Shieldfield Draws Together

Inventions to brighten everyday life

Objects to help with tasks, from egg whisks to complex heath-robinson style contraptions, are essential to our everyday lives. With so much of our time spent looking at screens, I’ve been thinking about what could be invented to help with problems in a direct, physical way without needing a screen. Whether it’s a device to hand out ice cream cones in a socially-distanced way, or something to help clean up ocean plastic, no problem is too big, or small. 

SAW would love to see your inventions, so please email them to gemma@saw-newcastle.org so we can add them to our online gallery.

Inspiration

Little Inventors

Be inspired by the brilliant Little Inventors project, who encourage kids to think up and draw inventions. Little inventors then challenge skilled experts and makers to work with children to turn their ideas into reality. Little Inventors website

William Heath Robinson

William Heath Robinson was an illustrator and artist, most well known for his drawings of strange mechanical devices and convoluted gadgets. Heath Robinson Museum

Drawing

Feel free to draw whatever springs to mind, but below are some ideas to get started. You could even try making a model of your invention out of scrap cardboard.

  • What could you invent to keep in touch with your friends and neighbours in a socially distanced way, without using electricity? Could you make a paper cup telephone, or come up with signs or a secret code to display in your window?
  • Draw your favourite invention, or inventor, from history
  • Draw your favourite North East invention or industry
  • What task would you automate if you had the choice? Do you dream of an automatic tea-and-toast-maker to wake you up in the morning? Draw how you would improve things by making them automatic
  • How would you improve the technology or communication in Shieldfield (or your own community)?
  • Think about how inventions could be people-powered by using pedalling to create movement. Try designing your dream people-powered transport solution.