Kids can be incredibly creative. Some of them channeled these abilities to make the world a better place. These clever designs came from youngsters over the generations, who all made their impacts when they were still grade school ages.
Cold Weather Gave A Good Idea To A Boy
Chester Greenwood was having fun ice skating on a bitter winter day in 1873. The 15-year-old boy loved the exciting speed when he was running on the ice. But the cold wind bit his ears and made it too painful to bear. He wrapped his head with a scarf to fend off the cold, but it did not help much. The scarf got loose when he charged forward or turned his head. He needed something to stay securely on his ears when he ran and jumped on the ice.
Once he got home, he took some wires and made a loop out of them. Then he asked his grandma to put on patches of beaver skins to the ends of the wire loop. Those were the first earmuffs. The new gear stayed on his head much better, so he tinkered it to improve the design.
At the age of 19, Chester patented the invention. In the following years, he set up earmuff factories in his hometown– Farmington, Maine. These new gears were in high demand from front-line soldiers during World War I. Earmuff manufacturers were so successful that they became major job creators for local communities for over 60 years.
And Another One To A Girl
More than one hundred years later, similarly cold weather bothered 10-year-old KK Gregory too. She was out making snowmen, but the loose snow kept dropping into her sleeves. How to have fun playing snow without getting wrists and arms so uncomfortably wet and cold?
KK had a great idea: long fingerless gloves. The long sleeves of the glove protected the wrists while the fingers are exposed to do delicate tasks. KK called her invention Wristies. With the help of her mom, the idea now is popular products with many variations. Anyone who now can play or work with their fingers in cold winter but keep their hands warm has little KK to thank for.
This Invention Helps Blind People Read More
Not all children have the fortune of a carefree childhood. Some suffer from serious illness and can’t enjoy simple things other kids take for granted. However, hardships could not deter those determined like Louis Braille, who lost eyesight due to severe infections when he was three.
In the early 1800s, books for blind people were printed with normal letters that were raised above the page. Those books were not easy to decipher by little fingers. Curious Louis was thirsty for knowledge and was not happy with the options he had. When he was twelve, he learned about a cryptography system used by the French military. Those codes were much easier to distinguish by touch, so he adopted and modified them for blind people.
Today, his system, simply called Braille, is used in different languages and read by visually impaired people worldwide.
And Now Blind People Can Print More Too
Though now blind people have a reading system, they are still at the disadvantage of not getting enough reading materials. For example, Braille printers are expensive — around $2,000 for one compared to a couple of hundreds of dollars for usual paper printers. In 2014, a 13-year-old kid called Shubham Banerjee tinkered with a Lego Mindstorms EV3 set to see if he could come up with something cheaper. He was able to prototype a functional Braille printer by adding about five dollars of hardware to the toy robotic set. The DIY printer costs a fraction of what traditional models sell on the market.
In 2015, Shubham and his parents launched a startup named Braigo Labs, Inc. The company has already developed accompanying mobile apps and software programs. It has attracted investment interest from venture capitals and technology leaders like Intel. Shubham hopes Braigo Labs will play a major role in helping the 287 million visually impaired people worldwide to easily access information.
A Brilliant Low Tech Solution To A Girl’s Big Problem
Good inventions do not mean they have to use fancy technologies or hard to get new materials. More often, ingenious ideas come from places that are most resource-strapped.
A 14-year-old Indian girl named Remya Jose needed to help her mother with laundry. The family could not afford to buy washing machines, so she had to hand wash everything at a nearby river. Remya felt the chore was hard and boring; it also took too much time out of her school work and fun activities with friends. She decided to see how a washing machine works and came up with her own version that her family could afford.
Taking parts from recycled bikes and with the help from a local auto workshop, Remya invented a pedal bike that does laundry while you exercise– no electricity required. The machine took little effort and fun to operate. Soon it got popular in her area where electricity was expensive and supply was not reliable.
Remya’s invention won her national awards from Indian President Abdul Kalam. Now, in her mid-20s, Remya has many other inventions under her belt and is working at the National Foundation of India to promote more innovations in her country.
These amazing inventions by kids teach us that to make an impact, age, experiences, and knowledge are no limitations. The ability to identify problems, the desire to solve them, and the creativity to use existing resources are what make an inventor.