Children's books and activities
Inventions and Inventors
Do you know any creative kids who love to tinker, build things (and take things apart ...), and solve problems? We've gathered up a great collection of books, activities, apps, and websites for learning all about inventions and inventors.
Try pairing fiction with nonfiction books and exploring different genres [6] (like poetry and biographies) and formats (like graphic novels and audio books). You'll be creating your own "text sets" — collections of texts focused on a specific topic, such as inventions and inventors. Reading widely in this way helps children build background knowledge [7], vocabulary [8], and comprehension skills.
You might also want to explore DIY Science Camp: Be an Inventor! [9]
How to explore this theme:
- Read fiction and nonfiction books
- Try some hands-on activities
- Build writing skills with these fun ideas
- Dig deeper with kid-friendly websites
- Play and learn with mobile apps
More themed resources:
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Great Fiction & Nonfiction Books
Age Level: 3-6 years old
Print List
Clink
By: Kelly DiPucchio
Age Level: 3-6 years old
Clink is a robot that used to be state of the art; now he's outdated and missing parts. Nobody...
Purchase book [19]
From the Good Mountain: How Gutenberg Changed the World
By: James Rumford
Age Level: 3-6 years old
Purchase book [20]
If I Built a Car
By: Chris Van Dusen
Age Level: 3-6 years old
Purchase book [21]
If I Built a House
By: Chris Van Dusen
Age Level: 3-6 years old
Imaginative Jack is ready to build the house of his dreams, complete with a racetrack, flying...
Purchase book [22]
Polo: The Runaway Book
By: Regis Faller
Age Level: 3-6 years old
The chase is on when Polo's book is stolen by a small alien. Polo, an engaging hound, pulls...
Purchase book [23]
The Most Magnificent Thing
By: Ashley Spires
Age Level: 3-6 years old
A girl decides to make something magnificent with the help of her assistant — her dog, but they...
Purchase book [24]
What Do You Do With an Idea?
By: Kobi Yamada
Age Level: 3-6 years old
This is the story of one brilliant idea and the child who helps to bring it into the world. As...
Purchase book [25]
Young Frank, Architect
By: Frank Viva
Age Level: 3-6 years old
Young Frank is an architect. He lives with his grandfather, Old Frank, who is also an architect...
Purchase book [26]
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Print List
Clever-Lazy
By: Joan Bodger
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Purchase book [27]
Electrical Wizard: How Nikola Tesla Lit Up the World
By: Elizabeth Rusch
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Move over Tom Edison! This intriguing look at Tesla’s importance in early use of electricity is...
Purchase book [28]
Hidden Figures: The True Story of Four Black Women and the Space Race
By: Margot Lee Shetterly, Winifred Conklin
Age Level: 6-9 years old
The true story of four African American women whose talent and tenacity led to careers at NASA...
Purchase book [29]
How Ben Franklin Stole the Lightning
By: Rosalyn Schanzer
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Purchase book [30]
Hurricane
By: David Wiesner
Age Level: 6-9 years old
As the sky grays and the leaves swirl by in a "green blizzard," two young boys and...
Purchase book [31]
I, Galileo
By: Bonnie Christensen
Age Level: 6-9 years old
The voice of an old, blind Galileo Galilei is used to look back on a life that started in Pisa...
Purchase book [32]
Iggy Peck's Big Project Book for Amazing Architects
By: Andrea Beaty
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Purchase book [33]
Iggy Peck, Architect
By: Andrea Beaty
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Purchase book [34]
Imaginative Inventions
By: Charise Mericle Harper
Age Level: 6-9 years old
A lively, brief, rhyming look at various inventions and the people who created them weaves...
Purchase book [35]
Marvelous Mattie: How Margaret E. Knight Became an Inventor
By: Emily Arnold McCully
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Purchase book [36]
Marveltown
By: Bruce McCall
Age Level: 6-9 years old
A romp through the possibilities of the unbound imagination. Marveltown is a place where flights...
Purchase book [37]
Mr. Ferris and His Wheel
By: Kathryn Gibbs Davis
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Purchase book [38]
Neo Leo: The Ageless Ideas of Leonardo da Vinci
By: Gene Baretta
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Even though Leonardo da Vinci lived a long time ago (born in 15th century Florence), his ideas...
Purchase book [39]
Now & Ben: The Modern Inventions of Benjamin Franklin
By: Gene Barretta
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Purchase book [40]
On a Beam of Light: A Story of Albert Einstein
By: Jennifer Berne
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Purchase book [41]
Papa's Mechanical Fish
By: Candace Fleming
Age Level: 6-9 years old
A fictional account based on events in the life of eccentric inventor Lodner Phillips as told...
