07/08/2026
This week, our 7–10-year-olds stepped into the world of inventions and discovered that many inventions begin in exactly the same way – with a problem that needs solving!
We met Professor Gearwright, our rather absent-minded and clumsy professor, who has an unfortunate habit of losing his notes and papers! Luckily, he had plenty of challenges ready for our young inventors.
On Tuesday, the Professor challenged the children to design a cup holder that would prevent spills while still being practical to use. They had to think, design, build and test their ideas – and they passed the challenge with flying colours!
On Wednesday, it was time for another problem. How could we make it easier to push a wheelbarrow up some steps? The children experimented with different ideas and discovered how changing the way we approach a problem can make a difficult job much easier.
After all that thinking, we turned our attention to the kitchen and made delicious pizzas from scratch, using homemade dough and tomato sauce.
On Thursday, we had a real-life problem for Professor Gearwright: how could we keep our plants watered while we are away next week?
We tested two simple irrigation ideas. For the first, we made small holes in the lower part of a water bottle and buried it halfway into the soil so that the water could slowly reach the surrounding ground. For the second, we made a single hole, inserted a cotton bud and experimented with creating a slow drip close to the plant.
Thursday was also archery day with Malta Archery - but this week's lesson made room for a little imagination too! Tyres became horses, our young archers became riders, and archery turned into an adventure.
Throughout the week, the children weren't simply learning about inventions. They were learning to look at a problem, think of possible solutions, experiment, test their ideas and make improvements.
After all, that is how inventions begin!
