Abstract: A teaching aid in the form of an interactive electronic book includes a number of pages illustrating different life situation scenes (e.g., classroom, doctor's office, etc.), each scene including an opening for a free-standing face to be inserted, in the way a puzzle piece is inserted in a picture. The electronic book contains a plurality of different removable faces, preferably stored within an easily accessible portion of the rear cover, each face expressing a different emotion (“happy”, “sad”, “afraid”, etc.). The user can then remove the “face” that best defines his/her feelings about the life illustration on the page currently being viewed. Additional features include a touch-sensitive area allowing for a recorded definition of each emotion to be played, and a “game spinner” to arbitrarily determine the particular life situation page to be explored.

Abstract: A teaching aid for assisting individuals, particularly young children, in learning and developing empathy. The teaching aid consists of a floor mat including a depiction of a pair of shoes. The shoes may be printed directly on the top surface of the mat, or the mat may be three-dimensional, with the pair of shoes slightly recessed below the surface of the mat. An individual may then literally “stand in the shoes” of someone else and begin to develop the skills leading to empathy. In the classroom setting, the shoes may be depicted as a pair of children's sneakers, with individuals taking turns standing on the mat. Other depictions may be appropriate, particularly in a counseling situation.