CONSUMERS : Kids Get Help With Tying Up Loose Ends
StarLace is a new learning product to help teach children ages 4 and older how to tie their shoelaces. It’s a colorful elastic band with ready-to-tie laces--one red, one white to differentiate right from left.
Developed by Dean Alexander, a Ph.D. and consultant in child psychology in Diamond Bar, StarLace features stiffer-than-normal laces so they don’t droop. Alexander said this “shaping feature makes it easier for young children to manipulate the laces as they tie and to focus their attention upon learning.”
On each lace is a positioning star, so children can begin tying laces by putting the stars together; then parents and youngsters can follow the step-by-step procedures on an illustrated, accompanying poster. Velcro-like strips help the laces stay together while the child is learning to tie the knot.
Alexander said StarLace is a clinically tested learning method that has been well-received by parents and children.
StarLace is available in the children’s department at Nordstrom in the Glendale Galleria, Santa Ana and South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa at a suggested retail price of $9.95. Or write to Dr. Deann Toys, 3333 Brea Canyon Road, Suite 124, Diamond Bar, Calif. 91765.
Directory Helps in Replacing Tableware
Just break one of Grandma’s heirloom goblets? Don’t panic. You probably can find out where to buy another, even if the pattern has been discontinued, by looking up a crystal replacement company in a handy guide, the “1990-91 Directory of Discontinued Tableware Replacement Services.”
Published every other year by two teachers from Ocala, Fla., the guide lists replacement services nationwide for crystal, china and flatware. Besides the services’ addresses and phone numbers, the directory also includes details on how to identify your pattern to help locate pieces.
“Many of these are retired couples who run these services out of their homes or garages,” said catalogue developer Eleanor Simons. “So people often don’t know they’re out there. We (her friend Cleo Kapilla) were looking for something to do during summer vacation about eight years ago and decided on this.”
To order the directory, send $6.50 to Directory, Joyful Ventures, P.O. Box 4995, Ocala, Fla. 32678; phone (904) 622-4914.
Hand-Powered Device Splits Cord Wood
If you’re not a Paul Bunyan type who enjoys swinging an ax, consider the Kindler, a new, hand-powered device for splitting cord wood into kindling.
The Kindler is produced by Californian Doug Shannon, “a shivering ex-aerospace engineer who designed it while on a skiing trip to Mammoth Mountain.” Made of steel, the device looks like an automobile jack with a blade.
Because of its design, Shannon said, the Kindler generates more than 1,000 pounds of wood-splitting force with less than 40 pounds of force on the handle. It weighs 14 pounds and is 30 inches high, so it can accommodate wood up to 22 inches long.
The Kindler, retailing for $79.95, is available nationwide through selected fireplace accessory stores or it can be purchased direct from Shannon Pacific, 24222 Via San Clemente, Mission Viejo, Calif. 92692. Add $5 for shipping and handling. To locate your nearest dealer in California, call (714) 859-5037; outside California, (800) 622-0337.