Purchase book [42]
Pop! The Invention of Bubble Gum
By: Meghan McCarthy
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Though it's unlikely that anyone has ever heard of Walter Diemer, chances are they've...
Purchase book [43]
Pop-Up House of Inventions: Hundreds of Fabulous Facts About Your Home
By: Robert Crowther
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Each room of every house holds items, objects, and other surprises that were invented at one...
Purchase book [44]
Regards to the Man in the Moon
By: Ezra Jack Keats
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Purchase book [45]
Rosie Revere's Big Project Book for Bold Engineers
By: Andrea Beaty
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Purchase book [46]
Rosie Revere, Engineer
By: Andrea Beaty
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Purchase book [47]
Snowflake Bentley
By: Jacqueline Martin Briggs
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Strong lines and narrative combine in this picture book biography of the Vermonter who figured...
Purchase book [48]
So You Want to Be an Inventor?
By: Judith St. George
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Ever wonder who invented the first dishwasher? How about Ben Franklin's inventions? Need...
Purchase book [49]
Steve Jobs & Steve Wozniak: Geek Heroes Who Put the Personal in Computers
By: Mike Venezia
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Purchase book [50]
The Bluest of Blues: Anna Atkins and the First Book of Photographs
By: Fiona Robinson
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Born in England in the early 19th century, Anna was encouraged by her father to observe, study,...
Purchase book [51]
The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind
By: William Kamkwamba, Bryan Mealer
Age Level: 6-9 years old
When fourteen-year-old William Kamkwamba's Malawi village was hit by a drought, everyone's crops...
Purchase book [52]
The Boy Who Invented TV: The Story of Philo Farnsworth
By: Kathleen Krull
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Two machines captivated young Philo Farnsworth: a telephone and a phonograph. Both had cranks...
Purchase book [53]
The Boy Who Loved Math: The Improbable Life of Paul Erdos
By: Deborah Heiligman
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Paul Erdos grew up in Hungary and was always an unusual child. He enjoyed numbers, was inept at...
Purchase book [54]
The Crayon Man: The True Story of the Invention of Crayola Crayons
By: Natashcha Biebow
Age Level: 6-9 years old
You may not have heard of Edwin Binney but chances are you’ve used his invention: Crayola...
Purchase book [55]
The Fabulous Flying Machines of Alberto Santos-Dumont
By: Victoria Griffith
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Purchase book [56]
The Hole Story of the Doughnut
By: Pat Miller
Age Level: 6-9 years old
A seafaring cook named Hanson Crockett Gregory is credited with inventing the sweet fried treats...
Purchase book [57]
Weird & Wacky Inventions
By: Jim Murphy
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Images of unusual inventions are presented with possible uses, explained when the page is turned...
Purchase book [58]
Age Level: 9-12 years old
Print List
Crossing on Time: Steam Engines, Fast Ships, and a Journey to the New World
By: David Macaulay
Age Level: 9-12 years old
This fascinating story of the development of steam engines is told against the backdrop of David...
Purchase book [59]
Curious Jane: Science + Design + Engineering for Inquisitive Girls
By: Sterling Children's
Age Level: 9-12 years old
“Curious Jane” activities started as a summer project to keep the author’s girls engaged. It has...
Purchase book [61]
Generation Fix: Young Ideas for a Better World
By: Elizabeth Rusch
Age Level: 9-12 years old
Young people see a need and work to better their world in this upbeat chronicle of youthful...
Purchase book [62]
Girls Think of Everything: Stories of Ingenious Inventions by Women
By: Catherine Thimmesh
Age Level: 9-12 years old
Purchase book [63]
Hooray For Inventors!
By: Marcia Williams
Age Level: 9-12 years old
Purchase book [64]
Mistakes that Worked
By: Charlotte Jones
Age Level: 9-12 years old
Purchase book [65]
Robot: DK Eyewitness Books
By: Roger Bridgman
Age Level: 9-12 years old
Purchase book [66]
Robotics: Discover the Science and Technology of the Future
By: Kathy Ceceri
Age Level: 9-12 years old
Purchase book [67]
Tesla’s Attic
By: Neal Shusterman
Age Level: 9-12 years old
The first in the Accelerati Trilogy, 14-year old Nick, his younger brother and his father have...
Purchase book [68]
The Invention of Hugo Cabret
By: Brian Selznick
Age Level: 9-12 years old
Image and text combine in a unique presentation to tell the story of an orphan boy who lives...
