22 January 2016 - INVENTIVE KIDS

INVENTIVE KIDS

G'day folks,

I've often said that kids are our greatest resource, and that not enough of us actually listen to them. 

A brain child is an original idea. Here are some kids who had great ideas which they turned into inventions. We call these kids “brain children.”

• Six-year-old Suzanna Goodin, tired of cleaning the cat food spoon, came up with the idea of an edible spoon-shaped cracker. She won a grand prize for her invention in the Weekly Reader National Invention Contest. 
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• Eight-year-old Theresa Thompson and her 9-year-old sister Mary were the youngest sisters to receive a U.S. patent. They invented a solar tepee for a science fair project in 1960. They called the device a Wigwarm.
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• At age 9, Margaret Knight began working in a cotton mill, where she saw a steel-tipped shuttle fly out of a loom and hit a nearby worker. As a result, Margaret devised her first invention: a shuttle restraining device. She went on to invent the machine that makes the square-bottom paper bags we still use for groceries today. That machine was patented in 1871.
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• Eleven-year-old Jeanie Low received a patent on March 10, 1992, for inventing the Kiddie Stool—a foldup stool that fits under the sink so kids can unfold it, stand on it, and reach the sink on their own!
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• Becky Schroeder began her patenting career when she was 14 years old. She put phosphorescent paint on paper under her writing paper so that she could write in the dark. This invention was later used in all sorts of ways. Doctors use it in hospitals to read patients' charts at night without waking them, and astronauts use it when their electrical systems are turned down for recharging.
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• Fourteen-year-old Pamela Sica invented a push-button device that raises the floor of a car so that cargo can be raised and easily removed. Her invention won a grand prize for her age group in the Weekly Reader National Invention Contest. She wanted to patent her invention but found that it was too expensive.
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• Eight-year-old Chelsea Lannon received a patent in 1994 for her “pocket diaper,” a diaper that has a pocket that holds a baby wipe and baby powder puff. She got her idea while helping her mother with her baby brother—while she was still in kindergarten!

Clancy's comment: Amazing, eh?

I'm ...

28 December 2014 - SMART KIDS

SMART KIDS

G'day folks,

Time to listen to the wisdom of some smart kids.

A little girl was talking to her teacher about whales. The teacher said it was physically impossible for a whale to swallow a human because even though it was a very large mammal its throat was very small. The little girl stated that Jonah was swallowed by a whale. 

Irritated, the teacher reiterated that a whale could not swallow a human; it was physically impossible.
The little girl said, 'When I get to heaven I will ask Jonah'.
The teacher asked, 'What if Jonah went to hell?'
The little girl replied, 'Then you ask him'.  

A Kindergarten teacher was observing her classroom of children while they were drawing. She would occasionally walk around to see each child's work.
As she got to one little girl who was working diligently, she asked what the drawing was.
The girl replied, 'I'm drawing God.'
The teacher paused and said, 'But no one knows what God looks like.'
Without missing a beat, or looking up from her drawing, the girl replied, 'They will in a minute.'

A Sunday school teacher was discussing the Ten Commandments with her five and six year olds.
After explaining the commandment to 'honour' thy Father and thy Mother, she asked, 'Is there a commandment that teaches us how to treat our brothers and sisters?'
Without missing a beat one little boy (the oldest of a family) answered, 'Thou shall not kill.'

One day a little girl was sitting and watching her mother do the dishes at the kitchen sink. She suddenly noticed that her mother had several strands of white hair sticking out in contrast on her brunette head.
She looked at her mother and inquisitively asked, 'Why are some of your hairs white, Mum?'
Her mother replied, 'Well, every time that you do something wrong and make me cry or unhappy, one of my hairs turns white.'
The little girl thought about this revelation for a while and then said, 'Mummy, how come ALL of grandma's hairs are white?'

The children had all been photographed, and the teacher was trying to persuade them each to buy a copy of the group picture.
'Just think how nice it will be to look at it when you are all grown up and say, 'There's Jennifer, she's a lawyer,' or 'That's Michael, He's a doctor..'
A small voice at the back of the room rang out, 'And there's the teacher, she's dead.'

A teacher was giving a lesson on the circulation of the blood. Trying to make the matter clearer, she said, 'Now, class, if I stood on my head, the blood, as you know, would run into it, and I would turn red in the face.'
'Yes,' the class said.
'Then why is it that while I am standing upright in the ordinary position the blood doesn't run into my feet?'
A little fellow shouted,
'Cause your feet ain't empty.'

The children were lined up in the cafeteria of a Catholic elementary school for lunch. At the head of the table was a large pile of apples. The nun made a note, and posted on the apple tray:
'Take only ONE . God is watching.'
Moving further along the lunch line, at the other end of the table was a large pile of chocolate chip cookies.
A child had written a note, 'Take all you want. God is watching the apples.'

Clancy's comment: Don't ya just love the way kids say it like it is. Sadly, they grow up and become adults, and we know what some of them are like.

I'm ...