FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention is concerned with a count-down calendar of advent-type.

BACKGROUND

The most advent calendars are used to count or celebrate the days of advent in anticipation of Christmas. They begin on December 1 and end at December 24 and are made for children having a large rectangular board with "windows" of which there are 24; one for each day of December leading up to Christmas Day. Every day, one is opened during Advent. Each window opens to reveal an image, a poem, or a portion of a story or a small gift concealed in each window, such as a toy or a chocolate item.

Different further developments embodiments of this idea exist in the prior art. US patent 7,090,253 is presented as a prior art solution of a calendar hiding information or text in the cells of the calendar. It discloses an advent-type calendar comprising a plurality of data cells to a customized time period including a starting date and an ending date, each date cell having a date associated therewith and a closure element for concealing an object or information or both, and a graphical theme applied to an advent-type calendar being suggestive of an event associated with the customized time period.

US patent 7,017,292 presents a countdown or advent-type calendar for a selected time interval includes the concurrent provision of a text message and completion or modification of a pictorial design during the sequential indication of the date during the countdown. In one embodiment, the sequential indication of the countdown date reveals a text message or greeting relating to the event and completes or modifies an associated pictorial design or forms a second text message. It is mentioned that a chart maybe provided on the back side of the substrates.

US publication 2009/0007467 comprises an advent-type calendar with a plurality of chambers holding a plurality of containers each container receiving a gift item and corresponding to a time period (like a day) of an occasion. The containers are successively removed and opened to reveal the gift item, then rotated and replaced into the chamber to indicate that the corresponding time period has been achieved or surpassed and the container has been used or emptied.

US patent 5,058,296 relates to an advent calendar having a calendar part with a stair edge having star steps forming day regions arranged at various locations and a marking movable selectively relative to the calendar part over respective day regions.

In some calendar solutions, the intention is to teach children to read a calendar and to teach youngsters to better understand the concept of passing time.

US publication 2004/0197744A1 presents an educational calendar including a base having a display surface divided into three areas, US patent 5,257,940 discloses an educational calendar including a base web, a first base, and a removable indicator plate, US patent 5,295,319 shows an educational calendar unit, which has removable and shiftable pieces representing parts of the year (days, weeks, months etc) and US publication 2007/0147182 relates to a child's clock and organizer, which help teach children the concepts of telling and measuring time, scheduling and time arrangement.

Another kind of an educational calendar is US patent publication 2006/0267276, which presents a themed teaching/tasking puzzle calendar game. Peaces are placed in predetermined positions onto the base board. Each piece and the underlying base board have matching indicia facilitating where each piece is to be placed. The pieces and board teach users information and/or task a user to do certain things.

Further prior art mentioned are presented by the following publications.

US publication 2004/0187367 presents a combination of an activity calendar, countdown chart and growth chart for children.

EP patent 1 808 839 relates to a calendar-type media device comprising a housing having a user interface that comprises a plurality of actuable elements, each actuable element representing a distinct event, and means for providing media content such as sound, light, text or combinations thereof.

Books, videos and personal teaching are the most common teaching aids even if teaching calendars also are known in the art as shown above. A variety of other processes are also used to make learning a pleasant and motivating experience by combining elements of tasking, recreation, gaming, tracking days, having goals etc. with the learning process. This is especially useful for teaching children. Even if there exist solutions in which two or more of the above elements are combined into a pleasant learning process, there is a lot of potential for new kinds of improved learning tools for teaching all kind of people.

The object of this invention is to provide a new kind of an educational calendar game, which enhances activity for both learning and doing things.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The invention provided is a count-down calendar having cells hiding information and with closures to be opened. The calendar has a layered structure in that the cells have a double or multi-functionality in presenting information in different parts behind two or more closures on or behind eachother.

The preferable embodiments of the invention have the features of the subclaims.

In a preferred embodiment, the closures of the cells are designed to be opened in a time- dependent way so that there are one or more cells for each day, week, month or other time period.