Purchase book [69]
The Kid Who Invented the Popsicle
By: Don L. Wulffson
Age Level: 9-12 years old
Purchase book [70]
The Kids' Invention Book
By: Arlene Erlbach
Age Level: 9-12 years old
Purchase book [71]
The Next Wave: The Quest to Harness the Power of the Oceans
By: Elizabeth Rusch
Age Level: 9-12 years old
Journey to the wave-battered coast of the Pacific Northwest to meet some of the engineers and...
Purchase book [72]
Toys! Amazing Stories Behind Some Great Inventions
By: Don Wulffson
Age Level: 9-12 years old
Purchase book [73]
Hands-on Activities
Build on what you're learning together through books with these family-friendly activities, experiments, and crafts.
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30 Ways to Use a Cardboard Box [74]
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Balloon Rocket [75]
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Bristle Bots! [76]
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Building Stories: Design a House [77]
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Cardboard "Automata" [78]
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Electric Playdough [79]
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Engineer a Bird's Nest [80]
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Geodesic Gumdrops [81]
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Giant Robot Fingers [82]
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Hovercraft [83]
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Invent a Pollinator Robot [84]
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Inventions Alphabet Book [85]
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Jetpack [86]
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Makey Makey Inventions [87] $
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Marble Run (Complex) [88]
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Marble Run (Simple) [89]
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Marble Run (Simple) [90]
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Music to Our Ears [91]
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Mystery Object Investigation [92]
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Paper Making [93]
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Paper Tube Slingshot [94]
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Random Robot [95]
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Repurpose Four Everyday Objects [96]
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Silly Putty Investigations [97]
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Soda Can Vibrating Bug [98]
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Space Jell-O [99]
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Swinging Bird Toy [100]
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Tangrams (Printable) [101]
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Tin Can Magnetic Robots [102]
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Tin Can Telephone [103]
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Two-Stage Balloon Rocket [104]
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Voice Pipe [105]
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Water Wall [106]
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Zoom Ball [107]
Summer Writing
Give kids a chance to flex their writing muscles all summer long. Try one of these prompts, selected from our writing contest archives and other literacy organizations.
Great Websites for Kids
Dive deeper into topics of interest with these media-rich and interactive sites.
- Airplane Anatomy: Helping Orville and Wilbur Assemble the 1903 Flyer [112]
- Dad Can Do [113] $
- Design a Car [114]
- Design Squad Nation [115]
- Discover Design [116]
- DIY [117]
- Engineer Girl [118]
- Exploring Leonardo [119]
- Famous African American Inventors [120]
- Fidgit Factory Games [121]
- Invention at Play [122]
- Invention Playhouse: Cloud Dreamer [123]
- Invention Playhouse: Puzzle Blocks [124]
- Invention Playhouse: Tinker Ball [125]
- Inventor's Toolbox [126]
- Kids Think Design [127]
- Makedo [128]
- MetKids Time Machine [129]
- National Geographic Kids [130]
- National Inventors Hall of Fame [131]
- National Museum of American History [132]
- Roller Coaster Builder [133]
- Scratch [134]
- Tangrams (Interactive) [135]
Mobile Apps
Educational apps recommended by Common Sense Media and other trusted reviewers.
- Amazing Alex [136] $
- BallFallDown [137] $
- Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts [138] $
- Busy Water [139] $
- Crazy Gears [140] $
- DIY Nano [141]
- DIY: Get Skills, Be Awesome [142]
- littleBits Invent [143]
- Mathmateer [144] $
- Robots [145] $
- Tangram for Osmo [146]
- The Robot Factory by Tinybop [147] $
- TinkerBox [148]
- Toca Builders [149] $
- Toca Robot Lab [150] $
- Wizard School [151]
More Themed Resources
Growing Readers Tip Sheets
Simple activities for parents and kids to do together to build reading, writing, and critical thinking skills. Read online or print the PDF.
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Cause and Effect [152]
Download PDF: English [153] | Spanish [154] -
IF kids code, THEN...what? [155]
Download PDF: English [156] | Spanish [157] -
Making Inferences and Drawing Conclusions [158]
Download PDF: English [159] | Spanish [160] -
Making Predictions [161]
Download PDF: English [162] | Spanish [163] -
Preparing 21st Century Learners [164]
Download PDF: English [165] | Spanish [166] -
Science vs. Science Fiction [167]
Download PDF: English [168] | Spanish [169] -
STEM Tools at Home [170]
Download PDF: English [171] | Spanish [172] -
Steps in the Scientific Process [173]
Download PDF: English [174] | Spanish [175] -
The Night Before the Museum [176]
Download PDF: English [177] | Spanish [178] -
Think Like an Inventor! [179]
Download PDF: English [180] | Spanish [181]
Our Summer Blog
Washington DC for Kids
Events
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Ride Simulators [187] $
Places
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National Archives [190]