BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention

[0002] This invention relates to the field of game boards. More particularly, the invention pertains to a game board for educational purposes to be used by a large number of students at a time.

[0003] 2. Description of The Prior Art

[0004] Many different kinds of educational games are being played by students in the classrooms today. Some of those games include specific game devices, such as game boards which are mostly used in grade schools because of the need among young students for visual perception as an extra learning tool.

[0005] Certain of the game devices include game boards. Game pieces or play cards may be used with the game boards by attaching them in a certain way and, according to the rules of the game, onto the surface of the game board. Prior art game boards include very limited surface areas upon which to play allowing only a small number of students to participate, precluding other students from interactively playing in the game. Prior art game boards further could be bulky, take up a lot of space when stored, and some could be complicated and uneconomical to manufacture.

[0006] A patent issued to Kaufman in 1924 (U.S. Pat. No. 1,491,536) discloses a board game with cards, where the cards, each divided into an equal number of squares on the face of the cards, are placed over a peg and held in a box for use by people who want to learn a foreign language. In 1959, a patent issued to Bobo et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 2,887,789) for a game board on which a number of upwardly directed pegs in different patterns are placed and the cards, each having a special arrangement of holes, fit only one of the arrangements of pegs on the board. In 1968, a patent issued to Holten (U.S. Pat. No. 3,394,471) is for a game board to be placed on a flat surface, with players spaced around the table, the cards having a slot through which a player may view certain foreign language words arranged for placement on certain areas on the game board to teach a foreign language. A patent issued to Senn in 1976 (U.S. Pat. No. 3,970,312), describes a game involving two panels held in an upright and face-to-face relation and having pegs pushed through holes formed therein over which cards with indicia are placed in an attempt to line up the holes in the cards with pegs that are placed in the holes. A patent, issued to DeMent in 1978 (U.S. Pat. No. 4,111,418) concerns a peg board apparatus with multiple panels that are supported on legs, on which are hung a plurality of toe tabs that are maneuvered by a player's toes. In 1990, a patent issued to Canela (U.S. Pat No. 4,944,519) describes a game board about which the players sit and match cards with blocks or spaces that are outlined on the board. None of these patents include a game board where more than one game can be played at the same time so as to accommodate a large number of players.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0007] This invention is a rigid, self-supporting game board used for playing educational games by younger students and overcomes the problems set forth above with regard to the prior art game boards. This inventive game board is useful in classrooms where there are a large number of students to play. The game board includes two rigid self-supporting panels which have top edges that are hinged together, and bottom edges which are adapted to form self-supporting means to allow the panels to stand upright during a game. The panels include a plurality of openings and Z-shaped hooks on the outer surface that are hooked through the openings in the panels. A game is played using play cards having apertures and front surfaces onto which educational information is printed. The educational information is matched in pairs wherein one of the matching play cards in the pair includes complementing information of the other of the matching play cards in the pair. The educational information may include various different kinds of subject matter. The invention lies in the ability to use both the panels at the same time in two different games in order to have more students playing the game at once so as to save time.

[0008] The game board of this invention does not take up a lot of space during storage because it can be folded together closely and stored underneath or behind a table or closet.

[0009] The game board of this invention is of simple construction, and is inexpensive to manufacture and maintain while retaining its effectiveness. The game is unlimited in scope as to subject matter or complexity because play cards can easily be made on an as-needed basis to cover specific topics as it comes up in the class curriculum, i.e., science, geography, math, languages, or other topics.

[0010] Accordingly, the main object of this invention is a game board that is able to facilitate two different games on both panels at the same time to allow a large number of students to play and learn at once. Other objects of the invention are a game board that takes up a very small space for storage, that is inexpensive to manufacture and maintain, and that is unlimited in scope in subject matter and in complexity.

[0011] These and other objects of the invention will become more apparent when reading the description of the preferred embodiment along with the drawings that are appended hereto. The protection sought by the inventor may be gleaned from a fair reading of the claims that conclude the specification.