No one likes to spend a day at the beach with sand in their shorts. Spreading cold butter on toast can be a recipe for a crumby mess. And a Labubu should never be mistaken for a dog toy.
Fortunately, Armstrong Elementary students have solved these problems. They’re among the many dilemmas students tackled during October’s Invention Convention.
The Sand Ripper Swimsuit avoids an itchy day at the beach with a pull cord that scrunches up the suit’s fabric. Even cold butter is easy to spread when you put it in a glue stick. And both pets and pesky siblings are fooled by a locked Labubu safe disguised as a Squishmallow.
The Invention Convention is an annual tradition at Armstrong Elementary. For the first time this year, all third graders were required to create a project, a change that enabled teachers to guide students and build on their creativity, explained the event’s co-chairs Lindsay Barnes and Jenna Fry.
Students in other grades were also invited to invent whatever they wanted. Some young innovators created tools to improve their daily lives, while others took on issues of global significance, such as how to deliver clean water through a solar purifier.
Not everything worked the first time, and that was part of the process.
Neighborhood Spotlight
Park Cities
Where the Park Cities Stay Connected.
“Part of inventing is having it not work,” Barnes said. “I think that it’s important for everyone, especially when they’re young, to have the opportunity to think and try new things — and sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t — and to have the freedom to create, and to also solve real problems.”
Fourth-grader Ellie Barnes used jar lids, popsicle sticks, and stretchy tube toys to add valuable inches to her height with expandable shoes.
“We have these really high shelves in the pantry so I can’t reach them,” she explained. “But then if I put on my expandable shoes, I can reach the snack I want.”
Ellie tested the shoes, and they worked. She wrote in the results section of her presentation that her invention should be on store shelves.
Third-graders Davis Newberry and Rhett Rozzell used their coding skills to solve the age-old problem of how to persuade reluctant students to do their homework. Their Homework Guard “watches” kids to make sure they stay in their seats during study time. If they get up, the device beeps to notify parents.
The Guard will work for other kids, the inventors said, but may not be successful in their homes. “We know how to disable it,” Newberry explained.
Third-graders Avery Lesikar and Callie Sargent combined witch hazel, aloe vera, distilled water, and essential oils to create an alcohol and chemical free skin sanitizer. Lesikar said the pair plan to try to sell their creation.
Every participant left the Invention Convention with a star headband and their own bright idea journal. Parent judges also gave three awards to each class of third graders for Bright Idea, Proficient Planning, and Creativity.
But the convention, which was sponsored by Medical City Children’s Hospital, was about learning and trying new things. Participating was itself a win.
“They’re addressing problems that they have in their life,” Barnes said. “Some of it is bigger stuff, like how do you make sure that we don’t get plastic into the ocean for animals, and some of it’s how do I make my day-to-day life easier, better, safer, and cleaner.”
