Not only does it engage their creativity, but gets them thinking critically and encourages them to solve problems.
So, a lot of teachers want to try inventing school projects in their classroom – but what can you and your students make together?
Here are a bunch of inventions that work great for school projects. Check them out below and pick out the best options for you.
You can even try a few of these at home yourself – so check out the options below and have fun!
1. Kaleidoscope
One of the most popular invention projects for school is the kaleidoscope.
Kaleidoscopes are instruments used to create amazing visual patterns and images. They are a lot of fun, particularly for young kids, and there are lots of different ways to make your own DIY kaleidoscope.
So, if you are looking for a small invention project, the kaleidoscope is a great choice.
You will need to gather a lot of materials such as toilet paper rolls, colorful paper, straws, tape, mirrored sheets, sequins, beads, glitter, and more!
However, this gives your students more creative freedom to design their own kaleidoscopes as they desire!
2. Potato Batteries
This invention project is a classic – the potato battery!
Although it’s a fairly simple invention project, it’s definitely one that will blow your students’ minds and give them plenty of opportunities to experiment.
Why not try seeing if adding more potatoes to the circuit brightens a bulb, or how many potatoes it takes to make a buzzer go off?
Lemons are a fruit that can also be used as batteries – so why not perform a few tests to see which is more powerful, the lemon battery or the potato batter?
Most of the materials you need for this invention can already be found in the classroom, so all you need to do is bring the potatoes!
3. Robots
This is the ultimate invention project for kids as there’s nothing more fun (or satisfying) than making your own robot and seeing it run around the classroom!
Of course, this type of invention project is pretty complicated and will need a lot of components including motors, batteries, a ton of cardboard, and more.
However, it’s a great way to introduce your students to circuits and power, and it can encourage them all to come together and work as a team to make a class robot.
Afterward, your students will have their own class mascot they can name and keep around!
4. Hot Air Balloons
Making things fly is a lot of fun for kids of all ages so this hot air balloon invention project is a great one to try!
It involves making your own hot air balloon out of tissue paper and encouraging your students to come up with ways to make it fly.
Methods can range from hair dryers to candles to Mentos and Coca-Cola – let your students experiment, so long as it’s safe!
5. Popsicle Birdhouse
If you want your students to invent something they can take home and continue using, then why not try the classic popsicle birdhouse project?
This project leans more heavily on creative development but it’s easy and fun for kids to do.
You can encourage them to try wacky designs, or offer problems for them to try solving – like protecting the bird seeds from other animals or offering water as well as food.
Perform experiments with them to find the best materials for hanging their birdhouse from a post or offer additional materials other than popsicle sticks for them to use.
Then, once the project is done, your students can take home their popsicle birdhouses to add to their backyard!
6. Cardboard Robotic Arm
This invention project is easily one of the coolest and one your students are likely to go nuts for!
To make your own cardboard ‘robotic’ arm, all you need is cardboard, straws, popsicle sticks, and thread!
Because the materials are so easy to source and affordable, it’s a great project to try, and one you encourage your students to bring materials to share.
The final product will be a robotic hand your students can put to the test.
Once they have made their own hands, they can perform experiments using their hand to lift items like cans or pens or try to open doors.
7. Balloon Powered Car
The balloon powered car school project is a classic all students should try out at some point in their education.
It’s a lot of fun from start to finish as it challenges your students to come up with a car that will function and run.
You can divide your class up into groups and challenge them to make the best balloon powered cars.
They can collect their own materials at home and encourage them to reuse items like bottles, caps, straws, and more (of course, you will have to provide some materials like balloons).
Then, once the cars are ready, there are lots of activities you can do using their balloon powered cars.
They can race them across the playground, test them out on different surfaces, and add cool designs to make each car unique.
This can lead to a lot of interesting lessons about energy, friction, and movement so they can better understand how their cars work.
8. Functional Rockets
Another classic project for schools is the stomp rocket experiment.
It’s also a super fun invention school project as it challenges your students to think more carefully about aerodynamics, energy, and other important scientific topics.
It’s also a versatile project because it can be done with young kids all the way up to teens.
It also encourages your students to work together in teams to make some amazing rockets and encourages friendly competition between groups to see whose rocket will fly the highest or farthest.
With younger children, they may be more interested in making their own rockets that stand out against the others.
Overall, this invention project is a fun one to do with the entire class and only requires a few basic materials so it’s easy to do!
9. Musical Instruments
Kids love to make noise so why not have them invent their own instruments?
You can have each student in your class invent their own instrument either by following steps to make familiar instruments like guitars or pipes or letting them go nuts and make their own shakes, drums, and more.
You will need to collect a ton of materials for this invention project. This includes the usual materials like cards, cardboard, tubes, and glue, along with materials like rubber bands, peas, pins, and more.
Of course, students can bring their own materials and recycle things like bottles and tubes from home!
By the time the inventing part of this project is over, your whole class can form their own orchestra.
Lead them in a live performance either by making up your own music or try mimicking popular nursery rhymes and pop songs!
10. Self Watering Planters
Adding some plants to your classroom is a great way to liven up the room but it’s also a great project to give to your students to help teach them about biology.
Most kids do the plant experiment where they see how plants grow differently in different environments – but this is also a great opportunity to give them an invention project too!
You can make self-watering planters with just a few plastic bottles so this project doesn’t require a lot of materials.
You can also give the planters to your students after the experiment is done so they can grow their own small plants at home!
11. Indoor Greenhouse
Sticking to the biology theme, this invention project will show your students how they can make lots of different miniature indoor greenhouses with easy materials.
It’s also a great way to encourage them to experiment with creating different environments for their plants.
For example, some greenhouses can include a built-in ventilation fan, while others use plastic wrap for insulation. Some have mirrors, others are just a single plastic cup stuck over a small plant pot!
There are lots of different ways to make an indoor greenhouse with your class and this means you can put different types to the test to see which plants grow best!
Final Thoughts
So, there are a lot of different invention projects you can try out with your class. These range from the simple to the more complex, to the crafty to the scientific.
However, overall, each one is bound to be a ton of fun and an entertaining way to educate your class on various topics and subjects.
Check out the list above, and try out a few of these projects with your class! These are so easy that you can even try them out at home as homework projects over vacation time.
They can even be used in science fair projects and more – so grab your materials and try them out!
Hi, my name is Helena Waters and I was a teacher for 40 years before retiring last year.
During my time as a teacher I dedicated the majority of it to making classrooms as fun as possible, with educational parties, fun activities, and low cost entertainment that made the children excited about learning.
I taught children of all ages, from preschoolers to high school students. Now, with the pandemic having uprooted everything that children once knew about school and learning, I think that the need for my ideas is bigger than ever.
That is why I created School Sparks, a place in which I can write down and share all of my ideas on how to get students excited about going to school again. I hope that you’ll find some useful within a school setting, even at home too!
