
Kids these days. They’re smart. Scarily smart.
Whenever I used to feel inadequate, I could take comfort in one, consoling thought:
“Hey, at least I’ve come a long way since I was in primary school.”
Unfortunately, having recently talked to actual primary school students, this thought is now completely useless.
Kids are really freaking smart, you guys. Really. Freaking. Smart.
I learned this by asking a few of them to tell me about their ideas for inventions that would make the world a better place when I visited a school recently for a workshop as part of Origin’s littleBIGideas competition.
In a nutshell, Origin ran a competition asking school kids to come up and describe a clever invention that would make the world a better place.
Bracing myself for such adorable answers as “a machine that gives me free lollies” or something to that effect, I was slightly disconcerted when they began talking about “kinetic energy” and “economic sustainability”.
These were 11 year olds. They had pretty much just got their pen license, and they were schooling me (puns!) in the economy.
I was humbled and intimidated.
Instead of letting their cleverness defeat me though, I’ve decided to share their smarts with all of you, so you can feel inadequate too.
In no particular order, here are some of the most impressive inventions from kids who are probably at least 15 years younger than all of us:
1. The Kinetic Energy Watch (Yes, I had to Google how to spell that).
I really am wondering if it’s considered “frivolous spending” to give an 11-year-old start up money to make this happen. This invention is genius.
This watch would rely on kinetic energy (for everyone older than 11, kinetic energy is energy created through motion) to:
– Measure your pulse rate and
– Measure the amount of energy burnt
But most importantly for everyone with a phone, it will also create enough energy to recharge mobile phones.
2. The Food Scanner.
This clever device would fit in your pocket and help anyone with allergies, anyone overseas, or anyone that likes animals (so all of us, right?).
Top Comments
Thank you, this made me feel positive about the world again after reading about paedophile rings and racism this morning.