The first workshop, which took place in Sunderland in October 2015 with 450 children, was supposed to be a one-off event. It was, however, an immediate and viral success and, three years later, the “Little Inventors” workshop created by the British designer Dominic Wilcox has spread worldwide. In practice, aspiring inventors (between the ages of 4 and 13) are invited to design their own ideas. Some of these are then created by artisans, or “makers”. The most popular include a fruit bowl which warns you when the contents are about to expire, and a family scooter (which has become part of the collection at the V&A in London).
But how do you teach children to design? “Children have a naturally creative approach. The real challenge lies in encouraging them to communicate their ideas. The first step is to create a relaxing and calm environment and atmosphere. Each time, we concentrate on a theme, for example food waste, and we begin by providing information. Not too much, we don’t want to cause confusion. At this point, we ask the children to begin discussing in groups. It is a fundamentally important step, because talking about your thoughts helps you to think”.
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With this method, Wilcox’s “Little Inventors” has travelled the globe various times. The latest was the “Sharjah Children’s Biennial”, where 4,000 children from 14 countries sent in their ideas. Forty-four of these were turned into prototypes and models by designers, artisans and artists (exhibited until 20 March at the Mughaider Children’s Centre). There is a bottle of water that can’t be knocked over thanks to a magnet in the bottom; the Love Heart Jacket which renders you visible even in the midst of a storm; the Fit Foot, which produces electricity as you walk, and a six-legged chair which stops people who lean back from falling.
We ask the children to begin discussing in groups. It is a fundamentally important step, because talking about your thoughts helps you to think.
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And while it is true that there is no ideal age to begin, and common practice is to respect everyone’s own pace, it is also true that there seems to be a golden moment for creativity. “Between the ages of 9 and 11 there is a small period of time which represents the perfect moment: at this age, children have an ideal balance between sufficient knowledge of the world and infantile imagination”, explains the versatile designer. “I, for example, didn’t realise I was creative until the age of 19, when at school a teacher challenged us to design daily objects which had something different, something new, which rendered them more interesting. From that moment it is all I have done. In some way, Little Inventors was inspired by that moment”. Transforming the ordinary into the extraordinary, looking at what we see every day from a new point of view is what Wilcox teaches the children. One of the challenges is valorising the potential of the analogical world with children of the digital age. “It is easier to put the children in front of a screen and let them watch a video, or play. However, reality teaches us that it is hard to find great ideas like this. Personally, using my hands - drawing or building a model - helps me to think, to improve the original idea of the design. A designer never stops using their hands”.
I didn’t realise I was creative until the age of 19, when at school a teacher challenged us to design daily objects which had something different.
In January, Wilcox was in Canada for a project in collaboration with the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) which was set up in 2017. In view of the mission involving the French-Canadian astronaut David Saint-Jacques, the local Little Inventors were invited to think of ways to improve his life on the International Space Station. There were 2,000 proposals, 14 of which were turned into real objects by local makers. These were added to the online platform which has already collected more than 7,000 inventions, and to the edition of a practical manual which encourages children from all over the world to become the inventors of the future. “The challenge”, explains the designer and inventor - among other things of a pair of shoes with built-in GPS and a self-driving car which takes you home while you sleep - “is to encourage the children to think creatively, but also to believe in themselves enough to be able to communicate their own ideas”.
- Project:
- Little Inventors
- From:
- 2015
- Founder:
- Dominic Wilcox
- Event title:
- Little Inventors, Inventions for Space! Powered by NSERC, in Collaboration with the CSA
- In cooperation wirh:
- NSERC/CRSNG, Canadian Space Agency (CSA)
- Event title:
- Sharjah Children Biennial, 6th Edition
- Opening dates:
- October 2018 – June 2019