There’s been a recent invasion at Usborne Towers – from the humble cornflake packet to the fancy aftershave box, piles of recycling have been adorning our offices in anticipation of this year’s Hay Fever.
Is it because we were simply too e
xcited to tidy up after ourselves? Or were we attempting to break a world record for the biggest collection of cardboard? In fact, the truth was that we were planning to transform the Hexagon into an inventors’ haven:
Guided by Professor Boffin and Professor Egghead (AKA Carolyn and Amy from Usborne!), we delved into to the amazing world of inventions, from the groundbreaking to the downright silly.
After discussing inv
entions we couldn’t live without and the lives of famous inventors (did you know that Frances Gabe still lives in her very own self-cleaning house?!), it was over to the audience to get their thinking caps on to come up with their very own invention to wow the world with.
We were blown away (at times quite literally!) by the creativeness of our young inventors, who got straight to work inventing everything from a glow-in-the-dark book to rocket-boosting trainers. So look out for trampoline shoes, a mind-reading encyclopaedia and a time-freezing device – all coming soon!
But don’t worry if you missed the workshop, here’s our Crazy Professors’ guide to creating your very own patent-ready gadget:
- Remember that inventions don’t have to be machines – from chocolate, to glasses, to anaesthetics and the humble post-it note, some of the world’s most popular inventions don’t require any cogs or pulleys!
- Think about what problem you are trying to solve (a popular one turned out to be eliminating teachers!). This could be anything from finding something that you always lose, to being able to get from A to B more quickly.
- What does it do? How would you describe it in one sentence?
- Think about what noise it might make – boing, buzz, whirr, clank, whoosh, zap… or will it be silent and undetectable?
- What do you need to make it? Does it need buttons? Does it need to b
e light so that you can carry it around? - And finally, every invention needs a good name (e.g. ‘telephone’ comes from the Greek for ‘distant sound’) – so think about what you are going to call it. Make it memorable!
- Pre-order your homework machines now!
Good luck budding inventors!
You can find out more about the world’s most fascinating and funny inventions in Usborne’s See Inside Inventions and The Story of Inventions, available at Pemberton’s bookshop.
