• Whether you're a teacher looking to spark your students' imaginations or a parent searching for help with your child's invention project, simplicity is key. Brainstorm for usable ideas, encouraging children to ponder where an invention could make their lives go more smoothly. Teachers and parents should take time to discuss inventions--from Braille to the telephone to board games--emphasizing the everyday people whose ideas changed the world.
  
  

Practicality

• The adage attributed to Greek philosopher Plato says it best: "Necessity (who) is the mother of invention." Students can brainstorm solutions for a problem that complicates, say, getting ready for school in the morning or poll family members on their pet peeves. Kristy Zurbrick reported on April 4, 2009, in the Columbus (Ohio) Messenger about sixth-grade inventors whose creations included "Chore Plinko," a device based on a game from "The Price Is Right," that eliminates arguments over household chores by assigning them randomly.
  
  

Games

• This invention category gives children a chance to construct a mini-universe, with rules and consequences. They may be inspired by the story behind the game "Candy Land," which was invented in the 1940s by Eleanor Abbot, described by Hasbro.com as "a recovering Polio patient (who) decided to create an activity that would entertain children affected with the disease." That simple invention has sold 40 million copies as of 2008. To stay on track as they invent a game, students should determine all rules and directions before working on the board and game pieces, which are the best--and most distracting--parts of the process.
  
  

Build a Better ... Whatever

• Inventions don't have to start from scratch. Budding inventors can build on the work of other inventors, or take existing objects to make a new or improved product. Inventions of this sort may add magnets, wheels or a remote control to make something that moves, stays on the refrigerator or operates from afar. Zurbrick wrote about one student who streamlined diaper changes via built-in baby wipes in her invention, the "Diaper Swiper."