Young minds think big

COEUR d’ALENE — Eliana VanCor, a seventh-grader from Forrest Bird Charter School in Sandpoint, likes to wear her cowboy boots all year long but the hard, flat soles are not ideal for North Idaho winters.

"Cowboy boots are really slippery so I had to put sand on the bottom and fur inside, because they are really cold in the winter," Eliana said.

For her invention, "Winter Cowboy Boots," Eliana had taken an old pair of her boots and added the sand and some rubber to the soles. The fur liner was removable so when it's not cold outside it could be taken out.

Eliana's invention was displayed at the Silver Lake Mall throughout the weekend at the 27th annual North Idaho Regional Invent Idaho! competition.

She was awarded best of in the working models category at the award ceremony Sunday evening, where hundreds of children and adults crowded into the center of the mall to find out who would have the chance at the state finals in March. Eliana was awarded best of last year as well for her invention, the "Western Winter Bridle."

The 2016 competition featured 198 inventions by first- through eighth-grade students from schools across North Idaho, from Sandpoint to Moscow. Beth Brubaker, Invent Idaho's president and co-founder, said the young inventors often come up with very thoughtful, unique inventions.

"I'm always amazed, you never know quite what they're thinking of," Brubaker said. "Some of them are very much centered on helping others, some are heartwarming the reason they thought of it, you just never quite know what's going to show up."

Pulling from their own experiences, the children came up with many inventions that would be useful to themselves and others.

Julia Peppin, a fourth-grader from Ponderosa Elementary in Post Falls, had the idea to put a timer on a water bottle.

"To remind you to drink your water," Julia said. "My water bottle sits on my desk and I forget to drink my water."

When asked if it is important to remember to drink water, Julia agreed.

Kayla Thompson, a fourth-grader from Twin Lakes Elementary in Rathdrum, invented a "Stick to the Ceiling Game Kit".

"It's a board that you stick to the ceiling of your car, and when you are bored on a trip you get the kit out and you can stick it up to the ceiling of your car and you can play games on the ceiling," Kayla said. "When we went to Seattle a couple years ago I was bored because my battery kept dying on my tablet. I thought maybe I could invent something that could keep me and my brother busy for awhile."

More than 60 finalists from the regional competition have the option to move on to the state competition at the University of Idaho in Moscow, March 4-5. While there, the North Idaho finalists will go up against the finalists from the other two Invent Idaho regions in the state.

Finalists who placed first, second, third, best of category or best of show can compete at state if they choose and registration must be completed online at inventidaho.com by Feb. 21.

Winners from the state competition will be invited to show off their inventions at the Idaho State Capitol building in Boise in March.