The calendar can have a modular structure, each module having an own theme divided on different time levels. The modules can also be designed so that there are one calendar for each month of a year, each calendar having an own theme, but still preferably all themes related to each other. The information of several cells or all cells can form an entirety by constituting an image, a story, a sentence or a cluster of related information.

The piece of information on the cell surface can consist of a task/question behind or below the closure, and the cell surface can itself form a second closure to be opened. Then there can be another piece of information behind the second closure, this second piece of information consisting of the solution to said task or the answer to said question. In the cell, there can be a third closure behind or below the second closure. There can be an object in the cell behind the third closure constituting, e.g., a prize for the right answer or a prize for having carried out the task, and/or which can be opened for the right answer. The prize can consist of a piece of candy or chocolate, like some kind of a Christmas chocolate or an Eastern egg, or a toy or any gift like in a conventional advent-type calendar as a reward for having given the right answer. The questions can also be formulated as to be selected among optional answer closures, like "y ^es " ^or " ^no " questions, or other kind of alternatives marked , B, C. or 1 , 2, 3, ... . The prize can be placed behind the closure of the right answer, whereas the wrong answer could e.g. hide a task or more information or the like.

The closures are e.g. lids that can be opened, they can be opened by scrapping or they can be stickers or the closures can be opened by clicking if the calendar of the invention is an electronic version. In a non-electronic version, the closures can e.g. be on plastic, paper or cardboard surfaces, or on boxes on each other, in which the information or things are placed and/or the information can be on the other side of a lid. The lids can be detachable and can be combined to present an entirety on a space on the calendar reserved for the lids or on a separate cardboard or paper. Thus, together, the pieces of information on the lids consist of image parts or text related to the theme of a story or an illustration that can be displayed e.g. on a space on the calendar. In this way, the pieces of information relate to each other.

Constructing the cells in parts so that a task/question and its answer are exposed by a double opening and/or making the closures collectable to form an entity is thus presented as one possibility for designing the calendar. This can be achieved in an electronic version as well.

An electronic version of the calendar can be used in a mobile terminal or mobile device (or a "handheld" device), a personal Computer (PC), a video game console, or a tablet computer, like an ipad.

A video game console is an interactive entertainment computer or modified computer system that produces a video display signal which can be used with a display device (a television, monitor, etc.) to display a video game.

A tablet computer, or simply tablet, is a complete mobile computer, larger than a mobile phone or personal digital assistant, integrated into a flat touch screen and primarily operated by touching the screen.

A mobile device (also known as a handheld device, handheld computer or simply handheld) is a pocket-sized computing device, typically having a display screen with touch input and/or a miniature keyboard.

An electronic version of the calendar could include a method to construct the calendar by sending all or a part of the data by the user itself and the user could him self select a physical or electronic format for the calendar. Furthermore, there could be a possibility to add voice to the calendar. Codes could be distributed to the network service providing the calendar that opens new issues, like prizes, questions an the like.

The most usual mode of the invention is based on the advent-type calendar idea by constructing it as a learning tool by hiding questions and answers in 24 "windows" here called "cells" that form a typical advent calendar. Naturally, the calendar can be designed for any time period, like for other months than December, for several months, weeks or e.g. for a year. In the above way, the "windows" or "cells" and the text contained in them serve teaching and learning functions. The calendar of the invention is focused on teaching functions by amusing children using the calendar and keeping up their interest rather than functioning as a conventional calendar. As each opening is dealt with several functions it gives much more amusement than conventional calendars and the child has more fun of it. For the learning purpose, a calendar should have a theme, to which all information relates. Preferably, the theme chosen should add fun to finding the solution to the question or performing the task. Usually, the concept of learning is enhanced if every part of the calendar relates and contributes to the same theme.

Not only is the calendar useful for very young children. The calendar can even relate information to a specific time within a longer time period and relate portions of information to a student one day at a time for each day of a month or for adults or older people. When the month ends, the student has tracked the learning one day at a time. Thus, the calendar gives teachings over a predetermined time period. In sum, the calendar can determine at what time and how often a teaching and/or event takes place.

The calendar can be designed to function as a daily/weekly/monthly and/or non-daily/non- weekly/non-monthly calendar or it can have a mix of these functions.

