![TinyMe b742ebf7f4fefdd639b58ffa4fa6d8c1_large[1]](http://rossrubin.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/TinyMe-b742ebf7f4fefdd639b58ffa4fa6d8c1_large1-300x243.jpg)
Most kids love to see their name. Tinyme Name Blocks makes a personalized puzzle out of it. The colorful pieces are made of plywood, are covered by a protective coating, and non-toxic inks are used for the colors. They fit snugly in a holder that also houses a plastic card with rounded corners that has the child’s name on it, allowing her to match the letters. And for those who are especially concerned about safety, the puzzles match the safety standards in Europe, the U.S., Australia and New Zealand. Toddlers and kindergartners will likely get a kick out of spelling out and seeing their name in a puzzle. For $24 AUD a backer gets a four block puzzle. Larger donations get more blocks, so prepare to shell out for little Aloysius if it winds up at Babies R Us. Expected delivery is July 2014.
Category: Kids/Babies
The Premise. Disciplining children is the one part of parenthood that isn’t so great. Most kids don’t respond to their parents simply because they are their parents. Outside sources sometimes have better luck showing children the difference between right and wrong.
The Product. Taking a naming cue from such sitting toys as The Elf on the Shelf and the crowdfunded Mensch on a Bench, Bear on the Chair is a behavioral modification tool for children. This cuddly toy sits on a white chair and hangs out with your child. If your child’s behavior is good, you can attach the yellow happy face to the bear’s shirt. However, if bad behavior ensues, simply attach the red sad face. Your child will take responsibility for the bear’s mood like a friend and will change their behavior to do so. The bear was designed to be super cute and cuddly as well as gender neutral making it great for girls and boys alike.
The Pitch. Bear on the Chair starts with a longer video of dramatizations of a bratty girl refusing to do what her father asks. It lacks a moment where the girl actually responds to the bear’s sad face, but you get the idea either way. The remainder of the campaign talks about the bear’s friends: Santa, the Tooth Fairy and Easter Bunny, and about how each bear comes with its own adoption certificate upon naming it. The Bear on the Chair needs some money for its honey — $10,000 in a 45-day Kickstarter campaign.
The Perks. Backers can receive this cuddly bear for $55 with an estimated delivery date of July 2014. Reward tiers go all the way up to $1,000 for backers who really really love teddy bears.
The Potential. Bear on the Chair is aimed at bettering a child’s behavior, though seems a little bit manipulative in the way it works. Also, if this bear and child are so close, wouldn’t the child notice that the happy/sad faces are removable? The campaign would benefit from testimonials of parents who can vouch for the Bear’s success. Still, Bear on the Chair presents a unique opportunity for parents to teach children how their naughty actions can influence others. Any toy that has the potential to make a child a little less naughty, even if a little expensive, is certainly welcome on the market for frustrated parents.
The Premise. Baby monitors haven’t changed much for decades, partially because they haven’t had to serve any other purposes. But what if a baby monitor could report on a child’s sleeping patterns and whether or not they were safe in their crib?
The Product. The Monbaby sleep analyzer is a small button that can be clipped onto any article of clothing and monitors how much a child is moving during sleep, whether or not they have woken up, and even if they’ve fallen. This data is sent to the companion iPhone app, which reports all of this information as well as whether a child has rolled onto their stomach or back, and can provide customizable alerts depending on certain variables. It can provide this data for users of any age, but in the early stages of the technology, it is being tailored specifically for newborn children.
The Pitch. Monbaby inventor Arturas Vaitaitis shares his inspiration behind the sleep analyzer and discusses his professional background, also asking for feedback on what else this tiny device could do. While every child will react differently, the baby in the video seems content enough, not even noticing the Monbaby clipped onto its clothes. The device has been featured at CES, the IWC Bluetooth competition, and won a prize at the Munich Wearable Technologies conference. Vaitaitis is looking for $10,000 to create an infrastructure that can store the data recorded by the sleep analyzer.
The Perks. Getting a Monbaby sleep analyzer button with the companion app takes a pledge of $79. Custom colored models are available in blue, pink, gray, and red for $169. The basic model will ship in October with the colored buttons arriving the following month.
The Potential. There’s a lot of untapped potential in the baby monitor market, and something like this could also provide valuable data for doctors to look at when considering a child’s development. Not only is it safe and non-intrusive for sleeping babies, but having one of these could even help parents get a little extra sleep themselves, and that alone would probably be reason enough to pick one up.
![LolliPOP Bottle Stop 02759731677f2cf0632e25d55de1690b_large[1]](http://rossrubin.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/LolliPOP-Bottle-Stop-02759731677f2cf0632e25d55de1690b_large1-300x225.jpg)
Ninety-nine bottles to wash every day, ninety-nine bottles to wash! Well, that might be slightly exaggerated, but parents of a new baby will agree that there are a lot. And the convenience of the dishwasher can seem pointless when they don’t get clean, which is why LolliPop Bottle Stop was created. The n0t-quite-lickable rubber stopper goes in the dishwasher’s top rack and the bottle over the stopper, which prevents the bottle from flipping over during the wash cycle. Gone the hassle of hand washing those 99 bottles! Seems like a very cool idea…or maybe a hot one, whose time has come. For $10, a backer gets three LolliPOP Bottle Stops and an expected delivery of May 2014…for the product. If you’re an on-the-go parent or know someone who is, you might also want to check out the Quix baby bottle campaign.
