EDUCATIONAL BLOCKS

Abstract

An apparatus and method to stimulate creative thinking, initiate conversations, and improve social skills among participants in a game setting using educational blocks imprinted with a variety of indicia besides, letters, words and numbers including, but not limited to symbols, pictures of animals, flora/fauna, objects, tools, structures, sporting equipment, illustrations depicting diverse subject matter including, nature scenes, seasons, weather, human activities, and pictures depicting human emotions to attract emotional intelligence awareness. The educational blocks of the invention can be used to address different communication needs in various scenarios. The blocks can be used as an icebreaker activity in a classroom setting, an alternative approach to writer's block, conversation piece in social gatherings, family activities, used to exercise healthy-positive-advocating skills during contradictions, or to build a dialog for therapeutic purposes.

Claims

1. An apparatus for promoting creative thinking, initiating conversations and improving social skills, said apparatus comprising: a plurality of twenty six square-shaped blocks having six faces; said six faces of said plurality of square-shaped blocks imprinted with a plurality of indicia including, but not limited to, letters, full words, partial words, numbers, symbols, pictures of animals, flora/fauna, objects, tools, structures, sporting equipment, illustrations depicting diverse subject matter including, nature scenes, seasons, weather, human activities, pictures depicting human emotions; said plurality of blocks used in a game setting as a means to educate a plurality of participants in said game setting to form creative sentences, questions, expressions and talking points using said plurality of indicia on said plurality of blocks; and said plurality of participants forming said creative sentences, questions, expressions and talking points using said plurality of indicia on said plurality of blocks to initiate conversations and interact socially with said plurality of participants in said game setting.

2. The apparatus as in claim 1 wherein the participants in the game setting have a rudimentary understanding of the English language to form a sentence, a question, an expression, a talking point to initiate a conversation with other participants.

3. The apparatus as in claim 1 wherein the participants take turns to toss an assigned number of blocks on to a flat surface to start the game.

4. The apparatus as in claim 3 wherein the participants arrange the tossed blocks side by side to form a sentence, a question, an expression, a talking point using the indicia on the top face of the blocks.

5. The apparatus as in claim 4 wherein the participants arrange the tossed blocks side by side to form a sentence, a question, an expression, a talking point using the indicia on the top face of the blocks to initiate a conversation.

6. The apparatus as in claim 5 wherein the participants arrange the tossed blocks side by side to form a sentence, a question, an expression, a talking point using the indicia on the six faces of the blocks to initiate a conversation.

7. The apparatus as in claim 6 wherein the participants use the six faces of all twenty six blocks to form creative sentences, write a story using the indicia on the blocks.

8. The apparatus as in claim 7 wherein the participant who uses all twenty six blocks to form multiple creative sentences, write a story using the indicia on the block, claims the title of leader.

9. The apparatus as in claim 1 wherein the blocks are used as an icebreaker activity in a classroom setting, used to overcome writer's block, used as a conversation piece in social gatherings, family activities, used to build a dialog for therapeutic purposes.

10. A method for promoting creative thinking, initiating conversations and improving social skills, said method comprising: (a) participants in a game setting selecting a set of educational blocks imprinted with a plurality of indicia including, but not limited to letters, full words, partial words, numbers, symbols, pictures of animals, flora/fauna, objects, tools, structures, sporting equipment, illustrations depicting diverse subject matter including, nature scenes, seasons, weather, human activities, pictures depicting human emotions; (b) said participants in said game setting tossing said selected set of educational blocks on a flat surface and arranging said blocks side by side to form a sentence, a question, an expression, a talking point using said indicia on said tossed educational blocks; (c) said participants using said, sentence, question, expression, talking point formed from said indicia on said educational blocks to initiate said conversations; (d) said participants earning half points and full points, for forming creative sentences, questions, expressions, and talking points; (e) said participants earning extra points for forming a sentence by replacing an indicia on said educational blocks by a synonym, closely related category of words, characters, illustrations to form a sentence, a question, an expression, a talking point; (f) said participants earning extra points and lead title for forming multiple creative sentences, writing a story using all said educational blocks; and (g) said plurality of indicia on said educational blocks stimulating creative thinking by said participants and to share their general knowledge on a variety of topics, life experiences and interests with other participants, resulting in healthy social interactions between participants.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0014] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an educational block of the invention printed with letters, words, half words and other indicia relating to the alphabet A.