The invention strengthens learning by association through the goal of the final entirety presentation in combination with information in the form of questions and answers. The use of the words, phrases, pieces of text questions and answers teaches the children with associating pictures to the information and thus with the final completed illustration.

The functions of the calendar can be designed so that it can be used in many areas, such as, science, language learning, history, mathematics, botanies, geography, zoology, reading, and any things, even Christmas issues or other more limited areas.

In the following, the invention will be described by referring to some exemplified embodiments by referring to figures. The intention is not to restrict the inventions with the details of these examples. FIGURES

Figures 1 a - 1 e present an example of a calendar game of the invention seen from above in a perspective view.

Figures 2a - 2c present another example of a calendar game of the invention seen from above in a perspective view.

Figure 3 presents still one example of a calendar game of the invention seen from above in a perspective view.

Figures 4a - 4d shows an example of how the back side of the calendar game of figures 1 - 3 may look like during use

Figure 5 presents a flow scheme of the process of using the calendar of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Figure 1 a presents an example of a calendar game 7 of the invention seen from above and seen from a perspective so that also the side of the calendar can be seen. The intention with the calendar is to teach children new things in a way to make learning a pleasant experience.

The invention provided in figure 1a is a count-down calendar 7 having cells numbered 1 - 30 with closures 1 a, 2a, 3a, 4a, 5a ....30a hiding text, things and/or images. The front sides of the closures 1 a, 2a, 3a, 4a, 5a ....30a ca be seen in figure 1 a. Closures 6a - 29a are not marked in the figure of illustrative purposes in order to avoid making the figure too messy.

In figure 1 a, none of the closures of the cells have yet been opened and therefore the numbers on each cell (on each top closure) 1 - 30 can be seen. Figures 1 b - 1 e show how the closures of figure 1 a are designed to be opened in a time- dependent way in different stages of use. In the example of figure 1 a, there is a cell for each day of a month and therefore there are successive numbers 1 - 30 on the closures to be opened indicating the opening date of the month for a particular closure.

In different embodiments of the invention, the numbers of the cells might, if desired, vary a little depending on e.g. which month it is question about. Then a calendar for e.g. January might have 31 cells and a calendar for February only 28 cells or of if the calendar is a Christmas advent-type calendar there might be only 24 cells. Examples with more or fewer cells are not excluded from the inventive idea either, and the calendar can even be in the form of one single chocolate bar, with a closure for each piece of chocolate or the like to be eaten after a question ahs been passed.

In the calendar of figure 1 , the first cell, numbered "1 " is intended to be opened on the first day of the month in question and the last one numbered 30 in figure 1a is intended to be opened on the 30th of the month in question, which in the example of figure 1 a suitably is April, June, September or November. For February, there could be 28 or 29 cells and 31 for the rest of the months. Naturally, the number of the cells and the frequency for opening can vary as desired over time.

Figures 1 b— 1e all show a part of figure 1 a in different stages of the use of the calendar. Cells 1 - 10 of the cells of figure 1a can be seen in these figures.

In figure 1 b, cells 1 - 10 represent the front sides of closures 1 a ...10a, all of them being still closed since they have not been opened yet. It is assumed that there are two closures on eachother in each cell so that closure 1 a is on top of another closure 1 b, the front side of which can be seen in figure 1 c.

In figure 1 c, closure 1 a has been opened and in addition to the front side of closure 1 b, also the back side of closure 1 a can be seen since closure 1 a was on top of closure 1 b. Closure 1 b is thus still closed and also cells 2 - 10 (closures 2a - 10a) are still completely closed. The back side of closure 1 a reveals a reward R1 in the from of e.g. a piece of text to be collected in a puzzle-like way into an entirety from all back sides of closures 1 a...30a on e.g. the back side of the calendar game 7. The idea with this embodiment is that all back sides of the top closures 2a...30a will give rewards R2...R30 in a similar way Figures 4a - 4b show how the rewards from the back sides of the closures 1 a...30a can be placed and what they can present.

