Products & methods that harness the power of fun to motivate children

• US 20010031449A1
• Filed: 03/08/2001
• Published: 10/18/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 03/09/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Zwiers, Nancy A.
• Original Assignee: Zwiers, Nancy A.
• Inventors: Zwiers, Nancy A.
• Granted Patent: US 6,629,845 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 434/127
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 19/0092 Nutrition
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 23/28 for medicine

Abstract

A method is disclosed of motivating a child to want to do what is beneficial, including the steps of

(a) providing an item which the child interacts with to establish a play pattern that is fun for the child,

(b) packaging the item in a manner that is convenient to use and wherein the packaging assists in establishing the play pattern.

Claims

1. A method of motivating a child to want to do what is beneficial, including the steps of

(a) providing an item which the child interacts with to establish a play pattern that is fun for the child,

(b) packaging the item in a manner that is convenient to use and wherein the packaging assists in establishing the play pattern.

2. The method according to

claim 1

where the item is food.

3. The method according to

claim 2

where the food item is cut in a predetermined configuration that assists in establishing the play pattern.

4. The method according to

claim 3

where the predetermined configuration is in the form of an animal, a hearts, a flower, a lip, the letter O, the letter X, a word, a smiling face, a jack-o-lantern, a hat, a broom, or a mechanical object.

5. The method according to

claim 2

where the packaging of the food item is personalized using the name of the child being motivated.

6. The method according to

claim 2

where the packaging corresponds to a theme.

7. The method according to

claim 6

where the theme is indicated by a unique shape of the packaging or component part of the packaging.

8. The method according to

claim 7

where the unique shape is a heart, an animal, a celestial object, a paw print, a flower, an egg, a robot, a wheel, a Christmas tree, or a pumpkin.

9. The method according to

claim 2

where the food item and packaging are components of a game.

10. The method according to

claim 9

where the game is a puzzle, tiddly-winks, tic-tac-toe, memory-matching, a winning code on the packaging, or a maze.

11. The method according to

claim 2

where there a plurality of pre-cut food items and one food item providing a foundation whereby the child may create a diorama by placing the pre-cut food items into the food item providing a foundation.

12. The method according to

claim 11

where packaging provides an enclosure for the diorama through which the child may view the diorama.

13. The method according to

claim 2

where the packaging is adapted to form a hand puppet for the hand that the child uses to grasp the food item.

14. The method according to

claim 2

where the packaging includes candy.

15. The method according to

claim 2

where the packaging includes a handle.

16. The method according to

claim 15

where the handle is at least partially made of candy.

17. The method according to

claim 1

where the item is a plurality of cards adapted to be assembled into a deck, each card having one face with a common imprint and an opposite face imprinted with instructions for a play activity in which the child will engage upon selecting a card when all the cards having the face with the common imprint are positioned so the child can not see the activity imprinted on the cards.

18. The method according to

claim 17

where there is a different activity imprinted on each card in the deck.

19. The method according to

claim 18

where the cards are grouped to correspond to activities especially suited to certain situations.

20. The method according to

claim 19

where different groups of cards are marked with indicia indicating the situation in which a selected card group is to be used.

21. The method according to

claim 20

where the indicia is one or more words.

22. The method according to

claim 21

where the indicia is a color code.

23. The method according to

claim 20

where the situation is getting dressed, coming and going, mealtime, bedtime, helping out, and bath time.

24. The method according to

claim 20

where one group of cards is designed for an active situation and another group of cards is designed for a situation where the child is substantially quit.

25. A child friendly product including packaging holding pre-cut food items, said packaging and food items being coordinated to enable a child to interact with both the packaging and the food item to establish a play pattern that is fun for the child.

26. A child friendly product including a key ring and a plurality of cards assembled into a deck and attached to the key ring, each card having one face with a common imprint and an opposite face imprinted with instructions for a play activity in which the child will engage upon selecting a card when all the cards having the face with the common imprint are positioned so the child can not see the activity imprinted on the cards.

27. The product according to

claim 26

where the cards are grouped on the key ring to correspond to activities especially suited to certain situations.

28. The product according to

claim 27

where different groups of cards are marked with indicia indicating the situation in which a selected card group is to be used.

29. The product according to

claim 28

where the indicia is one or more words.

30. The product according to

claim 29

where the indicia is a color code.