My name is Alyssa.

Welcome to Kidskind.

Together, each week, we are going to meet amazing kids

who are changing the world.

Follow along with me as we hear their stories,

learn new things, and then, we're gonna hit the streets

and meet the kind kids of New York City.

First up, our friend, 11 year old, Jonah.

Whoa, do you see that?

He can crochet so fast.

Jonah uses the money he makes from his crochet designs

to help families across the world.

And while you guys say hi to Jonah,

I'll try my hand at crocheting.

Jonah is an 11 year old genius

when it comes to a needle and yarn.

- Hi fellow crocheters.

Today, in this tutorial, I'm gonna show you

how to make these adorable baby shoes.

- When he was five years old,

Jonah was going through an old bag of crafts

in his basement when something long and shiny

caught his eye.

It was a crochet hook.

He had no idea what it was for.

- He found all sorts of fun things,

but he was really fascinated with that shiny hook,

so he asked me what it was.

I told him, and then we went together on YouTube

to find a video, just so he knew what it was used for.

- A crochet hook is a skinny tool

used to make loops with yarn.

Those loops are then connected in two crochet stitches.

When you do this over and over again

using different patterns and colors,

you can make incredible things.

The first day Jonah picked up those old crochet hooks,

he crocheted an entire dish cloth.

Ever since then, he's been crocheting away.

- He never put that hook down.

- Got me hooked.

(cymbal crashing)

- I have socks and--

- I made you an afghan

- slippers, and afghans, and pillows.

Yeah, pretty much anything.

- Jonah loves crocheting so much

that his mom has to take his crochet materials

away at dinnertime.

- Yeah, it is kind of hard because it's so relaxing,

and when you start it, you just don't wanna stop.

You just wanna keep going.

- Jonah's mom was so proud of his new hobby,

but she was worried that Jonah would be bullied

at school for crocheting.

It's not every day you see kid crocheting things

like blankets, hats, and mittens at such a high speed.

- He took his crocheting to school in fifth grade.

That helped him settle down

after his assignments were complete,

and again, he helped other people, other kids crochet,

and they were fascinated at the speed of crochet.

- Jonah also excels in school and on the field.

- Basketball, football, baseball, track, cross country.

All you need is balance on a scale.

- Crocheting makes Jonah happy,

and it makes other people happy too.

- It makes me happy because it relaxes me,

and I find it a very productive way to spend my time.

And I didn't even notice at first,

but it also makes other people happy to see my work,

and that's a win win.

I donated couple items to the,

our same area in the orphanage where I was adopted from,

and I raised them $400.

That felt really nice

to be able to do that because that's where I came from,

and it felt like, I just felt like

I should give back to them.

- Jonah's crocheting skills have become so well known

around the world that people as far away

as New Zealand and companies like Amazon

are sending him boxes and boxes of different color yarn.

Not everyone will be a genius at crocheting

on the first try, but everyone can be awesome at something.

You just have to go out and find it.

- Well, I just think of it as it's never to late in life

to try something unusual.

I march to the beat of my own drum.

- Wow, Jonah is so fast.

I think I got the hang of it here.

What do you guys think?

But listen, everyone really can be good at something,

and it doesn't have to be crocheting.

You may be super talented at arts and crafts,

reading, sports, or maybe recycling.

Recycling is so important to keep our planet

clean and happy.

Right?

(bell rings)

(laughing)

Right now, we are going to introduce you to Sammie.

Sammie takes something as simple as little bottle caps

and completely transforms them.

She created what she called, the Buddy Bench.

Sammie is on a mission to end loneliness at recess.

She's doing it one Buddy Bench at a time.

- A Buddy Bench is a place where if someone is lonely

or they are new to the school, they can sit

on the Buddy Bench, and another person can come up to them,

and ask them to play.

They could play together.

You can meet new friends that way.

- Sammie's benches help kids and the planet

at the same time.

Believe it or not, these benches are actually made

out of bottle caps.

Many, many bottle caps.

Each bench is made up of hundreds of pounds

of recycled caps.

- This is Sammie's Buddy Bench.

- A local manufacturing company turns the caps into benches.

- What do you think?

- Sammie collected enough caps for three Buddy Benches

to be made at her school

Lots of kids use them to make new friends, including Sammie.