The top closures 1 a ...10a are hiding a question Q1 ...Q10 (only Q1 can be seen in figure 1c) on the cell surface below them, which surface itself constitutes a closure 1 b...10b (the front side of it) to be opened (only 1 b can be seen in figure 1 c).

In figure 1 d, also closure 1 b has been opened thus revealing the front side of a closure 1 c. In addition to the front side of closure 1 c, also the back side of closure 1 b can be seen. The back side of closure 1 b reveals a reward R2 in the from of e.g. a single image or sign to be collected from all back sides of closures 1 b...30b. The idea could e.g be to collect a sufficient number of a given sign or image and if that number is achieved, it could give a lottery prize when sent to the company selling the calendar game. Figures 4a and 4c show how the rewards from the back sides of the closures 1 b...30b can be placed and what images they can present.

The top closures 1 b ...10b are hiding the answers A1 ....A10 (only A1 can be seen in figure 1 d) to the questions Q1 ...Q10 on the cell surface below them, which surface itself constitutes a closure 1 c...10c to be opened (only 1 c can be seen in figure 1 d).

In figure 1 e, also closure 1 c has been opened and it reveals gift box 1 d with a gift in it. In addition to the gift box of 1d, also the back side of closure 1 c can be seen.

The back side of closure 1c reveals a reward R3 in the from of e.g. a piece of a puzzle to be collected from all back sides of closures 1 c...30c. Figures 4a and 4d show how the rewards from the back sides of the closures 1 c...30c can be placed and what images they can present. The cells have thus a multi-functionality in presenting information behind (or below) the closure(s) on several levels, the levels being layers on eachother in figure 1.

Other embodiments than that of figure 1 can be constructed. The calendar might be a simpler version without e.g. the gift box or the answers to the questions could be presented of the back sides of the closures etc. There might in the embodiment of figure 1 also be a task list on e.g. the back side of the calendar from which a task should be performed before opening the gift box. In figures 1 a - 1 e, the closures are lids that can be opened as in an advent-type calendar in a known way. The calendar board is of paper, cardboard, plastic or other suitable material.

Figure 1 a presents the whole calendar game of the invention like in figure 1 so that all cells 1 - 30 can be seen but so that closures 1 a, 1 b and 1c are all opened and the other cells 2 - 30 being still closed. By referring to the closures that can be opened on top of eachother, the reference signs a, b, and c indicate the layered structure of the calendar "a" standing for the top layer, "b" for the intermediate layer and "c" for the lowest layer. The embodiment of figure 1 has three layers but there can naturally be more or less layers.

In figures 1 a - 1 e, the closures are behind eachother in each cell so that e.g. closure 1 a is in front of closure 1 b, closure 1 b in front of closure 1 c, closure 2a in front of closure 2b, closure 2b in front of closure 2c and so on when the calendar is placed in a vertical position on a wall or standing on a table. If it is placed in a horizontal position, then the closures are on top of eachother.

The person using the calendar should try to find out the answer to the question by himself after having read it on the front side of closure 1 b and after that open the next closure 1 c to read the answer on the front side of closure 1 c and do the same thing respectively, with the other closures.. Behind (or below if the calendar is seen from above) closures 1 b 30b, and on the front side of closures 1 c...30c, there is a second piece of information consisting of the answer to the questions in this embodiment of figures 1 a - 1 e. Behind closures 1 c - 30c, in the gift box 1 d ....30d, there can be an item, like a toy or candy or anything small enough that suits for a gift.

In some embodiments there can be list of tasks or a task somewhere in the calendar, to be done if the answer made by the person itself was wrong. The task can be e.g. some home work or the like. The intention is that the task should be done before a closure 1 c ....30c revealing a gift is opened.

An example of an embodiment mentioned in the foregoing paragraph can be seen in figures 2a - 2c.

The calendar of figures 2a - 2c is otherwise like that in figures 1 a— 1f but the front side of closure 1 c is divided into two sections, i.e. a "y ^es option" on one front part of closure 1 c ^* and a "no option" on the other front part of closure 1 c ^** . Figure 2a shows both these options on the front side of closure 1c. The other cells 2 - 10 are still closed in figure 2a. Instead of just having a gift in a gift box behind (or below) closures 1 c - 30c like in figures 1a - 1f, the question on the front side of 1c - 30c is formulated in a form that it should be answered by "yes" or "no".