[0015] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an educational block of the invention printed with letters, words, half words and other indicia relating to the alphabet B.

[0016] FIG. 3 is a perspective view of an educational block of the invention printed with letters, words, half words and other indicia relating to the alphabet C.

[0017] FIG. 4 is a perspective view of an educational block of the invention printed with letters, words, half words and other indicia relating to the alphabet D.

[0018] FIG. 5 is a perspective view of an educational block of the invention printed with letters, words, half words and other indicia relating to the alphabet E.

[0019] FIG. 6 is a perspective view of an educational block of the invention printed with letters, words, half words and other indicia relating to the alphabet F.

[0020] FIG. 7 is a perspective view of an educational block of the invention printed with letters, words, half words and other indicia relating to the alphabet G.

[0021] FIG. 8 is a perspective view of an educational block of the invention printed with letters, words, half words and other indicia relating to the alphabet H.

[0022] FIG. 9 is a perspective view of an educational block of the invention printed with letters, words, half words and other indicia relating to the alphabet I.

[0023] FIG. 10 is a perspective view of an educational block of the invention printed with letters, words, half words and other indicia relating to the alphabet J.

[0024] FIG. 11 is a perspective view of an educational block of the invention printed with letters, words, half words and other indicia relating to the alphabet K.

[0025] FIG. 12 is a perspective view of an educational block of the invention printed with letters, words, half words and other indicia relating to the alphabet L.

[0026] FIG. 13 is a perspective view of an educational block of the invention printed with letters, words, half words and other indicia relating to the alphabet M.

[0027] FIG. 14 is a perspective view of an educational block of the invention printed with letters, words, half words and other indicia relating to the alphabet N.

[0028] FIG. 15 is a perspective view of an educational block of the invention printed with letters, words, half words and other indicia relating to the alphabet O.

[0029] FIG. 16 is a perspective view of an educational block of the invention printed with letters, words, half words and other indicia relating to the alphabet P.

[0030] FIG. 17 is a perspective view of an educational block of the invention printed with letters, words, half words and other indicia relating to the alphabet Q.

[0031] FIG. 18 is a perspective view of an educational block of the invention printed with letters, words, half words and other indicia relating to the alphabet R.

[0032] FIG. 19 is a perspective view of an educational block of the invention printed with letters, words, half words and other indicia relating to the alphabet S.

[0033] FIG. 20 is a perspective view of an educational block of the invention printed with letters, words, half words and other indicia relating to the alphabet T.

[0034] FIG. 21 is a perspective view of an educational block of the invention printed with letters, words, half words and other indicia relating to the alphabet U.

[0035] FIG. 22 is a perspective view of an educational block of the invention printed with letters, words, half words and other indicia relating to the alphabet V.

[0036] FIG. 23 is a perspective view of an educational block of the invention printed with letters, words, half words and other indicia relating to the alphabet W.

[0037] FIG. 24 is a perspective view of an educational block of the invention printed with letters, words, half words and other indicia relating to the alphabet X.

[0038] FIG. 25 is a perspective view of an educational block of the invention printed with letters, words, half words and other indicia relating to the alphabet Y.

[0039] FIG. 26 is a perspective view of an educational block of the invention printed with letters, words, half words and other indicia relating to the alphabet Z.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0040] The present invention of educational blocks overcome the deficiencies in the prior art educational blocks, by providing a means to improve social interactions between individuals from diverse backgrounds and age groups. The educational blocks of the invention achieve this goal by providing a wider range of indicia besides letters and words commonly found in the prior art blocks which are primarily used to improve reading skills. The wide range of indicia gathered from a variety of sources and imprinted on the educational blocks of the present invention provide the user with flexible options to form creative sentences, questions, expressions and talking points which the prior art educational blocks do not provide. The educational blocks of the present invention are aimed at stimulating the user's creative thinking and also encouraging them to share their general knowledge on a variety of topics, life experiences and interests with others, when participating in a group game setting using the blocks, resulting in healthy communications and social interactions with others in the group.

