As kids, most of us spent our days playing hopscotch, toying with action figures, maneuvering Tetris blocks, and wrestling with Donkey Kong. Not these creative tykes, however! These eight amazingly innovative kids and adolescents are inventing up a storm — whether for their own personal kicks (Hibiki Kono’s wall-scaling backpack), to help their community (Kelydra Welcker’s water-filtration method), or to save the world (Javier Fernández-Han’s algae-driven super-system). Need some inspiration today? Click through our slideshow of amazing kid inventors for a look at the creative solutions the next generation is conjuring up for this one.
BEN GULAK + JASON MORROW – Built the Tango Electric Motorcycle
Ontario teenagers Ben Gulak and Jason Morrow, who were 18 in 2007, built a Segway-inspired electric motorcycle with a difference: It has no hand-steering controls. Dubbed the “Tango,” the electric vehicle moves forward, right, or left, depending on its rider’s body movements.
MAX WALLACK- Created the Home Dome
PBS Kids’ Design Squad found a winner in Max Wallack, then 12, when he invented the “Home Dome” for its Trash to Treasure competition. Composed of plastic bags filled with Styrofoam packing peanuts, the yurt-shaped structure was designed to offer temporary shelter for homeless people and disaster victims, while relieving landfills of non-biodegradable waste.
Man, amazing imagination and talent! Wish I was that cool when I was a kid!
Wow, they’ve done more in their so-far short lives that I’ve done in 27 years!!!
Incredible inventions! It’s great to see that the spirit of eco innovation is alive and well in today’s youth!
I’m going to print this out for my toddler…she better start cracking!
How inspiring! It’s such a relief to know that future generations have a head start on what we are just now getting the hang of.
Kids these days….So smart and eco-conscious!
These kids show how bright the future will be… what will they think of next!
Amazing designers getting an early start! Sustainability in designs is one of the most tricky aspects of a good design–kudos to kids for starting their careers on the right foot! SO impressive!
way to make me feel inadequate!
I will forward this post on whenever I hear some grandpa talking about how the future generations are lazy! Look what these kids have done with the technology they’ve grown up around. Seriously incredible!
I had genius ideas when I was a kid – just didn’t have the shop skills to make it happen. Bring back shop class!!
[...] imagination?! But think again. While video games and Facebook may reign supreme for some, there are more than a handful of kids out there who’d rather put their minds to a more inspired use in their free time. As proof of [...]
Man, if I would have known that not only would wall climbing jet packs be part of the future but that they would be GREEN too! Maybe things aren’t so scary afterall.
Look up http://www.futurecity.org – 2009-2010 competition was epic… read the essays!