January 3, 2007 Desperate parents resort to any number of incentives to encourage their kid to "use the potty"- special underpants, reward charts and for parents of boys, even floating toys in the toilet bowl for target practice! Inventor Joanna Haymes, a mother of three boys, took the latter idea further and developed the "Wee Target". Inspired by heat sensitive ink on a packet of batteries and driven to help her boys aim in the right direction, she designed a "target"- a black circle made of heat sensitive ink which is fixed temporarily inside the toilet bowl. When the target is hit by urine, the circle fades and a surprise picture appears.
The "Wee Target" is designed as a fun toilet training device for boys. Toilet training is often a difficult task and while parents dream of getting their kids out of nappies ("diapers") their "wee" ones may not be very cooperative. Some kids learn to use the toilet as early as 18 months but many (and in particular boys) will still be reluctant well into their third or fourth year.
For about AUD$10.00 (USD$8.50) you get a target which lasts up to 6 weeks. It is attached by plastic suction cup, can be removed for cleaning and sits 2.5cm (about 1 inch) above water level so splashing is kept to a minimum. Each time the toilet is flushed, the target is cleaned and the picture disappears. So the "game" begins again on the next trip to the toilet. And just like Jeckida's "Toilet Buddies", the Wee Target may ease those "anxious" feelings and make toilet training fun.
But hey, it's not just the kids who get to have all the fun, urinal targets for men are not a new idea. The urinal at Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam sports a "fake-fly" target and thanks to Marcel Neundorfer you can play an interactive game next time you go to the toilet!
See the Wee Target site for more information.