Celebrating innovation this Black History Month: Lonnie Johnson and the Super Soaker
Published 28th October 2025
As teachers inspire the next generation of creative problem-solvers, stories like Lonnie Johnson’s serve as powerful reminders of where curiosity, ingenuity and perseverance can lead.
Lonnie Johnson’s journey began long before the creation of one of the world’s most popular toys. A former NASA engineer, Johnson worked on the Galileo mission to Jupiter, an extraordinary achievement in itself. Yet it was during an experiment at home, developing an eco-friendly heat pump in the late 1980s, that he accidentally stumbled upon an idea that would change the way children play forever.
That accidental discovery led to the invention of the Super Soaker. Using his engineering expertise, Johnson transformed a simple concept into a powerful water blaster that became an instant success when it hit the shelves in 1990. The Super Soaker didn’t just redefine water play; it demonstrated how creativity, experimentation and technical knowledge can come together to produce something truly revolutionary.
Inspiring creativity and innovation in the classroom
For design and technology teachers, Lonnie Johnson’s story is a wonderful classroom example of real-world design thinking in action. It highlights how iterative design, problem-solving and a willingness to experiment can lead to innovation, sometimes in the most unexpected ways. Exploring Johnson’s process offers pupils a chance to connect theory to tangible outcomes, encouraging them to see that engineering and design are not just about function, but about imagination, resilience and discovery.
Lonnie Johnson’s journey also links perfectly to the ‘Inspired by Industry’ Yoto context. While Yoto focuses on screen-free audio learning toys, both showcase how creativity, prototyping and problem-solving can bring ideas to life. ‘Inspired by Industry’ is free for all teachers and includes a collection of member-only Focused Tasks (FTs), Investigative and Evaluative Activities (IEAs), and curriculum units to support delivery of this context brought to you by Yoto. Using Johnson’s story alongside Yoto resources can help pupils explore materials, mechanical systems, simple electronics, and iterative design in a hands-on, meaningful way.
This Black History Month, Lonnie Johnson’s story can spark rich classroom discussions around invention, diversity in engineering and the power of persistence. His journey reminds us that every great idea starts with curiosity, and that nurturing that spark in the classroom can inspire the designers and engineers of the future.
To support teachers further, a handy downloadable PDF poster is available. This can be kept in your classroom as inspiration to revisit and share whenever you want to highlight how creativity can come alive in design and technology.
