Joanne Lui / The Collegian

The IV machine hooked up to 6-year-old Kailou Lopez beeped insistently, signaling that it was running low on battery, but Kailou didn̢۪t notice since he was busy decorating his water rocket with a marker.

Across the table, 7-year-old Ricky Dominguez got up and rushed to the door in his Spiderman slippers and hospital-issued green pants and open-back shirt, eager to launch his own rocket in a Children̢۪s Hospital Central California courtyard while his parents looked on.

“I wanna see if they go over the roof,â€Â Ricky said.

Kailou and Ricky had both recently had their appendixes removed, but with the help of Fresno State̢۪s Kids Invent! program, the painful realities of surgery and hospitalization faded away for the two young boys.

Kids Invent! teaches children in kindergarten through 8th grade math, science and language arts through after-school projects that allow them to use their imagination. Fresno State students employed by the program teach kids to build and test toys, like water rockets and rubber band cars. Older children even build bigger projects, like go carts.

“We tell [the kids] to be innovative, to be creative, to think outside the box,â€Â said Diane Phakonekham, program director for Kids Invent!. “We teach them at the same time … We trick them to have fun.â€Â

Participants are taught the scientific method and the principles that will make their projects work; they get quizzed at the end about what they have learned. Competitions are held in various categories, but everyone wins a prize in the end. The children also get to keep whatever toys they make.

“It’s good for self-esteem, motivation, team-working,â€Â Phakonekham said.

Kids Invent! operates under the Lyles Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Fresno State. The staff partners with both public and private schools, but tries to focus on schools with lower socio-economic status students.

The program was developed by the current director of the Lyles Center, Timothy Stearns, Ph.D., and Ed Sobey, Ph.D. Stearns has since sold the formula globally to countries like Malaysia and Saudi Arabia.

Children̢۪s Hospital started partnering with Kids Invent! this past summer by testing out the program̢۪s summer camp. The response from the patients was so positive that Kids Invent! now comes to the hospital twice a month.

Mary Saleem, a hospital child life assistant that works with Kids Invent!, has seen the benefits for the children.

“We decided we wanted to do more fun, hands-on scientific programs,â€Â Saleem said. “[There’s] social interaction with other patients. They see that they’re not alone.â€Â

Hospital staff told Phakonekham that her program can actually help patients with the recovery process.

“[Patients] have a good memory of the hospital,â€Â Phakonekham said. “[The staff] notices that the kids are happier. Once you’re happier, you’re not stressed or depressed, you get better … It’s a healing process for Children’s Hospital.â€Â

Parents will oftentimes accompany their children to the classroom. After Kailou̢۪s mother helped him finish his rocket, his three brothers and father help him launch it into the courtyard.

“He looks forward to [Kids Invent!],â€Â said Kailou’s mother, Roxanne Morin, who’s pregnant with a fifth son. “It keeps his mind off of him hurting.â€Â

Phakonekham said that Kids Invent! not only benefits the children, but the Fresno State students who serve as teachers as well.

“It’s a part-time job. They get out there and they see if teaching’s for them.â€Â Phakonekham said. “This is like their classroom. They’re the teacher.â€Â

Alma Gutierrez, a junior majoring in human resources, enjoys working with Kids Invent! and Children̢۪s Hospital.

“They have a lot of energy and they’re very creative,â€Â Gutierrez said. “I wanted to come and create some excitement, to teach them different things.â€Â

Phakonekham is constantly hiring new staff because the program has tripled in the last year alone. She is also expanding it to include Saturday field trips to places like the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Through out it all, though, her number one priority remains the same.

“Everything I do has to be educational,â€Â Phakonekham said.