Features

Send a link to a friend

"The little-known stories behind well-known inventions"

Eleven-year-old girl's broken crayons lead to new company          By Paul Niemann

[DEC. 7, 2005]  When most kids reach for their crayons and find that most of them are broken, they usually accept that there's nothing they can do about it. But not 11-year-old Cassidy Goldstein. When she had a school assignment that required her to use her crayons -- mostly broken -- she thought of a clever solution.

Cassidy decided to invent something that would hold her broken crayons and allow her to use them. Do you remember the chalk holder that your grade school teacher would use when her chalk got too short to use effectively? That's similar to Cassidy's crayon holder.

In the past, this is the point at which most kids would stop. They invent something that solves a common problem, and then they forget about it. What would you do? Would you know how to manufacture and sell an invention, especially if you were a child?

Fortunately, Cassidy had someone to help her. His name was Norm or, as she called him, Dad. Norm Goldstein was an executive in charge of patented technology with the company that produced Priceline.com, and before that he worked with the top people at The Sharper Image, so he knew how to take a product from concept to reality.

Cassidy's invention led her dad to start a new company, called By Kids For Kids. Formed in 2003, the company commercializes products that were invented by kids, for kids. Hence, the name. (That's the last time I ever use the word "hence" in this column, I promise.)

Wal-Mart has just placed their second order for the crayon holder, and it is also being sold in catalogs. In addition, there are many other products that By Kids For Kids has brought to the market.

Needle Beetle is the brainchild of 9-year-old Brandon Whale. It is a soft, squeezable, beetle-shaped ball that makes a kid's veins pop up when receiving a shot, just by squeezing it. It makes it easier for the nurse to locate a vein -- avoiding multiple jabs -- and also helps take the child's mind off the painful needle.

The Needle Beetle is manufactured by Mattel and was distributed to 180 children's hospitals free of charge this past summer. Brandon was even featured on the "Discovery Kids" TV show. How cool!

[to top of second column]

Brandon isn't the only inventor in his family, either. Little brother Spencer invented the Kid Care Riding Toy. This clever device attaches the IV pole (or oxygen tank) to the Riding Toy, meaning that a parent no longer has to chase a kid everywhere out of fear that the needle might come out of the child.

It is ideal for kids receiving an IV or a chemotherapy treatment, and it is selling to children's hospitals all over the U.S. It is produced by the Little Tykes Company and manufactured by Rand International. Spencer Whale was only 6 years old when he invented the Kid Care Riding Toy, and he also won several awards for his invention.

Adult celebrities aren't the only ones writing books these days. Twenty-year-old Freddie Zeiler wrote "A Kid's Guide to Giving" when she was just 14. The book is published by a company called Innovative Kids. "A Kid's Guide to Giving" will be in bookstores next September.

Large corporations have taken notice of By Kids For Kids -- the company that was started with an 11-year-old's crayon holder. So far, Xerox, Mattel and Scholastic have all signed on as sponsors

They've produced the Inventive Thinking Toolkit for Kids, which they've sent to tens of thousands of teachers in grades 3-8, as well as distributing it to libraries. The kit is based on the U.S. patent office's Project XL, which was designed to teach critical thinking skills to kids.

If you're a teacher or librarian, you can download the By Kids For Kids curriculum for free. The Web address is www.bkfk.com. You might just find something in it that you can use to help develop a future genius -- one that you never knew you had in your class.

[Paul Niemann]

Paul Niemann may be reached at niemann7@aol.com.

Copyright Paul Niemann 2005

< Recent features

Back to top


 

News | Sports | Business | Rural Review | Teaching & Learning | Home and Family | Tourism | Obituaries

Community | Perspectives | Law & Courts | Leisure Time | Spiritual Life | Health & Fitness | Teen Scene
Calendar | Letters to the Editor