Educational medium for teaching children to interact with and recognize objects

Abstract

A unique educational medium for teaching children to recognize various objects by sight and touch including animals, vegetables, minerals, articles, items, and environmental features according to a thematic scene associated with the medium. The medium is preferably at least one sheet of material having a surface with a plurality of objects thereon and forming a part of the thematic scene, the objects representing at least two of the group consisting of images, shapes, forms, and numbers. Tactile material forms at least a part of each object and is used to represent the actual object such that a user may touch the tactile material and recognize the object. The sheet is of a size sufficient to allow a user to walk on the sheet, cover themselves with the sheet, and identify objects on the sheet by touch.

1 . An educational medium for teaching children to recognize various objects including one or more, in any combination, of animals, vegetables, minerals, articles, items, and environmental features according to a thematic scene associated with the medium, comprising: 
 at least a single sheet of material having a surface with a plurality of the objects forming a part thereof, each of the objects having a three-dimensional shape and forming part of the thematic scene, the objects representing at least two of the group consisting of images, shapes, forms, letters, and numbers;    at least a single background scene depicted on the sheet that serves as a backdrop to the thematic scene shown by the objects;    each object relating to the other and to the background to form the thematic scene; and    tactile material forming at least a part of each object and used to represent the texture of the actual object such that a user may both touch and see the tactile material to identify the object.    
   
   
       2 . The educational medium of  claim 1 , wherein at least some of the objects are interactive with the user.  
   
   
       3 . The educational medium of  claim 2  wherein the sheet is of a size sufficient to allow a user to walk on the sheet, cover themselves with the sheet, and to form a thematic scene that enables the user to identify the objects on the sheet by touch.  
   
   
       4 . The educational medium of  claim 1  wherein, the sheet has a front portion and a back portion attached to each other and stuffed with a noise making material to hold a child's attention.  
   
   
       5 . The educational medium of  claim 1  further comprising: 
 a plurality of sections formed on the sheet of different colors to form an integrated thematic scene;    at least one object permanently attached to each section;    at least a portion of each object being tactile to enable a user to identify it by touch; and    at least one stuffed three-dimensional colored letter pivotally attached at least at one point to each section to allow the stuffed letter to be raised, thereby enabling the user to see and touch the object represented by the letter.    
   
   
       6 . The educational medium of  claim 5 , wherein at least one of said stuffed letters is the first letter of a word identifying the object.  
   
   
       7 . The educational medium of  claim 5 , wherein at least some of the stuffed letters contain noise-making material to hold a child's attention.  
   
   
       8 . The educational medium of  claim 1 , wherein the thematic scene comprises: 
 a first section having a background representing a beach and including objects that relate to the beach;    a second adjacent section having a background representing the sea and including objects that relate to the sea; and    a third section adjacent to both the first and second sections and having a background representing the sky and including objects related to the sky.    
   
   
       9 . The educational medium of  claim 8 , wherein each section has at least one tactile object thereon representing at least an element of the theme of the respective section that can be seen and touched to identify the object.  
   
   
       10 . An educational medium according to  claim 5 , wherein said thematic scene is an environmental scene and said at least one letter indicates and relates to objects from said thematic scene.  
   
   
       11 . An educational medium for teaching children to recognize various objects including one or more, in any combination, of animals, vegetables, minerals, articles, items, and environmental features, comprising: 
 at least one single sheet of material having a surface with a plurality of the objects forming a part thereof,    at least one environmental background depicted on the sheet;    at least one of the objects on the sheet having a three-dimensional shape and being moveable relative to said sheet; and    flexible tactile material forming at least a part of each object and used to represent the texture of the actual object such that a user may both touch and see the tactile material to identify the object.    
   
   
       12 . An educational medium according to  claim 11 , wherein said at least one single sheet of material is configured to lay flat on the floor.  
   
   
       13 . An educational medium according to  claim 11 , wherein said at least one single sheet of material is configured to hang on a wall.  
   
   
       14 . An educational medium according to  claim 11 , wherein said objects are derived from a set of objects that relate to an environmental feature depicted on said background.