Subscriber Only Resources?
Access this article and hundreds more like it with a subscription to Scholastic News magazine.
The name Baby Toon combines the words “toy” and “spoon.”
Marco Garcia/AP Images for Scholastic Inc.
Science and Technology
I’m an Inventor
Cassidy Crowley turned a bright idea into a successful product. Find out how you can too!
As You Read, Think About: What qualities might a successful inventor have?
Ten-year-old Cassidy Crowley was face-to-face with five sharks. But they weren’t the creatures that live in the ocean. They were the
“It felt like such an unreal moment for me,” she says. “My heart was racing.”
Cassidy was thrilled when one of the sharks, Lori Greiner, decided to back her idea. That was in 2019. Today, the Baby Toon is sold online and in thousands of stores across the United States and Canada.
Cassidy, now 15, thinks other kids can become inventors too. Here are her tips.
1. Identify a problem.
The Baby Toon started as a science fair project in 2016 in Cassidy’s hometown of Honolulu, Hawaii. Cassidy’s first-grade teacher asked her to think of a problem and come up with a solution.
Cassidy was inspired by her baby sister, Emily. She would often stick the handle of her plastic baby spoon in her mouth. Their mom worried that Emily might get hurt.
“That’s when I kind of had that ‘Aha!’ moment,” Cassidy recalls.
2. Start small.
Cassidy did some research on baby spoons. Then she sketched some ideas of what a safer one might look like. Next she made her first
“I just took stuff I had around me,” Cassidy explains. “Nothing really fancy.”
Having a simple model she could hold in her hands made it easier to improve the design. Later she bought plastic beads that could be molded into shapes when heated. She used them to create a spoon shaped like an elephant, which she presented at the science fair.
Marco Garcia/AP Images for Scholastic Inc.
These were some of Cassidy’s early designs (inset). Today, the Baby Toon is made of a baby-friendly material called silicone.
3. Don’t expect to do it alone.
Cassidy had her parents’ support from the start. When she decided to turn her science fair project into a product she could sell, they knew they needed help.
Product design expert Collin Kobayashi worked with Cassidy to improve her design. It needed to have smooth edges and be soft enough to not injure a baby. Kobayashi also helped find a factory that could make the final product using a baby-friendly material called silicone.
Greiner of Shark Tank helped too. She made a deal with a baby products company called Munchkin to sell Cassidy’s creation.
Eric McCandless/ABC/Sony Pictures Television
Cassidy and her mom pitch the Baby Toon on Shark Tank.
4. Never give up.
Cassidy sketched, created, and tested about 50 versions of the Baby Toon. The long process wasn’t always easy. But it was worth it.
“You’re going to hit challenges along the way,” Cassidy says. “You have to just believe in yourself.”
A Kid Invented That!
These inventions show that you’re never too young to create something that has a big impact.
Shutterstock.com
Popsicles
Frank Epperson created these frozen treats by accident in 1905. The 11-year-old mixed flavored soda powder with water using a stick and left his creation outside on a cold winter night.
Shutterstock.com
Earmuffs
In 1873, 15-year-old Chester Greenwood wanted to keep his ears warm while ice-skating. He bent wires to loop around his ears and asked his grandmother to sew warm padding around them.
Mayank Makhija/NurPhoto via Getty Images
The braille system has raised dots that stand for letters, numbers, and punctuation.
Braille
Louis Braille was born in 1809. He was blinded by an accident at a young age. From about 12 to 15, he worked to develop a system that enabled people who are blind to read. Today, people worldwide read using braille.
Close-Reading Questions
