Best Inventions of 2021

Every year, TIME for Kids highlights inventions that are making the world a better place and a bit more fun. Before adding an invention to the list, we ask ourselves a few questions. How original is the idea? What will its impact be? How could it help people? Here are the nine inventions we’re most excited about. They’re changing the way we live, play, and learn. Which is your favorite?

Keeping Kids Calm

Feeling anxious? Sproutel’s PURRBLE comes to the rescue. This toy has seven sensors. They respond to touch. Purrble’s heartbeat speeds up when you play with the toy. Then you comfort Purrble by petting it. This slows its heartbeat down. So it calms you, too. —By Paulina Cachero

Smart Specs

Meet Lenovo’s THINKREALITY A3 SMART GLASSES. Connect them to a computer or smartphone. High-definition displays are built in. They show as many as five different virtual desktops. Move your head to see the desktops floating in front of you. The headset also has speakers so you can listen to music. —By Jason Cipriani

Read to Me

Reading is tough for millions of people. But with computer vision and artificial intelligence, the ORCAM READ can read any piece of text aloud. The device has a laser frame. Aim it at the page of a book. Press a button. OrCam Read starts reading! It can also work in different languages. —By Jesse Will

Offline Coding Class

Coding involves problem-solving. It also involves spotting patterns. SPHERO INDI teaches both. No screen is required. Use tiles to program a robotic car. Make it move from point A to point B. Green tiles increase its speed. Pink tiles tell it to turn left. Purple tiles tell it to spin and dance. —By Chad de Guzman

Helping Hand

Check out the Thames & Kosmos MEGA CYBORG HAND. It’s a robotic hand. You build it from a kit. The hand copies the movements of a real hand. Mega Cyborg is made of plastic pieces and tubes filled with water. Once you put it on, it carries force from your fingers to the fingers of the robotic hand. —By Jared Lindzon

A Robot with Heart

A girl in a clinic was very sick. She hadn’t eaten much. The staff brought ROBIN THE ROBOT into her room. She and the robot played games. When it was time to say goodbye, Robin promised to come back. But only if the girl ate. It worked! Robin the Robot had done what it was made to do: help sick kids. —By Nik Popli

A New Noodle

Dan Pashman wanted to make the perfect pasta shape. He got help from Sfoglini. That’s a pasta company. In March 2021, Pashman and Sfoglini put out CASCATELLI. The pasta has a half-tube shape. It catches sauce. The ruffles provide a good bite. And the noodles are short. So it’s easy to get them on a fork. —By Eliana Dockterman

Fast and Futuristic

The BOOM XB-1 supersonic demonstrator is a jet. It’s 71 feet long. It’s faster than sound. The plane can reach incredible speeds. It can cover the distance from New York City to London, in the United Kingdom, nearly twice as fast as a regular jet can. —By Jeffrey Kluger

Portable Wheels

The REVOLVE AIR is a travel-friendly wheelchair. Its wheels fold up. So the chair takes up much less space than a regular folding wheelchair. It fits in the overhead compartment on an airplane. Thousands of people are on a waiting list to get one. —By Jesse Will