The kid's aunt got her the Bilibo, which is a cute, little plastic dome which uses static electricity to pick up hair from the carpet. It works great, but there's no handle, so after a few hours bent over, dragging it around the floor, your back really kills.
But here's the brilliant part: the Bilibo's Eames chair-like shape makes it irresistible for kids, who sit in it and rock and roll around non-stop. You can get them to clean the whole floor, and they won't even realize it's work. The kid's taking her bear for a ride in it right now, in fact, using the two eyehole/handles. Sometimes she flips it over into a stool, or she climbs under it and pretends she's a snail, but most of the time, she just scoots it around, tirelessly picking up hair. Now if only someone could figure out how to power my laptop like this, we'd be in business.
The Bililbo is about $30 online at places like modernseed and kid-o.
Related: PlayPump: ingenious water pump powered by kids' roundabout [via boingboing]
"Clean up your toys, or Roomba will eat them!"
