"It hurt and the first thing I thought was that you could put the same thing on a balcony and it would stop kids from grabbing on," she said.

The Canberra mum was determined to turn the idea into reality and six years later has created the Anti Grabbity device designed to save lives.

Anti Grabbity is a plastic removable gadget applied to the top of a railing in minutes using cable ties or glue dots. It consists of a strip of small prickles that are slightly painful to lean on.

Though a simple concept, Ms Bell researched balcony protection methods for years to ensure her Anti Grabbity was going to keep children safe.

She said other balcony protective devices on the market required balcony alterations, which can be troublesome for renters.

"The only other methods available at the moment are ones where you have to install Plexiglas [acrylic glass] and have someone do it for you or safety nets that require modifications to balconies, which are both pretty expensive," she said.

"This is really simple and effective. Not everything has to have moving parts or have an iPhone app; this still works and does the job it's meant to do."

One metre of Anti Grabbity material costs $19.95.

It is best suited to balconies in high-rise apartments, hotels and cruise ships, but can be applied to any flat, curled or semi-curled railing. While children will feel uncomfortable when leaning on it, Ms Bell said it is not painful enough to be a safety hazard.

The Turner woman stressed it would not replace parental supervision but rather give parents (and other carers or baby-sitters) an additional safeguard for children.

And it is not only designed to protect little ones.

"In 2013, they proposed that all of the balconies used at schoolies [on high-rise buildings] would close," she said.

"So this will stop people from doing handstands, planking, balcony hopping and a new craze called hanging, so it has a lot of applications."

A few months after manufacturing Anti Grabbity, Ms Bell has already sold 3000 devices and on Thursday was awarded Beyond Bank's second annual Community Entrepreneur Grant of $10,000.

Beyond Bank state manager Chris Blight said the invention would accommodate Canberra's rapid growth of high-density housing.

"Given the urban planning design for Canberra and more inner-city, apartment-style development going on in Canberra, it is going to definitely going to have a future for us here in Canberra," he said.

"Canberra is very much a family city and given the number of apartments, it is going to protect our kids."