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128 Birch Street
Boston, MA, 02131
United States

(617) 390-4076

Invent Boston designs and develops original products to add science + whimsy to  every day tasks at home.   Our first product is a Two Minute timer, Two Minute Turtle, a visual timer. The Two Minute Turtle helps children and adults focus on two minute tasks such as brushing teeth, physical therapy, taking a shower and speaking (practicing a presentation or learning a language).

Invent Boston™, Home of the Two Minute Turtle Timer™

Invent Boston™ blog offers tips and stories by parents, for parents of children ages 4-12 to make toothbrushing and other healthy habits at home, more fun. We write about simple tactics to help kids do what they like to do-touch, seeing, play games and strive for independence. We recommend products to help stay healthy while being kids. We share stories to transform daily healthy habits from something kids resist (for example, toothbrushing, handwashing, toilet training, organizing, taking time-out or pausing, yoga, and taking turns) into something children are motivated to do independently, without parents’ reminders. The original physical product Invent Boston has designed for families is the new light-up Two Minute Turtle Timer, an analog, interval toothbrush timer to make brushing teeth fun for kids. Kids like to press the button, follow the flippers and brush until all the lights blink—the Victory Lap signals to brush the tongue.

Slow and Steady Wins the Race

Virginia Berman

the tortoise and the hare brush teeth

the tortoise and the hare brush teeth

Remember Aesop’s Fable’s Tortoise and the Hare…and the winner? But why do we need to hear that story over and over? And why do kids always think faster is better?

The Two Minute Turtle Timer is just the gadget to help kids to see the benefits of slowing down, learning how to pace themselves.

Here how: With the Toothbrushing Two Minute Turtle Timer™ kids want to play the game: guess which flipper will blink first, brush the part of the mouth that corresponds to the blinking flipper, and stay with it, through their whole mouth, brushing until all the lights blink. The Victory Lap shows them they made it—now, brush the tongue. And then they do it correctly-every morning and night—success!

The rewards are many—independence from parents! Following lights-it’s a Simon Says game! And the real winner for kids is the dental check-up. We hope that your results are as satisfying as ours have been —without any cavities.

Here’s to going slowly and making it fun for kids to pace themselves

Artwork by: Jane Reinhardt, sketches for the tortoise and the hare

Artwork by: Jane Reinhardt, sketches for the tortoise and the hare