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LOCAL 10 YEAR OLD GISELLE MAKES BRUSH TIME FUN TO WIN NATIONWIDE INVENTION COMPETITION
The Aquafresh Inventors Academy tasked kids to draw an invention to make brush time more fun
With a shocking 170 operations a day in the UK to remove rotten teeth in children[1], to engage kids with brushing, the Aquafresh Inventors Academy wanted to get children involved in making brush time more fun. The winning invention came from Giselle, 10 from Kennington; London, called ‘Brushing Explosions’. Giselle’s design is a ‘Create Your Own’ toothbrush with a number of elements that children can change around to make brush time something that they look forward to every day.
Giselle clinched the title by scoring highly for innovation, creativity, quality and on the effectiveness of making brush time more fun from the judges: Dominic Wilcox, Chief Inventor at Little Inventors, representatives from Aquafresh and from the Science Museum. As well as seeing her creation actually made by Dominic, Giselle won her class a sleepover at the Science Museum and her school, Archbishop Sumner Primary School, £1,000 worth of school equipment.
Giselle said she was “extremely delighted to win” and she “worked extremely hard” on creating the standout invention to make brush time more fun for herself and her peers: “I can’t believe that I have won the Aquafresh Inventors Academy competition 2018 – I love inventing and designing and want to be an architect when I am older so this has really given me the confidence to pursue my dreams.”
Emma Pittendreigh, from Aquafresh, comments: “We’re leaders in kids’ oral health[2] and it’s important that we help address the crisis of tooth decay in children by making brush time fun for them, instead of something they try to avoid. We’re also proud to be encouraging an interest in STEM topics (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics). Giselle even wants to be an architect when she grows up and this competition has really boosted her confidence in this area!
“There is a shortage of technical skills and experience in STEM, especially in young girls, and to see so many creative inventions come in has been truly inspiring. We whittled down almost 400 entries to find our winner and it was such a difficult decision.”
Chief Inventor at Little Inventors, Dominic Wilcox was extremely impressed with the entries: “It was such an honour to look through all of the inventions for the Aquafresh Inventors Academy – there were so many great inventions, it was difficult to pick a single winner. Giselle’s winning invention really stood out for me, I scored ‘Brushing Explosions’ top marks for both innovation and creativity and it’s been a great experience bringing it to life over the past few weeks.”
Well done to all the children that took part in the Aquafresh Inventors Academy competition and congratulations to Giselle. Be sure to look out for next year’s competition, which will once again encourage kids to get involved, get creative and get inventing!
[1] https://www.local.gov.uk/about/news/170-operations-day-remove-rotten-teeth-children [Accessed 3rd July 2018]
[2] Nielsen, Total Coverage, Scantrack, Oral Care Summary, Data to: w/e 17.06.17