them legally. The United States Patent and Trademark Office website features pages geared specifically toward child inventors. They offer information about historical inventions, the process of inventing, protect inventions and ideas and what equals piracy or copyright infringement.
Camp
Child inventors can also attend Camp Invention. This is a one-week summer day camp that is the product of many national organizations, such as the Council for Elementary Science International, The Journal of Creative Behavior, The National PTA and others. The camp offers hands-on, investigative team activities grounded in math, engineering, science and technology. Parents who would like their children to attend Camp Invention can register their children online. Additionally, the camp's website offers information on setting up branches of the camp locally.
Resources
The Lemelson-MIT Program, which supports inventors by means of grants -- including some set aside for students -- also features a list of child-focused science and invention resources on their website. The list of links is comprehensive as of 2011 and references many highly respected organizations.
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