An educational toy is provided which includes a block of material, preferably a solid block of wood or plastic in the shape of a board and with a plurality of holes extending completely therethrough. A number of pegs are also provided which fit loosely into the holes in the board and have a corresponding cross sectional shape as the holes. In preferred embodiments, these pegs are substantially longer than the thickness of the board so that they protrude upwardly from the board when placed in position in the holes with the board on a table or other flat backing surface. One side of the board includes respective letters of the alphabet adjacent the holes, while the other side of the board includes the numbers 1 to 26 adjacent the respective holes. Each of the pegs is provided at one end with a letter and at the opposite end with a number, so that a matching of the letters on the pegs with the letters adjacent the holes can be accommodated with one side of the board facing upwardly, while a matching of the numbered ends of the pegs with the numbered holes is accommodated when the board is turned over. In preferred embodiments, the alphabet is arranged in rows on the board, as is the number arrangement at the opposite end of the board, and each of these rows are colored a different color, with the respective pegs being correspondingly colored, so that subgroups of the alphabet and/or of the numbers, can be easily matched by the color code indication on the board and the pegs. In particularly preferred embodiments, additional through holes are arranged near one side of the board to accommodate insertion of the pegs therein to form different words and/or to carry out different simple arithmetic steps, with an additional set of pegs having the vowels at one end thereof and arithmetic symbols at the opposite end thereof. Certain preferred embodiments include braille indicia for the respective colors, letters, and numbers, so as to accommodate use of the toy by blind persons.
EDUCATIONAL TOY