- I'm really excited because it's my first day of school,

and I'm really, I'm also really excited

that now we have Buddy Benches on the playground

for the whole year.

(upbeat music)

If I see somebody sitting on the Buddy Bench,

I ask them to play.

So, (murmurs) and Samantha made this

which is called the Buddy Bench,

and when someone's lonely, they sit on the bench

and someone asks them to play,

but I did today,

and her name was Emma.

- Dani, my little sister, she's in kindergarten.

On the first day of school, she, or after school,

she came up to mom and was like,

"I asked somebody to play on the Buddy Bench.

I have a new friend."

- For Sammie, the hard work isn't over

until every playground has one.

She's still collecting caps to help

other schools get started.

- This is what your caps are gonna turn into.

(upbeat music)

- Thanks, Sammie, for inspiring me to do the Buddy Bench.

- And by now, all the classrooms are participating

and we have a lot of caps.

- Hey Sammie, this is the

Pender Kindness Council, guess what?

We met our goal for our first bench.

- How many pounds do we have?

- 235.

- Thank you Sammie for the Buddy Bench!

(cheering)

- Thanks to Sammie, kindness is catching on.

- Always be kind to people.

You don't just have to be an adult

to make a difference.

You could be a kid too.

- You can get a Buddy Bench at your school too.

To learn how to get started, ask your parents

to help you go to Sammie's website.

Sammie's Buddy Bench invention was awesome.

An invention is an idea that can help

make the world a better place.

Have you ever thought about inventing something?

13 year old, Ella, has.

She created something

that makes hospitals a little more fun.

- My name is Ella Casano, and I invented the Medi Teddy.

- Ella is a kid inventor.

She came up with Medi Teddy

to make the hospital less scary.

- When a patient gets their Medi Teddy,

this is what they will receive.

Then the doctor or nurse will take their IV bag,

and slip it into the pouch in the back.

From the front, the patient sees a friendly stuffed animal,

rather than a bag of medicine.

While through the mesh back, the doctor or nurse

can check to see how much medicine is left.

- Some kids have to get medicine or blood from a bag

to be healthy.

- I have a platelet disorder called ITP

which means that without the medication,

I have a high of bleeding or bruising.

I've had to get IVs ever six to eight weeks

since I was seven.

The most intimidating part of the experience

has been the big bag of medicine that hangs

in the IV pole.

And there's nothing really that has been invented

to conceal that or make that part

of a patient's experience more bearable.

- Uh, huh.

(laughing)

- An invention starts with an idea

that someone comes up with for the very fist time.

Like when inventors created the light bulb.

- The original one, the very first one I made

in fifth grade, I actually used a stuffed penguin,

but then, we decided to change it to a teddy bear

to match the name.

- The next step was coming up

with what she wanted her invention to look like.

- I told my mom what I wanted it to look like,

and she drew it.

It needed to have a long back

because there are different types of IV bags,

and some of them are really long.

- As I was drawing, she would say things like,

no, make the ears lower, or no, it should have a smile.

You definitely kind of had a vision,

and I was just drawing.

I was like the sketcher of it.

- Then, builders helped bring Ella's vision to life.

Medi Teddy is already helping other kids.

- The doctor or nurse will then spike the bag as usual

to the ports in the bottom,

and I'm actually gonna do it.

And then they will hang up their Medi Teddy on the IV pole.

Yeah, this is the front.

This is the back.

- Doctors love Ella's invention too.

She's raising money so that other kids

can get them for free.

- My goal is that every child who wants a Medi Teddy

is able to have one.

- Inventions can help make the world a better place.

The possibilities are endless.

- If you have an idea, you should do something about it

because if I had just kept Medi Teddy to myself,

it never would have become so, so impactful.

- We can't wait to see what you come up with.

I think I have a few ideas for an invention.

Let's see, okay, how about an everlasting fidget spinner?

Or invisible homework?

I'm sure your teachers would love that.

There are unlimited possibilities.

We could also invent caterpillars out of paper towel rolls.

Here is a great project you can do right at home.

And what's even better about making something yourself

is that you can give it away to a friend.

All you need is a paper towel roll,

a glue stick,

a pair of scissors,

tissue paper, the more the better,