OVERVIEW
Lyles Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at California State University, Fresno is offering Kids Invent! After School Program and Summer Camps. Kids Invent! provides elementary and middle school children with hands on applications of science and math through innovative and creative activities.  

HISTORY
Kids Invent!™ was developed as a collaborative effort between Dr. Ed Sobey and Dr. Timothy Stearns. Dr. Sobey is known nationally as an expert on children’s creativity and learning. He has authored several books, served as the first Executive Director of the National Invention Center, and was the creator of the television show “The Idea Factory,” which was aired on the ABC affiliate in Fresno, California.  Dr. Stearns is a nationally known educator in entrepreneurship at California State University, Fresno, having created programs that enable children and young adults to understand business creation.

In 1995, Dr. Sobey and Dr. Stearns were awarded a grant from the Lemelson Foundation to design and conduct a university program which young adults would create, develop, model, and compose a business plan for a toy idea. Later, they applied knowledge gained from that experience to develop Kids Invent!™.

Kids Invent!™ encourages kids to continue applying their creative talents long after the program has concluded. One opportunity is to showcase their inventions at the national Toy Hall of Fame and in contests and programs. Kids Invent! also empowers kids to consider commercial applications of their ideas.