Balance Beam Elements with "Lily" Foot Rests

Abstract

A set of longitudinal balance beam elements for support upon and close to the floor for teaching young children the skill of balancing and walking on a long and thin beam comprises hollowed-out longitudinal elements with at least one downwardly extending and spaced flange element at the bottom of one end and an upwardly extending and spaced flange element at the bottom of the other end and a second hollow longitudinal element with a downwardly extending and spaced flange element at one bottom end and a flat opposed end, along with a “lily” pad or rest stop element for connection to said downwardly extending and spaced, flexible mechanical coupling flanges, Two halves of a visual icon are integrated when the components are properly assembled to teach proper connection of the elements and to provide confidence of walking upon the narrow beam.

1 . A set of balance beam elements which can be assembled for use and disassembled for compact and nested storage for teaching the skill of walking upon an elevated balance beam by a youngster comprising:
 a) At least a first, hollow towards the bottom, longitudinally extending balance beam element having a level, top walking-upon surface, opposed and outwardly extending longitudinal side walls and a pair of opposed front and rear, near vertical walls, having a front bottom edge and a rear bottom edge, respectively, and a downwardly extending and spaced from said front and/or rear wall resilient first flange element at one of said bottom edges of one of said front or rear walls and extending substantially across the front or rear of said edges and across the midpoint thereof, and an upwardly extending and spaced second flange element on the opposed rear or front of said bottom edges of said balance beam element as said downwardly extending and spaced first flange element,   b) At least a second hollow towards the bottom, longitudinally extending balance beam element also having a level, top walking-upon surface at the same height as said level of said top walking-upon surface of said first balance beam element(s), said second balance beam element also having a set of opposed front and rear substantially vertical face elements and having at either said front or said rear face element(s) a downwardly extending and spaced third and resilient flange element, also extending across substantially the entire face of said front or rear face element and across the midpoint thereof; and   c) At least one rest stop element, of greater width than said first or said second balance beam elements, having a mechanical connection element for selective securement to one of said downwardly extending and spaced resilient flange elements of either said first or said second balance beam elements.   
     
     
         2 . A set of balance beam elements which can be assembled for use and disassembled for compact and nested storage for teaching the skill of walking on an elevated balance beam by a youngster as claimed in  claim 1  wherein said second of said balance beam elements has the end opposed to said end with said downwardly extending and spaced first flange element as a substantially vertical flat wall for selective mating with the first flange element of said first balance beam element. 
     
     
         3 . A set of balance beam elements for teaching the skill of walking on a balance beam as claimed in  claim 1  wherein said rest stop element is provided with a tactile-providing rubberized top surface. 
     
     
         4 . A set of balance beam elements for teaching the skill of walking on a balance beam to a youngster as claimed in  claim 1  wherein the opposed longitudinal side walls of either or both of said first and said second balance beam elements are outwardly and downwardly flared. 
     
     
         5 . A set of balance beam elements for teaching the skill of walking on a balance beam to a youngster as claimed in  claim 1  wherein said top surface of said first and said second balance beam elements are provided with upwardly extending and spaced bumps. 
     
     
         6 . A set of balance beam elements for teaching the skill of walking on a balance beam to a youngster as claimed in  claim 1  wherein said rest stop element is an octagon with multiple flange-retaining slots defined between a side wall and a short wall of said octagon for frictional receipt of multiple and spaced of said downwardly extending and spaced resilient first or second flanges of said first and/or said second of said balance beam elements. 
     
     
         7 . A set of balance beam elements for teaching the skill of walking on a balance beam to a youngster as claimed in  claim 1  wherein said downwardly extending and spaced first and second flange elements are provided with a resilient web element. 
     
     
         8 . A set of balance beam elements for teaching the skill of walking on a balance beam to a youngster as claimed in  claim 1  wherein a first end of said first balance beam element is provided with a component of a visual icon which mates with another component of the same visual icon on a first end of said second balance beam element such that when said first and said second balance beam elements are assembled said icon is visually integrated. 
     
     
         9 . A set of balance beam elements for teaching the skill of walking on a balance beam to a youngster as claimed in  claim 1  wherein said second of said balance beam elements is provided with a substantially flat, vertical wall with no flange thereon which mates and mechanically connects and holds to said upwardly extending and spaced flange of said first balance beam element. 
     
     
         10 . A set of balance beam elements for teaching the skill of walking on a balance beam to a youngster as claimed in  claim 1  wherein at least some of said side walls of said balance beam elements are provided with outwardly extending wave-like decorations. 
     