It is now assumed that, "yes" was the right answer, and therefore there is a gift in the gift box part 1 d ^* behind the "yes part" of closure 1 c as can be seen in figure 2b.

Furthermore, it is assumed that, "no" was the wrong answer, and therefore there is an empty gift box part 1d ^** ' behind the "no part" of closure 1 c as can be seen in figure 2c. Alternatively, there can be task to be done instead of an empty gift box before the gift box part 1 d ^* should be opened. It is also possible to write a task by the user itself on the empty space. Like in figure 1 , the back side of each closure might have text or images to be combined by detaching the closures and fixing them on a reserved place on the calendar or on a separate paper or cardboard or other suitable material surface. The inventive design of the calendar gives a longer pleasure for the user, especially for a child, for each cell opening thanks to its multi-functionality and each opening gives the user some teaching, some nice things to do and a prize in the form of a toy or sweet.

Figure 3 presents still one example of a calendar game of the invention. This embodiment is a count-down calendar 7 ^* ' having cells 1 - 30 with closures 1 a - 30a, 1 b - 30b and 1 c - 30c hiding text, images, and/or gifts.

The idea of using the calendar from a users view is similar than that of embodiments in figures 1 and 2 but the technical construction of this calendar is different from that of figures 1 and 2. The calendar board is in the form of a box 7 ^* ' in which interchangeable material sheets A, B and C can be inserted. Material sheet A can always be the same or it can be interchangeable as well. In this embodiment it is assumed that material sheet A is fixed. The layer-structure of such a calendar has been achieved by composing the calendar to have at least one layer constituting a detachable information sheet that can be changed to another one.

There are closures 1 b - 30b on the detachable material sheet B to be inserted in the calendar frame 7 ^* '. When inserted in the calendar frame 7 ^* ', the places of the closures 1 b - 30b of the detachable material sheet B match the places of closures 1 a - 30a so that closure 1 b is behind closure 1 a, closure 2b behind closure 2a and so on. This means that, when closures 1 a - 30a are opened, the top surfaces of closures 1 b - 30b can be seen. Correspondingly, there are closures 1 c - 30c on the detachable material sheet C to be inserted in the calendar frame 7 ^* '. When inserted in the calendar frame 7 ^* ', the places of the closures 1c - 30c of the detachable material sheet B match the places of closures 1a - 30a and 1 b - 30b so that closure 1 c is behind closure 1 b, closure 2c behind closure 2b and so on. This means that, when closures 1 b - 30b are opened, the top surfaces of closures 1 c - 30c can be seen. On the surfaces of these closures 1 b - 30b there are in this example, different questions written like in the other embodiments. Thus, like in figures 1 - 2, the top closures 1 a - 30a are hiding questions on the cell surface below them, which surfaces themselves constitute closures 1 b - 30b to be opened. Then there is another piece of text below closures 1 b - 30b, this second piece of information consisting of the solution or answer to said question.

The embodiment of figure 3 can be considered to be a reusable calendar 7 ^* ', since at least the frame part does not need to be changed each year. New material sheets B and C can be inserted in the direction of the arrow in figure 3. This kind of a calendar could be made of some nice durable material, which in itself makes the learning process more tempting. This calendar 7 ^* ' can also be reused by e.g. another child after use. The embodiment of figure 3 is also excellent for e.g. learning on an annual basis. There could be e.g. 28 - 31 closures for each day of a month or some other number and a new detachable sheet could be interchanged each month. There would then be 12 sheets. The information of several cells or all cells can also form an additional entirety by constituting a story, a sentence or a cluster of related information.