[0041] The exemplary embodiment of the invention is comprised of twenty six blocks representing the twenty six alphabets from A to Z in the English language. Referring now to the drawings, FIG. 1 to FIG. 26 are perspective views of the educational blocks of the invention, printed with letters, words, half words and other indicia with each figure relating to the alphabets A to Z. These educational blocks are combined to form a game set to be played by a plurality of participants interested in honing their communication and social skills. The participants in the game include anyone with at least a 9th grade education to senior citizens. The participants in the game choose between one to x number of blocks depending on what the majority decides are the right number of blocks to use in a particular game using the blocks. The participants after conferring with each other set the grounds rules for each game including who in the group tosses their blocks first, the youngest or oldest among them. The participants then pick an agreed upon number of blocks, randomly between, 1-7 from the total number of blocks depending on the number of players so that each player has the same number of blocks out of the total 26 blocks at the start of the game. After each participant picks the agreed upon number of blocks, they take turns rolling/tossing the blocks on a flat surface. Once the blocks are tossed land on the flat surface, the participant tossing their blocks during their turn arranges the blocks side-by-side in any order they see fit, using the letters, words, symbols, pictures, illustrations and other indicia appearing on the top face of the blocks to form a sentence, which may be in the form of a question, expression, or talking point and use their creative thinking to start a conversation with the other participants using the sentence, question or expression they formed from the indicia on their blocks. If the participant is unable to form even a single sentence, question or expression using the indicia on their selected blocks, they may ask permission to select an alternate set of blocks.

[0042] The educational block game of the present invention is played using a point system wherein each player is able to score points based on their creativity in coming up with appropriate and unusual sentences, questions and expressions using the indicia on the blocks they picked at the outset of the game. The participants can earn a full point, half point, or extra point depending on their creative sentences, questions, expressions, and/or talking points. A full point involves when the user uses all blocks to form or complete a full sentence, question, or expression. A participant may also earn a full point by adding a letter to a set of connected letters to create a word as for example adding an “l” to the connected letters “Oi” to create the word, “Oil.” The participant can then form a sentence with the word Oil as in, “I prefer to use olive oil when I'm cooking.” A half point is deducted when the user takes away any letters or indicia from the blocks, yet still forms a sentence. For example, taking away the letters “er” from the given word “Offer” to form the word “Off,” the user can create a sentence using this word as in, “I'm off to work.” Another example is that of taking away from an illustration on the block as in the illustration of “an owl on a tree branch.” In this example, a sentence can be formed about the “tree” and not the owl. For example: “We need more plants and trees to convert carbon dioxide to oxygen.” Earning an extra point involves forming a sentence by creatively interpreting and/or replacing a word or indicia by a synonym or closely related, category of words, characters, or other indicia, or illustrations inspired by the block's given choices. For example, If the top view of block selected shows the letters “Ov,” the user can add the letters “en”, to form the word “Oven” which can be modified by using the synonym “Stove” and form a sentence, “My grandmother prefers to use an electric stove.”

[0043] The educational blocks of the invention provides the means for participants to aspire to claim the title as the “lead/leader” who achieved the goal of using all twenty six blocks to form multiple creative sentences and even going as far as to write and narrate a story using the indicia on the blocks.

[0044] The rules of the game using the educational blocks of the invention may be customized to allow participants to use the indicia on all six sides of each block held by a participant to create their sentences, expressions, questions and talking points besides the indicia that show on the top face of the blocks after the blocks are tossed. This allows more flexibility and a wider range of options for each participant to form creative sentences, questions, expressions and talking points to claim the title of “lead/leader” in a game. Thus the variety of indicia on a single block can provide the stimulus for creative thinking and an impetus to start a conversation on a subject of interest to the participant.

[0045] The embodiments of the present invention as described herein do not limit any application or scope of the invention. It is to be understood that the invention can be carried out and practiced in various ways and implemented in embodiments other than the ones outlined in the description above. It should be understood and obvious to one skilled in the art that alternatives, modifications, and variations of the embodiments of the present invention may be construed as being within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.