Second Grade Invention Convention Ideas

New inventions have the potential to become a top seller, which is part of the reason why schools are now offering this type of assembly. An invention convention asks each student to come up with an invention and display it at the event. It’s sometimes hard to find ideas for younger children, such as those in the second grade, because the kids don’t have as much exposure to the world and to previous inventions. When working on invention convention ideas for second-graders, keep in mind that the students usually need only a drawing of their project and not a 3-D model.

Give your child a few basic school accessories and ask what he would do to make them better. Try using crayons, erasers, pencils, chalk and even book bags. Ask her to come up with a list of ideas on what she’d want to make different about the item and then work from there. Some potential ideas include creating a new type of chalk with several colors inside or creating a larger eraser that covers the entire board at once. Kids may also want crayons that use multiple colors in one stick or a pencil with a larger eraser. They can even create a new design for a book bag organizer that has space for their class work and extras.

Let your child make changes to an existing toy by using the focus group mentality. In focus groups, popular toy companies give a new toy to a group of kids and ask their thoughts on it before making changes and starting the process over again. Give your child both newer electronic toys and older, more basic toys like building blocks and see what they like and dislike about both toys. It might be as simple as creating specialty building blocks of a specific color or something more complex, like a new type of video game. They can even find ways to change older action figures to fit the characters of a new movie or television show.

Food inventions are often popular at invention conventions because kids like snacks. Kids can find ways to make ice cream melt slower or to mix cereals together without pouring them separately. Kids may also want to come up with seasoning blends, such as a special flavoring for popcorn or a new type of sauce for their hamburgers. You can even let your kids use food products to create another item, such as using foods to create a new type of natural glue.