Figure 4a shows an embodiment for a back side of a calendar game of the invention. The back side is in figure 4a divided in three parts on which closures 1 a - 30a, 1 b - 30b and 30 a - 30c form the calendar of e.g. figure 1 shall be fastened with the back sides upwards on the spaces 8, 9, 10 reserved for the rewards on the back sides of the closures. Space 8 is reserved from the rewards on the back side of closures 1a - 30a, space 9 is reserved from the rewards on the back side of closures 1 b - 30b, and space 10 is reserved from the rewards on the back side of closures 1 c - 30c.

Figure 4b shows how the rewards from the back sides of the closures 1 a...30a can be placed and what they can present. The back side of closure 1 a revealing the reward R1 is in this example the from of e.g. a piece of text to be collected in a puzzle-like way into an entirety from all back sides of closures 1 a...30a on e.g. the back side of the calendar game 7 on rewards space 8. .When the puzzle is ready there will be a complete story, joke or the like. In figure 4b lorem ipsum has been used to demonstrate the visual presentation, which is a common method in publishing and graphic design when focus is meant to be on the overall presentation rather than the textual content, so publishers use lorem ipsum when displaying to direct the focus to the publication style and not the meaning of the text and it is thus not meant to be readable text. Figure 4c shows how the rewards from the back sides of the closures 1 b...30b can be placed and what they can present. The back side of closure 1 a revealing the reward R2 is in this example in the form of individual images or signs to be collected to have a sufficient number of a given sign or image to get e.g. a lottery prize when sent to the company selling the calendar game. The signs (or images) can be collected from all back sides of closures 1 b...30b to be placed on e.g. the back side of the calendar game 7 on rewards space 9.

Figure 4d shows how the rewards from the back sides of the closures 1 c...30c can be placed and what they can present. The back side of closure 1 c revealing the reward R3 is in this example in the from of a piece of a puzzle to be collected from all back sides of closures 1 c...30c to be collected in a puzzle-like way into an entirety from all back sides of closures 1c...30c on e.g. the back side of the calendar game 7 on rewards space 10. When the puzzle is ready there will be a complete picture. In embodiments with only e.g. two closures, there would suitably be only two rewards spaces. The rewards can of course be collected on a separate surface as well out side the calendar and they can either be combined successively by placing them along withte use but especially when ti is question about a puzzle, the embodiment might require to save them all first and then combined.

Thus the back sides of each closure having text or images can be combined by detaching the closures and fixing them on a reserved place on the calendar or on a separate paper or cardboard. In an electronic version a code can be received to be feed into the game. The closure-wise code or just one code can be received when all closures are opened.

The inventive design of the calendar gives a longer pleasure or the child for each cell opening thanks to its multi-functionality and each opening gives the child some teaching, some nice things to do and a prize in the form of a toy or sweet.

Figure 5 presents a flow scheme of the process of using the calendar of the invention as it is described in figure 1 .

In step 1 , closure 1a is opened. A question Q1 then appears on the surface of the calendar, on the front side of closure 1 b, which is read in step 2.

In step 3, the user should try to answer the question. It might take place by searching the answer from e.g the internet or from a book or by asking someone, such as the parents, or the user might know the answer to the question.

Closure 1 b is opened in step 4 upon which the answer to the question appears on the surface of the calendar, on the front side of closure 1c, which answer is read.

In step 5, the user compares his own answer to the answer given, and if it was wrong, he should continue with step 6 in which a task read from a task list on e.g. the back side of the calendar is performed. Thereafter, the user can proceed to step 7. If the answer was right, the user can proceed to step 7 directly from step 5.

In step 7, closure 1c is opened and a gift in form of a little toy is found. Closures 1 a - 1 c are in this embodiment detachable and are removed from the calendar in step 8. There is a part of a picture on the back side of them. They should now be saved for later use. If there is now any un-opened cell left in the calendar, considered in step 9, the user repeat the process by starting from step 1 again but now opening closures 2a - 2c in steps 1 , 4 and 7, respectively. Steps 1 - 9 of the process are repeated for all the closures of the calendar until the last one 30d is opened.

Thereafter, the process is finished in step 10, wherein a puzzle image is constructed by turning the detached closures upside down and combining them on one or more spaces on e.g. the back side of the calendar so that one or more images or texts appears. The puzzle can be made reusable or be glued on a cardboard.