5 minute read
The Mitchell Family; Spring 2022 ME Mag
IT'S ALL FUN & GAMES WITH THE MITCHELL FAMILY
After hearing laughter and cheering, April Mitchell walked out of her house's front door to explore what all the commotion was. She saw balls flying everywhere by the basketball hoop and her kids and neighborhood kids hustling while playing some game. Confused at what they were doing, she asked loudly with a bit of a laugh, "What in the world are you guys doing?" The kids responded by sharing with her the game they were playing and how to play- something they just made up to have some extra fun and change up their regular basketball shooting. After talking more about the game with the kids later, they thought it'd be fun to somehow take what they were playing and make it so other families could play no matter where they were! They had done this a few times before-making a game to present to companies based on what the kids or family was playing that they made up. This was when the game BamzBall was born! It has evolved from the original game to make it more transportable and playable by others since then.
Anthony, the oldest, helped build the BamzBall prototype and all the kids helped with brainstorming the gameplay, play testing, and being in the video. It went from throwing balls to defend the goal to throwing beanbags to ultimately blocking the goal with your hands. After playtesting was set and the gameplay figured out, they made a pitch video of the game so April could present the game to potential companies to manufacture and sell the game. BamzBall was licensed to the company B4 Adventure based in Denver, CO, and will be available to purchase this June.
How It All Started
April started inventing products in the housewares industry. She had licensed two products, one of which has been available for retail for the past three years called Right Height adjustable over the hook and is manufactured and sold by Richards Homewares based out of Oregon. The Mitchell children saw an idea of their Mom's go from a sketch, then CADs, then a prototype, and then a licensed product on the market for sale.
BamzBall
April says it was important to her that her family be part of the process so they too knew they could do anything with an idea and hard work. Her husband Tony and the kids all played a vital role in helping with the Right Height hook. The children soon all had inventors' notebooks and would come up with ideas that they often discussed as a family. April, a certified Elementary School teacher, designed games to play with her students when she taught and with her kids to help them learn different concepts. Creating was a part of life she learned from her Father and her Grandfather. The Mitchell family soon had a fire lit for creating and turned their fun games into concepts to present to companies for licensing. Their first couple of games did not get licensed and make it to the market, but they have since licensed two toys and 4 games, and April is pitching a dozen more to companies all the time. BamzBall, along with one indoor/outdoor toy and one preschooler game(both names to be released at a later date) will be out for retail this Summer.
The kids use their talents to help an idea go from concept to presentation-ready with a pitch video. Sometimes it may be their art skills or construction skills needed; sometimes, it may be their brainstorming, play testing, prototyping or videoing that is necessary. All four kids, Anthony, Alexander (Zander), Abraham, and Annabelle, have all helped prototype a few concepts and are often play-testers in the videos. Their ideas, brainstorming, and feedback are critical parts of working together. Abraham has taken one of his toy ideas and has seen it through the process, with April guiding him. April is currently pitching his toy for him to land him a licensing deal. Both Abraham and Annabelle have participated in The Chicago Toy & Game Fair Young Inventors Challenge. If your child may be interested in participating, check out this site for more information: https://www.chitag.com
The Mitchell Family continues to work on new toy and game ideas together. They enjoy exploring the areas they live and are always up for some fun! April also works with other inventors on concepts, and her TEAM is always needed to help in some way, whether it be a drawing, prototype, playtesting, or video help. They have signed 9 licensing deals across the housewares, party, toy, and game industry to date. Look out for more licensing deals soon and more products hitting the retail shelves soon from The Mitchells aka 4A's Creations, LLC (yes, the 4 A's are the four children, all with names starting with the letter A)!
BamzBall will be on sale this June, 2022 at https://b4adventure.com/
