AI Skill: Text generation
The Scenario: A problem to solve and total creative freedom on how to solve it. AI writes the brief, your child invents the solution – by drawing, building, or another method you choose.
What you need
- ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini (free versions all work fine)
- Paper and pens, or household items to build with, depending on the method chosen
- About 20–30 minutes
How to do it
- Decide your child’s age, whether you have a problem in mind or want the AI to invent one, and how they’ll solve it (drawing, building from household items, or something else).
- Open the AI app and paste this prompt:
Write an invention brief for a [child’s age]-year-old. The problem to solve is: [problem, e.g. “how to stop the dog digging up the garden” — or write “you choose” and invent an age-appropriate everyday problem yourself].
The child should solve it by [method: drawing their invention / building a working model out of household items / other — specify].
Give the brief as: a short, exciting problem statement, 3–4 criteria the invention must meet, and one open-ended prompt encouraging them to make it their own. Do not describe what the invention should look like or how to solve the problem — leave that entirely to the child. Keep language simple enough for a [child’s age]-year-old to understand read aloud to them if needed.
- Read the brief over. Check the criteria make sense for the method you picked (e.g. a “building” brief shouldn’t ask for something needing tools you don’t have).
- Read the brief to your child, or hand it over if they can read it themselves.
- Let them get on with it. Resist the urge to steer their solution, the brief is deliberately open so they can take it wherever they want.
Good to know
- If the criteria feel too restrictive or too vague once you read them, ask the AI to adjust.
“make the criteria simpler” or “give one more criteria to make it more of a challenge.” - There’s no wrong answer here. The brief gives structure, not a target to hit exactly.
Take it further
- Get them to present their invention back to you afterwards, explaining how it works and why they made the choices they did.
- Turn it into a family challenge. Everyone gets the same brief, then compares solutions.
- Ask for a harder or sillier problem next time, and see how their thinking changes.