Local kid inventors from O’Fallon shine In Chicago toys and games competition

Who needs Santa’s elves when a group of young students are busy inventing toys and games?

In their first year as an organization, members of the Innovators Club at St. Clare School in O’Fallon were among the top place finishers at a national contest last month.

“Our main focus is inventing and prototyping toys for license to toy manufacturers,” said club leader Michael Gramelspacher. “We had a small toy fair at the school, and many of the students went on to compete in Chicago.”

The People of Play’s 17th Annual Young Inventor Challenge at Radio Flyer Headquarters in Chicago took place Nov. 19.

“There were almost 90 entries from three countries, and the kids from our school won the top prize in each category awarded, and one honorable mention — Best Game, Most Creative, Best Pitch, and Best Game Honorable Mention,” Gramelspacher said.

The YIC is a yearly competition where students between the ages of 6 and 18 can create an original toy or game, and then pitch it to professional toy and game inventors for a chance to win big prizes. Past winners have seen their entries licensed, manufactured and sold in major retailers.

This year’s competition was sponsored by Mattel, Crazy Aaron’s and Zigazoo, and garnered 89 entries from three countries. Fifty participants/teams pitched their ideas in person and were judged virtually and in-person by 76 professional inventors and executives from many well-known companies from eight countries.

Here’s the St. Clare results:

BEST GAME - Sponsored by Mattel

• Senior Winners: Chicken Scratch by Avalinn Olson (7th grade) of Lebanon, and Ainsley Turkington (8th grade) of Caseyville.
• Honorable Mention: Micro Golf by John Kampwerth (8th grade) of O’Fallon, and Eric Rybak (8th grade) of Collinsville.

MOST CREATIVE - Sponsored by Crazy Aaron’s

• Senior Winners: Water Bottle Maze by Grant Middleton (8th grade) of O’Fallon, and Jacob Portera (8th grade) of Caseyville.

BEST PITCH - Sponsored by People Of Play

• Senior Winners: Rock Paper Scissors Brawl by Max Gramelspacher (5th grade) and Oliver Middleton (5th grade) of O’Fallon.

“The kids were fantastic and had a great experience,” he said.

Gramelspacher said the decision to participate was up to the student and their families. They could submit virtually or present them in person, and parents had to accompany their participating students to the event.

Gramelspacher — an electrical engineer and professional toy designer — and his business partner, Rory Sledge, run SG Labs, which is a product design, development, and consulting company, now based in O’Fallon.

Gramelspacher and his wife, Addie, have two sons in fifth and eighth grades at St. Clare, and he approached principal Monica Ybarra about starting a club for students of all interests and abilities from grades fifth through eighth, which she agreed to because it bolstered the STEAM initiatives (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math).

Ybarra said the club’s objective is to help students learn how to devise an original concept and convert that idea into a prototyped, functional product.

Gramelspacher said the group’s young innovators experience the entire process of inventing — brainstorming concepts, reviewing and refining ideas, creating and testing prototypes, and then pitching the final product to others.

“It all starts with an idea,” he said.

The 16 available slots filled up fast, and there is now a waiting list.

Jon Harter — a software engineer and hobbyist game designer, who is a parent of a first grader — also came aboard as a club leader.

“The kids are really creative, and this was only their first year,” Harter said. “Students went from writing an idea on a napkin to planning and the whole process. I really liked helping them from prototype to reality.”

“Our school’s faculty and administrators have been extremely supportive of the whole endeavor,” Gramelspacher said.

Rewarding experience

Ybarra said it has been a rewarding experience for the students, and she looks forward to seeing what’s next.

“They made something, and then showed the whole school what they could do,” she said.

The students meet weekly after school in the computer lab, then work on their own time, and sometimes attend longer workshops on early dismissal days.

When interviewed after school, students said they tried out ideas on their families, and relatives played the games at gatherings. They learned about different skill sets, one said, such as what families with preschool children would want vs. someone with a first grader.

Avalinn Olson described the board game she and Ainsley Turkington invented, “Chicken Scratch,” as a speed writing game that had different challenge levels and came with five dice.

Nine projects showcased

Max Gramelspacher said his Rock Paper Scissors Brawl turned the familiar game into a card game with three different categories and 15 picture cards for each. For instance, rock could mean an asteroid, and paper could be cardboard or a journal.

Jacob Portera described his Water Bottle Maze as “challenging, once you figure it out. It’s a good, fun game.”

The students said they tested the concepts and adjusted based on the feedback they received.

Similar to a science fair, the Toy Fair provided the students with an opportunity to showcase their process and exhibit their creation to the student body as well as their families. Nine projects were showcased, including the eventual Chicago winners.

More about competition

A group of local toy designers and toy store owners evaluated the students and gave them feedback.

While there were no prizes, judges reviewed each concept and gave written feedback so the students could refine their projects before submitting to the Young Inventors Challenge.

The YIC winners won trophies and games and toys to take home.

People of Play, which hosted the event, is a leader in the global toy and game industry in promoting innovation, creativity, and connectivity.

This story was originally published December 13, 2022 at 1:24 PM.