
Creativity
Age 3 - 8 Years
Springloaded
by Sam Wilson (Writer), Chenel Ferreira (Designer), Judith Browne (Editor) & Nicole De Klerk (Illustrator)
Neo and her father are inventors. When her dad invents a helicopter hat and flies away, Neo gets bored and decides to make her own invention. However, she makes her invention a little too powerful and almost gets into trouble. Join us on this dynamic story reading to find out if she will get out of her predicament and learn about the importance of family and togetherness.

Creativity
Age 3 - 8 Years
Let's get Creative
Explore 5 Fun Activities to do at Home
Step 4
Explain that the pencil appears to bend as it reaches the water because of the added resistance from the water. We see the pencil because light is bouncing off of it, but that light slows down as it moves through the water (just like our hand did). This slowing down causes the pencil to appear as if it has bent.
Step 6
In a dark room place the clear jar/glass filled with water on top of the white piece of paper. Shine your flashlight from the side at a downward angle so that the light from the flashlight shines onto the white piece of paper. Keep adjusting your angle and distance from the glass until you find the right spot and see a rainbow appear on the paper. Note: your rainbow will be vertical lines, not the arc shape that we see in the sky.
Discuss the story together:
“Neo’s father is an inventor. When he invents a helicopter hat and flies away, Neo decides to make an invention of her own.”
Discussion questions to ask kids. You don’t have to ask all of them, these are just suggestions. You can also come up with your own questions as well if you like:
- What does it mean when something is spring loaded?
- What does Neo invent?
- Why does Neo make an invention?
- How was her invention influenced by her father?
- Neo seems bored after her father flies away. How does being bored make her more likely to be creative
- Why is creativity important?
- Neo’s father kind of abandons her, why do you think he does this? Is he trying to abandon her, or was he busy with other things and distracted? Do you think he wanted Neo to be bummed out? Have you ever made someone else sad without intending to? What happened?
- Neo’s invention works so well that it almost gets her into trouble. How?
- When Neo realizes that she is floating away, what does she do to fix the problem?
- Neo’s father catches her as she falls back to earth. What might have happened to Neo if he hadn’t been there? What does this tell us about the importance of family?
- How does the story help us to think about Ubuntu?
- Do you think that Neo’s dad is impressed with her invention?
- Why do you think that Neo’s father makes his own springloaded shoes? Why do you think he makes them for the cat as well? Why is it important that even the cat is included?
- Do Neo’s elbow pads keep her safe?
- Do you think science is important?