Interchangeable surface system for toy blocks

Abstract

A system that includes a plurality of toy blocks and a method for reconfiguring one or more of the plurality of toy blocks. The method including taking off a first removable wrap from the one of the plurality of toy blocks so as to separate the first removable wrap from a core of the one of the plurality of toy blocks. The first removable wrap includes content associated with a first area of subject matter. The method also includes placing a second removable wrap around the core, the second removable wrap including content associated with a second area of subject matter. In variations of the invention, some of the cores include an instability feature, which imparts an instability when the toy block is positioned in a predetermined orientation with respect to one or more other toy blocks.

1 . A toy block comprising: 
 a core including at least one end block being disposed to convey content; and    a removable wrap detachably coupled to the core, the removable wrap including a plurality of faces; and    wherein at least one of the faces of the removable wrap includes additional content thereon.    
   
   
       2 . The toy block of  claim 1  wherein the content includes a portion of an expressed idea, the expressed idea becoming apparent when other toy blocks are juxtaposed with the toy block.  
   
   
       3 . The toy block of  claim 1  wherein the faces of the removable wrap are hingeably coupled so as to permit the removable wrap to be extended about a substantially planer region.  
   
   
       4 . The toy block of  claim 1  wherein the core includes at least one locator pin so as to assist proper placement of the removable wrap about the core.  
   
   
       5 . The toy block of  claim 1  wherein the removable wrap includes a question displayed on the at least one of the plurality of faces and a plurality of potential answers displayed on at least one other of the plurality of faces, the question and the plurality of potential answers relating to a portion of a story, wherein each of the potential answers is associated with a corresponding one a plurality of directions, each of the plurality of directions indicating an orientation to place the toy block with respect to a surface.  
   
   
       6 . The toy block of  claim 5  wherein the core includes at least one magnet disposed to interact with at least one other magnet of another toy block, wherein the interaction is a function of the orientation.  
   
   
       7 . The toy block of  claim 6  wherein a portion of the magnet extends above a surface of the core and the removable wrap includes a recessed portion having a depth which is substantially the same as the portion of the magnet that extends above the surface of the core.  
   
   
       8 . The toy block of  claim 1  including a magnet positioned away from a center of a face of the core so as to facilitate an instability when the toy block is juxtaposed in a predetermined manner with another toy block including a similarly disposed magnet of the same polarity.  
   
   
       9 . A toy block system comprising: 
 a plurality of cores, each of the cores including a plurality of inner faces;    a plurality of removable wraps, each removable wrap including a plurality of outer faces and being configured to wrap around, and detachably couple with, a corresponding one of the cores so as to be capable of forming a plurality of toy blocks.    
   
   
       10 . The system of  claim 9  wherein a first subset of the plurality of removable wraps includes story content and a second subset of the plurality of removable wraps includes questions relating to the story content and directions for placement of a portion of the toy blocks as a function of answers by a participant.  
   
   
       11 . The system of  claim 10  wherein at least one of the removable wraps of the second subset includes a recessed portion to accommodate a magnet which extends from a surface of a corresponding core.  
   
   
       12 . The system of  claim 9  wherein each of at least two of the plurality of cores includes a magnet positioned on one of the plurality of inner faces, wherein the magnets are positioned on each of the at least two cores so that when the at least two cores are juxtaposed in a particular orientation, the magnets repel each other.  
   
   
       13 . The system of  claim 12  wherein each of at least two of the plurality of removable wraps includes a recessed portion to accommodate a corresponding one of the magnets of the at least two of the plurality of cores.  
   
   
       14 . The system of  claim 9  wherein each of the plurality of cores conveys a portion of an idea, which becomes apparent when a collection of the plurality of toy blocks are positioned in a predetermined manner.  
   
   
       15 . The system of  claim 9  wherein each of the plurality of the removable wraps conveys a portion of an idea, the idea being apparent from a collection of the plurality of toy blocks as a whole when each of the plurality of toy blocks is positioned in accordance with a predetermined manner.  
   
   
       16 . In a system that includes a plurality of toy blocks, a method for reconfiguring one of the plurality of toy blocks comprising: 
 taking off a first removable wrap from the one of the plurality of toy blocks so as to separate the first removable wrap from a core of the one of the plurality of toy blocks, the first removable wrap including content associated with a first area of subject matter; and    placing a second removable wrap around the core, the second removable wrap including content associated with a second area of subject matter.    
   
   
       17 . The method of  claim 16  wherein the content associated with the first and second areas of subject matter is textual content.  
   
   
       18 . The method of  claim 17  wherein the textual content is story-based textual content.  
   
   
       19 . The method of  claim 16  wherein the placing includes placing the removable wrap around the core with assistance of at least one locator pin positioned on a face of the core so as to position the removable wrap in accordance with a predetermined orientation.  
   
   
       20 . The method of  claim 16  wherein the placing includes placing a recessed portion of the removable wrap over a magnet positioned on a face of the core.