Thermometer shows kids what to wear
Kathy McGuire's son had a tough time understanding that he couldn't wear shorts when the weather turned cool.
Getting strong-willed 4-year-old Ryan ready for preschool in the morning turned into a daily battle.
McGuire, a stay-at-home mom with an engineering degree, knew there had to be an easier way. After a great deal of research, trial and error and making prototypes in her laundry room, the Downers Grove mom invented a thermometer that not only reads the outside temperature, but also shows kids how to dress.
Using recent tax refunds and money earned through playing guitar at a local restaurant on the weekends, McGuire created and patented My Little Weatherbuddy, "a kid's first thermometer."
The concept, which McGuire describes as a high-tech multilayered window decal, is taking off with parents, who use it as an educational tool and a confidence builder.
The product recently was chosen to be featured as part of QVC Shopping Channel's Holiday Line Shopping experience. McGuire is in Philadelphia today rehearsing for the show expected to air around Thanksgiving.
She started selling the product about two years ago on her Web site. So far, she reports $50,000 in sales through the Web and another $25,000 through retail outlets. She is now working to get the product, manufactured in the United States, into more retail stores.
My Little Weatherbuddy, selling for $9.95 on her Web site at mylittleweatherbuddy.com, uses state of the art color change technology combined with layered circuit board technology that allows colorful clothing layers to appear and disappear as the outside temperature changes.
When it's cold, boots, hats and mittens appear on a 5-inch by 7-inch image of a boy or girl. When it's warm, shorts and a T-shirt show up.
The product sticks to the outside of the child's window. It is going over well with teachers and therapists, and is especially helpful for children with autism spectrum disorders and ADHD.
McGuire's background served as an asset in developing the product. Before leaving the workforce to raise her children, she traveled internationally while working for Little Fuse where she invented one of the smallest fuses in the world that's used in cell phones and digital cameras.
The pictorial thermometer is designed for children ages 2 to 8 who don't understand the thermometer scale. Words, including "warm," "cold" or "very cold," accompany the character.
"This morning, hats and gloves appeared on the cartoon-type image," McGuire said earlier this week.
The thermometer also teaches children independence.
Nancy Babich of Downers Grove raves about how the simple devise has made the morning routine run more smoothly in her home. "I think she (McGuire) is a genius," Babich said.
Babich purchased the Weatherbuddy for her 6-year-old son son, Jack. "He looks at it every morning to see what he should wear to school. He then looks at it again as soon as he gets home and changes out of his school uniform," she said.
Babich said it has given her son confidence. "He looks at is as scientific. It helps with the indecisiveness," Babich says.
When McGuire came up with the invention, it was to help solve her own hectic morning routine with her son, Ryan, 9, who was four at the time. McGuire's 5-year-old daughter, Katie, now uses the thermometer and has no problems picking out her clothes.
When McGuire found how well it worked, she knew she had to market the concept. She formed a business, named after her son's initials, RPM Toys.
McGuire has a Master's degree in Materials Science and Engineering from The University of Illinois at Chicago where she was valedictorian. She grew up in Clarendon Hills and a graduate of Hinsdale Central High School.
• Kim Mikus' column appears Tuesday through Friday. She welcomes input at kmikus@dailyherald.com.