![BulletSafe Backpack Panel 20140304102701-Backpack-Panel-and-Insert[1]](http://rossrubin.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/BulletSafe-Backpack-Panel-20140304102701-Backpack-Panel-and-Insert1-300x205.jpg)
It seems a wild notion to write about a bullet-safe panel that kids can put in their backpack for protection, but interest in such a product is a sad consequence of what was once unthinkable. That being said, the BulletSafe Backpack Pannel is made of the same bulletproof material that police and others in security use for bullet proof vests. Kids just pack it in their backpack right along with their books. As long as schools don’t make them store their backpacks in their lockers, it might just save some lives. For $89 — a bit less than similar options — a backer gets one product with an expected delivery of April 2014.
![OLLA 20140305091927-bed3[1]](http://rossrubin.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/OLLA-20140305091927-bed31-300x168.jpg)
So if mom and dad have gotten weary of stuff that gets aimed at kids but that parents have to put together, OLLA just might make you smile. The modular system of hole bars and connectors lets kids build items such as a chair, desk, bench, even a bed. The light weight pieces are noted as being appropriate for kids between the ages of 4-14. For $228, a backer gets enough pieces to build a chair, and the building guide. Expected delivery is September 2014.
Sippy cups are jus tone more thing to drag around in the endless paraphernalia of kids’ stuff. Sip Sap offers a much simpler way to get your kids the hydration they need without having to clean up a huge mess. Conforming to almost any cup, SipSnaps are kid-friendly cup tops that stretch to fit the size of glasses you already own. These fun lids come in many different colors with a traditional sippy cup top or a straw top. For $20, backers can enjoy a set of three SipSnaps for delivery in August 2014. Sip Sap hopes to raise $28,000 in its 32 day run on Kickstarter.
The Premise. Powdered baby formula and being mobile just don’t go together very well. Of course, there’s always the premade canned stuff that’s far more expensive. Leave it to prolific parents to come up with a much more workable solution for busy parents and baby caregivers.
The Product. The Quix baby bottle claims to reduce stress and mess by offering a baby bottle that keeps powder and water separate until the demand to blend arises. The two components are stored in one convenient baby bottle container, but are separated by a closed valve. Before rushing out the door with baby, powder goes in the bottom portion, water in the top portion, and ring, nipple and plastic cover seal the top. Then when you’re on location and baby decides that it’s time to eat, mom, dad, or perhaps a helpful sibling opens the valve, shakes, and baby gets the easily digestible version of bone apatite. Aaah, hear that? Peace and quiet for all involved.
The Pitch. The cost of a music license is likely all that kept the old 1961 Twist and Shout song written by Bill Medley and Bert Berns out of the campaign vid/eo. Maybe some major company will pick up on that if this product makes it out of the crowdfunding stage. Anyway, thiere is nothing quixotic about the Quix. In fact, it’s so user friendly that, uh, yes, a child could do it. So, a great deal of detail really wasn’t needed to explain this product to viewers.
The Perks. There are 11 tiers from which backers may choose. For $25, backers get one Quix baby bottle and a guarantee of radically reduced crying…until it’s time to change the diaper anyway. Expected delivery for Quix is October 2014.
The Potential. As new parents are tirelessly reminded, breastfeeding is best, but there’s still a huge market for baby formula. The Quix seems to uniquely solve a problem common to many parents of babies, a group that’s always looking for a little extra help wherever they can find it.
The Premise. The world is a much different place than it was even 50 years ago. Where older generations may have spent all day outside the house, roaming the city and having adventures, many parents are concerned about their kids’ safety or just want to know their whereabouts.
The Product. Children wearing the hereO GPS watch can have their location tracked and monitored live using the companion app for up to 72 hours. The bright, colorful watch was designed with children in mind and fits many smaller size wrists that other GPS units won’t. Each watch is fully water-resistant and features its own SIM card for roaming-free tracking in over 40 countries.
The Pitch. In the promotional video, the hereO team explains their mission goal and shows off some of what the watch can do. In addition to live monitoring and tracking, alerts can be set up for specific locations like school or friends’ houses to let parents know when children arrive and leave. Seeing the hereO work with children of all ages is enough to pique the interest of most parents. The campaign needs $100,000 to complete work on the different apps and to begin mass manufacturing.
The Perks. One challenge of some kid trackers, such as the thoughtfully designed FiLiP available at AT&T, is the need for another cellular subscription. hereO backers can save $50 off the retail price by making a pledge of at least $99 and receive a hereO watch with six months of subscription fees paid. Higher tiers are available for batch orders and distributors, and at the highest $1,000 tier, backers can design their very own hereO watch.
The Potential. The concept behind the hereO watch is certainly one any parent can get behind, and the design and size are ideal for children, unlike other personal GPS locators. However, the safety messaging behind the device is negated by how simply the watch can be removed, either at the hands of a predator or the child itself. While the former seems unlikely based on its seemingly innocuous design, the latter seems almost inevitable as children are likely to fiddle with any accessory. This just serves as further proof that no device is a substitute for vigilant supervision.
![Lightening Stick cfcf6246370cfbb09182551cda5717a8_large[1]](http://www.backerjack.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Lightening-Stick-cfcf6246370cfbb09182551cda5717a8_large1-300x93.jpg)
Just in time for the approach of spring training, the Lightning Stick training tool is anticipated to be a home run with little sluggers, sluggettes and their coaches. Brooklyn-rased, LA-based inventor Joe Magno uses seven videos to explain how the lightweight, polycarbonate material and overall design aims to help players with the development of fast twitch muscle fiber within their body. That feature, combined with a knocking knuckle grip and flat surface, all work together to promote palm up/palm down swings and teach the batter to get all the way through the ball quickly and keep their hands inside. For a pledge of $40, backers get one Lightning Stick, which is estimated to run about $59 once it goes mainstream. Expected delivery is April 2014.