3 Ways to Spark Innovation with Kids
Lately, I have been having conversations with many adults around this idea of being innovative and what it takes to be an inventor. What I’ve heard is two things: 1) that innovation just “happens,” as if by magic and that these inventors do not have a specific process in place to drive innovation. 2) That innovation comes from a few lone geniuses like the Bill Gates, Steve Jobs or Elon Musks of the world — that great ideas can only come from iconoclastic individual thinkers and creative visionaries operating on their own and forging their own path. However, I believe that innovation can be taught and should be taught to our children. Why? Because thinking like an innovator helps us get through the world.
Not everything will go our way and my time on Earth has taught me that it’s the people that have the ability to problem solve when major obstacles are in their way that tend to be the happiest and most successful individuals. I truly believe, it isn’t about being the smartest in the room but rather the most observant. Simply, these individuals can recognize the problem, learn from others as they attempt to fix the problem and then through a process of creative thinking, research and experimentation to develop the solution. And, like any process, an innovation mindset can be taught. These are my 3 tips on how to get your kids to think and act like innovators.
- Make it a game that is reward-driven
Start by asking your child to solve a real problem that is happening currently in their orbit. For example, I asked my young son to help me figure out why our garden hoses (I had to keep buying many) kept getting holes and rips in them easily. I told him I was tired of buying a new hose every couple of months but if I didn’t, our vegetable garden would die. I told him if he could solve this issue, he could get that skateboard he keeps begging for.
2) Create a process and give them a brief
He agreed to my game but before he started solving our mysterious garden hose issue, I asked him to consider a few questions: 1) what around us (environmentally and/or physically) could be causing this issue? 2) once you’ve identified the problem, what could you do to solve it that was cost efficient and 3) is it a solution that can last, be improved upon and will most importantly, keep my garden healthy? I told him to think about these questions and my end goal. To take pen to paper, record events and spend some time in the yard. Essentially, I was asking him to observe, research and start thinking and acting creatively.
3) Ask them to present the solution but also the process
After a few days of going through the process, he had a solution and it had nothing to do with the hose! I asked him to present his idea but first he had to explain to me his process.I told him I wanted pictures and I wanted to be entertained. Well, he sat me down outside in the hot sun with his laptop and two lemonades and explained that he realized that after sitting in the garden that the issue was indeed being caused by an environmental and physical issue. He noted that he was sure that when I first bought these many hoses they were fine but because they hung tightly around a hose hanger in the hot sun, they are not only getting bent out of shape but drying out causing the rubber to crack and then the hoses to leak. His solution was to have the hose sit on the ground, lightly coiled with a dome over it to protect it from the sun. I showed him online some similar ideas and it sparked him to think upon how he could improve it.
We had so much fun going through his process together that he is now asking me to play “the inventors game” by asking for more problems to solve. He talks often about what he could invent better than what already exists and maybe what could invent that is brand new.
Whether companies are trying to develop the next game-changing digital technology or a kid is trying to make a delicious new snack, the principles are the same. Innovation should not be a solitary mad scientist’s lab or something done without a process, it should be a community garden (no pun intended) — where it can be taught and shared.
