Fresh-Faced Ideas Weather Brings Out Best In Children At Invention Convention
The fifth-grader from Potlatch Elementary was just standing there, performing his crossing-guard duties. Soon, though, the spark of invention would ignite within him.
Shortly after he recovered from a heavy dose of exhaust fumes.
“A car smoked me, and I didn’t like it one bit!” Danny Martson said Sunday, remembering the day he was inspired to create his tailpipe purifier - resembling a giant menthol cigarette filter.
“When it comes out, it’s good air,” Danny explained.
He and about 100 other North Idaho children entered their ingenious fixes and fanciful models in the annual Invention Convention at Silver Lake Mall.
Someone from Ronco should have been there. Had the real Ron Popeil attended, he likely would have wanted to get his mitts on the Mitt-Dry.
The plastic device fits on top of an ordinary heating vent and pipes hot air up through a series of tubes on which gloves are hung. Air flows through holes punched in the tubes, drying out soggy gloves in no time.
“It’s something I would try to make or buy,” said mall shopper Jody Myers, amazed at the clever contraption.
Many gadgets were designed to help folks deal with the cold.
“It’s amazing how many were inspired by our wonderful weather conditions,” mused organizer Beth Brubaker.
Like the Airplane De-Icer Port. The Plexiglas model demonstrated how planes could roll into a special chamber designed like a giant car wash to get a mega-dose of de-icing fluid.
“I was at the airport sending my aunt off to Missouri,” sixth-grade inventor Taryn Nichols recalled. “They had to de-ice five times and they took off an hour late.”
Taryn can start earning frequent flier miles now if she wants. She won both the grand champion and people’s choice awards, bringing home $200.
A more mischievous winter device was the Arctic Blast - the snowball cannon every kid needs.
Inventor Zachary McCall wrote as an explantation, “When I play snowball fight with my brother the snowballs never go very far.” An accompanying market survey showed 20 of 26 kids surveyed would buy the frosty weapon.
Young Einsteins love to hurl things, apparently. The Lazy Boy Trash-A-Pult was a small catapult designed to “throw away almost anything - except little sisters” without having to get up from TV or play.
“If your bedroom is right straight down from the TV, it would work,” observed a white-haired woman wearing a knit cap. “Clever.”
Someone touted a “no backwash” soda-drinking system. Someone else made a game called “Route 66” giving players a tour of Western states.
Laura Treat and Kayla Ellis, both sixth-graders, made a small model representing a kid-safe airbag of the future: Two bags in one. The hypothetical seat would have sensors running up the backrest. On impact, one of the bags would be deployed, depending on a person’s height.
“The car companies are looking into this, but based on weight,” says Laura’s mom, Carol. The girls rejected that idea because some short folks are heavy, too. They took home a first-place award, winning $50.
The wishful-thinking award should have gone to whoever made “Can Man.”
It looked like something from the Wizard of Oz - a statue made from tin cans painted gold. It was classified on the entry form as a “non-working model.”
What was it supposed to do?
“It will clean my room,” the inventor wrote.
, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color Photo