So what you need to do is get a piece of cereal (make sure it is dry), particularly one that is circular (so that you can tie a thread to it). Next get a thread of reasonable length but not too long. Next get a brand new comb or one that is well cleaned and dry.

Tie the piece of cereal to one side of the thread, and tie the other thread to something like a chair, table, or ceiling fan (if it’s low enough to reach).

Now it’s the comb’s turn. What you are wanting to do is ‘charge’ it. This means provide it with an electric charge. It’s easier to do this than you may think. Combing through long dry hair a few times will do the trick, or running the comb through wool many times. This should result in charging the comb.

Ok so the next thing to do is to get the charges to attract and then repel. Charges attract if they are opposite to each other, and repel if they are the same. To get it to attract move the comb towards the cereal. If all goes well the cereal will move towards the comb and try to touch it as you get close. Hold the comb there for as long as it takes for the cereal to move away again.

Now, when you try again, you’ll find that the opposite thing occurs. The cereal will now try and move away from the comb. You’ve done it!

For extra dramatic effect, and to add a touch of humor, have a little script ready to tell the class. Explain, for example, that the comb and cereal were boyfriend and girlfriend. They moved together to kiss each other, but the boy had a very bad breath. So next time the boy tried to kiss the girl, she turned away.

This invention idea for kids is very easy, and doesn’t require you to go out and buy anything (isn’t that great). Now the purpose of this idea is to develop kids’ creativity and imaginative skills. These skills are critical for life, and any tool or device that can aid their development is worthwhile. It also builds sociability and confidence, as the kids (if they are in a group) will have to share their new invention with their peers. It also builds language and conceptual skills. And there’s a free prize at the end (so read on)!

So begin this by telling the kids a story. Stories always help set the context for creativity and get kids in the mood. You are all entering a brightly colored spaceship. It is filled with the most exciting and cool gadgets inside. You meet Captain Jangle, who tells you that you are going on a journey. The journey will take you not to another planet, but to earth in 1000 years’ time. Continue the story by asking all the kids to sit down and get strapped into their magical seats and get ready for takeoff. Explain how the takeoff works, and how the spaceship flies and soars in all directions, and all the magical things that go past the window. Now land back on earth, and ask everyone to get out of the spaceship and go exploring. Explain how this new earth is filled with all different types of people, with different abilities. Some are amazing singers, others fantastic dancers. Everyone in this earth is special and unique.

Now the interactive part – get the kids to invent a person! The task is for them to either get together in groups or individually come up with someone special and unique. They need to figure out how and why this person is so special, what his or her unique talents are. What he or she looks like, where he or she lives, etc. They need to invent as much detail as possible.

The next bit is a bit of ‘show and tell’. Get the kids to share with everyone their new inventions. Perhaps give some sort of incentive or prize to the best invention of a person. Make sure that they are as descriptive as possible.

After everyone has had a chance and you have awarded the prize, you share the real ‘prize’ for the day with the kids. The prize is that everyone in the room, every kid, is special and unique. Everyone has a skill or ability that distinguishes them. Everyone has a talent or a characteristic that other people ought to appreciate. Let the kids think about and internalize that, and you have just planted a seed of confidence and uniqueness in them.

Now get some scissors (make sure they are safe for kids to use – your local stationary store should sell scissors for children), and have the kids invent a celebrity! All they need to do is page through the magazines and cut out pictures of people.  Then get the kids to cut out different features of the people – the hair, nose, eyes, shirt, etc. Now the really fun part: have them invent a new celebrity by mixing and matching the different features! If you want you can get the kids to stick them into scrapbooks, and share why like their new celebrity invention.

What’s great about this kids invention idea is that it is interactive, and teaches creative skills of seeing objects and things for what they could be, not what they are, by mixing and collating them in new and interesting ways. It also makes cutting out and sticking down into a fun activity (and helps build motor skills in the kids).