In 1648, 16-year-old Anton van Leeuwenhoek improved another inventor's creation called the microscope. More than 250 years later, 11-year-old Frank Epperson invented the ice pop, now known under a famous trademarked name. The websites "Idea Finder" and "Kidz World" offer fun, short biographies about youth inventors from past to present.
Children can gain patents for their inventions, as noted in the website "IP Frontline," which reported on 6-year-old Spencer Whale's invention of a kid-size, pretend car for children cooped up in hospitals. The car is connected to a rolling pole that looks like an antenna, but actually holds intravenous tubes and bags.
A classroom favorite since its publication in 1996, "Accidents May Happen: Fifty Inventions Discovered by Mistake" details the birth of familiar items ranging from breakfast cereal to dynamite.
The website of the non-profit "Inventor Ed, Inc.," contains stories and links for young inventors. Inventor Ed says that everybody invents, and an invention "is a new way of solving a problem."