The History of Toddler Toys

We know that Roman and Greek toddlers played with clay rattles, animal skin or animal bladder balls, clay rattles, hand carts, clay dolls, hobby horses, hoops and spinning tops. After toddlers reached the age of 3 they continued to play with these toys, but they where also gradually introduced to using tools and weapons. So from a very early age the toys they used where intended to prepare toddlers for their adult lives.

From the dark to the middle ages knucklebones, barrel hoops, wooden toys like tops, wooden horses and puppets where popular. In this period puritans tended to object to these toys for religious reasons. They felt kids should only play with toys that where based on scripture. A popular toy from the period that puritans liked was a wooden carved ark.

By the 18th century the mass production of toys took hold. Pictorial alphabet cards, books, dissected map puzzles and board games sold well.

By the 19th century the quality of the toys had gone up and the prices had come down. Technical toys like steam engines, building blocks, magic lanterns and optical toys like the kaleidoscope and zoetrope sold well. Many of our current day toy companies started out in the 1890s and 1900s. They produced toy soldiers, zoos, farmyards and later cowboys and Indians and railway figures. When World War 2 broke out toy making came to a standstill. All the toy factories where converted for making weapons. For a while home made toys became popular again.

The most notable thing about toys in the 20th century is the influence of radio TV and popular culture on toys. With prices dropping further toys based on TV heroes where bought all over the world. Buck Rogers, Thomas the Tank Engine and My Little Pony are some famous examples.

Battery powered toys in the 20th century has replaced clockwork toys. However different the toys down the ages may seem, many themes tend to repeat themselves. Toys are still there to develop important skills to comfort and entertain.

Some famous toys from history:

Barbie Dolls - Invented in 1959 by Ruth Handler (co-founder of Mattel). The toy was named after Ruth's daughter Barbara. The Ken doll was named after her son. Barbie has had some criticism over the years. If she was a real human her proportions would be 36-18-38 which is impossible.

Boomerang - There are 2 kinds of Boomerangs. The kind which just goes where you throw it and the kind that comes back. Heavier forms of these sticks where used in War and for hunting in the Australian outback.

LEGO - Lego is a Danish inventions from Ole Kirk Christiansen and his son Godtfred Kirk two Danish toy makers. They invented LEGO in 1949.

Video Games - The first video game was created by A.S. Douglas in 1952. At the time he held a PhD degree at the University of Cambridge on Human-Computer interaction. His first creation was a version of Tic-Tac-Toe.

The six essential elements of child development

As a parent and involved careful, you want to develop your child in any way you can help. Why not acquire educational toys geared toward encouraging growth in all regions of the developing world? Authorities differ slightly, how to organize these domains. But take a good, established by Drs. Dorothy and Jerome Singer of Yale University, playing the six basic elements of developmental psychology that can be cultivated by identifying the use of age-appropriateEducational Toys:


Motor development: gross motor skills development, which swayed use of large muscle groups for activities such as running, kicking, balance, jump, jumping, lifting, climbing, and the development of sensitive and motor skills, such as pincer grip of thumb and forefinger.


Hand-eye development and vision: the perception and the ability to use strong hands and eyes, the developmenttogether in coordination to perform a task.


Cognitive learning: developing the ability to learn and develop new knowledge to understand and apply this knowledge in various finishes. The development of this sector contributes to improving the capacity of a child for mental activities as thinking, interpreting, comparing and contrasting, the evaluation found, prediction, sequence, and display. It also helps children master specific content knowledge of vocabulary,Mathematics, science, and so on.


Listen, listen, and voice: the development of skills in terms of meaning and communication. The development of this area allows the child to distinguish between different types of sensory inputs, processing those that are important and screening those who are not.


Social and emotional development of skills in terms of how people interact with others and how to behave.


Creative / imaginative: the development ofSkills related to the world and pretend with the help of the imagination to explore new ideas and possible solutions to problems.

How to get educational toys

On the development of motor skills, look for toys that children need large, but controlled movements. When they start to get up and walk, children younger, push pull wooden toys. Because they have more control over their muscles, learn wagons, strollers and shopping carts playTricycles, and kid-powered ride-on cars like the car in the plasma. Find Toys, the ability to develop specific motor skills, like heaven and hell Sets (hopping), jump rope or spin master Stomp Rocket (jump), or try to hula (rotation of the body). Sports equipment also encourages the development of various motor skills.

To develop motor skills, look for toys that require hand movements to guide the child precisely controlled. For example, or get lacing cardsactivity books or maps that lead the child skills such as buttons, tying shoelaces magician, they break, cut, and locking and unlocking.

To promote eye-hand development and vision, looking at the toys that require skill to operate hand guide to take in concert with the children. For example, obtain and nesting toys such as Melissa and Doug Geometric Stacker, blocks and other kit, PEG-boards, puzzles and art activities such as drawing stackCutting, painting, sculpting or lacing beads. Also look for toys subject to this increase in your child's sensory perception, such as I Spy books or puzzles require the same children to distinguish between different sizes or colors.

For the development of cognitive skills, looking for games that require the use of logic, pattern recognition to find solutions and solve puzzles. For example, get games that children use to solve clues and deductions to requireIssues such as the classic board game Clue or FoxMind games Logix I. Or get science and nature kits, children's powers of observation and study how to develop Battat Bug Catcher's September Or get toys and games that teach spelling skills and abilities of the content to solve problems, such as the Melissa and Doug E. Or pick up kits and model kits from manufacturers such as Meccano, that children think like pieces can fit together and should have.

To develop listening,Hearing and speech, vision for toys that appeal to the senses, a. Get musical instruments such as shakers, drums, whistles, triangles, tambourines and xylophones, children at play and compare different sounds. You can also toys, puzzles help children between the different sounds, like clay.

For the development of social skills and emotional look for toys that other people need your child to interact. For example, games likeGames FoxMind 'Babylon teach skills such as turns and athleticism. Toy construction sets as the unit block of wood or Legos encourage new skills such as cooperation and sharing as children together to build something.

The development of creativity and imagination, look for toys that encourage the scenarios you create your child to do things oo RPG. For example, building systems Uberstix used to construct an infinite variety of structures. Arts and Craftsprovides children with the practice of things. dollhouses Dolls, Battat toy vehicles and toy dinosaurs, all as props, to real stories and new scenarios can be used. Costumes, props, and copies of real objects can be used in imaginative play.