NORTHRIDGE : Creativity Fuels Young Minds’ Neat Inventions

Trouble waking up? Why not try an alarm clock that squirts water as it goes off?

If this sounds like a refreshing concept, start saving now. One may be on the market before you know it.

The aquatic alarm--along with several other inventions to overcome everyday roadblocks--was featured Friday at Balboa Magnet Elementary School as 60 parents crowded into a third-grade classroom to witness the school’s fourth annual “Invention Convention.�

The event showcases the works of teacher Christy Wyatt’s mentally gifted class of third-graders and is an extension of the U.S. Patent Model Foundation’s “Invent America� program.

“Invent America� was created in 1987 to promote creative thinking and problem-solving techniques to students across the country. Projects from all over the country are submitted to judges in Washington, D.C., for a $500 annual prize.

“This is the culmination of six months of hard work,� Wyatt told the audience. “In developing their projects, the students combined skills in math, science and language arts to reach higher levels of learning.�

Downplaying the competition aspect of the program to her students, Wyatt said the event enhances self-esteem.

“This helps them to communicate more effectively and think more critically about different subjects,� Wyatt said.

The class got its creative juices flowing last September, she said, by examining kitchen utensils and common household items for group discussion on new uses for them. And then they set to work.

On Friday, with the zeal of a late-night TV commercial, the students hawked their wares to parents in a series of demonstrations showing how life could be easier with their inventions.

“Do away with the snooze button,� Vidya Mahendran, creator of the “Full-Proof Alarm Clock,� demanded of her audience. Explaining that a sleepy older sister served as inspiration for her creation, 9-year-old Vidya demonstrated how a container of water and tubes connected to a wind-up clock can “shock customers� into consciousness.

With other projects inspired by sources ranging from private frustrations to social grievances, the audience was treated to some solutions it probably had not considered before.

Dan Souleles, 9, created the “Paper Picker Upper,� a jointed wood contraption for use by frustrated drivers forced to reach around to the windshield to remove flyers left on their cars.

Wendy Levine, 8, overcame the frustration of being short in a movie theater by developing the “I Can See Now� height booster--a stadium seat strapped to a collapsible wood box.

Other students set out strictly to help their loved ones.

Jonathan Pollack, 9, took his grandfather’s bad back into consideration when he conceived his “Mr. Hot Bowl Legs,� a soup bowl with tripod legs and an attached electronic warmer.

“It hurts his back a lot when he has to bend over to sip his soup,� he explained. “My grandfather has done a lot for me so I wanted to give something back.