     
         11 . A set of balance beam elements for teaching the skill of walking on a balance beam to a youngster as claimed in  claim 1  wherein said rest stop elements are provided with downwardly and outwardly extending walls for each of said side walls of said octagon and said walls are provided with outwardly extending wave-like decorations. 
     
     
         12 . A set of balance beam elements for teaching the skill of walking on a balance beam to a youngster as claimed in  claim 8  wherein said integrated visual icon is a conventional “Smiley” face. 
     
     
         13 . A set of balance beam elements for teaching the skill of walking on a balance beam to a youngster as claimed in  claim 1  wherein at least one of said first and said second balance beam elements nest with one another for space conservation when disassembled. 
     
     
         14 . A set of balance beam elements for teaching the skill of walking on a balance beam to a youngster as claimed in  claim 1  wherein said rest stop elements nest within one another for space conservation when disassembled. 
     
     
         15 . A set of balance beam elements for teaching the skill of walking on a balance beam to a youngster as claimed in  claim 1  wherein said rest stop elements and said balance beam elements are provided with outwardly extending wave like decorations. 
     
     
         16 . A set of balance beam elements for teaching the skill of walking on a balance beam to a youngster as claimed in  claim 1  wherein two or more rest stop elements are provided with different tactile top surfaces from one another. 
     
     
         17 . A set of balance beam elements for teaching the skill of walking on a balance beam to a youngster as claimed in  claim 9  wherein said flat wall is provided with a cut out for receipt of one of said flanges of said balance beam elements. 
     
     
         18 . A set of balance beam elements for teaching the skill of walking on a balance beam to a youngster comprising:
 a) a first longitudinal member having a first top walking-upon surface, a first pair of opposed support walls supporting said first surface above the ground, and a front wall with a first bottom edge having a resilient first flange member extending upwardly and outwardly therefrom at said first bottom edge;   b) a second longitudinal member having a second top walking-upon surface which is substantially aligned with and at the same level as said first top walking-upon surface of said first longitudinal member when said first and said second longitudinal members are assembled, a second pair of opposed support walls supporting said second surface above the ground, and a front wall with a second bottom edge and having a resilient second flange member extending downwardly and outwardly therefrom at said bottom of said second bottom edge of said front wall of said second longitudinal member, said second longitudinal member having a rear wall;   c) said first flange member mechanically couplable to said second flange member to provide a substantially non-rotative and aligned mechanical coupling of said first and said second longitudinal members, yet, capable of de-coupling when said first of said flange members is decompressed and vertically removed from said second of said flange members.   
     
     
         19 . A set of balance beam elements for teaching the skill of walking on a balance beam to a youngster as claimed in  claim 18  wherein said top walking-upon surface of either or both of said first and said second longitudinal member is covered with a tactile-providing surface. 
     
     
         20 . A set of balance beam elements for teaching the skill of walking on a balance beam to a youngster as claimed in  claim 18  wherein said first and said second longitudinal members are nestable within one another. 
     
     
         21 . A set of balance beam elements for teaching the skill of walking on a balance beam to a youngster as claimed in  claim 18  wherein said top of said first longitudinal member is provided with a visual indicator of said front wall and said second longitudinal member is provided with a visual indicator of its rear wall which when said first longitudinal member is coupled to said second longitudinal member integrates into a complete visual icon of proper mechanical coupling of said first longitudinal member to said second longitudinal member. 
     
     
         22 . A set of balance beam elements for teaching the skill of walking on a balance beam to a youngster as claimed in  claim 21  wherein said complete visual icon is a “Smiley” face. 
     
     
         23 . A set of balance beam elements for teaching the skill of walking on a balance beam to a youngster as claimed in  claim 18  further comprising at least one rest stop support element comprising a top surface at or about the same height above the ground as said top surface of both said first and said second longitudinal members with the area of said rest stop support's top surface being about the width of twice the width of said top surfaces of said longitudinal members. 
     
     
         24 . A set of balance beam elements for teaching the skill of walking on a balance beam to a youngster as claimed in  claim 23  wherein said rest stop support element is shaped as a hexagon. 
     
     
         25 . A set of balance beam elements for teaching the skill of walking on a balance beam to a youngster as claimed in  claim 24  wherein said rest stop support element is provided, around its outer rim, with coupling means for facilitating attachment of said downwardly extending second flange of said second longitudinal members. 
     
     
         26 . A set of balance beam elements for teaching the skill of walking on a balance beam to a youngster as claimed in  claim 23  wherein said top surface of said rest stop support element is provided with a tactile surface. 
     
     
         27 . A set of balance beam elements for teaching the skill of walking on a balance beam to a youngster as claimed in  claim 23  wherein two or more of said rest stop support elements are provided and said rest stop support elements are nestable within one another.