Children's toys - Then and now

Children's toys through the centuries

Everybody thinks back with nostalgia about the wooden toy box, kids wooden kitchen, wooden toy box, houten kinderspeelgoed and other toys of childhood, but how far does the history of children's toys really go back?

It was always a practice to give children toys. Archaeologists have found much useful information by investigating ancient graves of children. Besides that, the study of ancient texts and images (such as works of art) provides many insights. If a child was buried often the favorite toys were sent along. Examples of archaeological finds are tolls and balls and several dolls. In general, the puppet figure is that of a woman. The idea was that a child would continue to live as a ghost and spirits also played.

Children in ancient times to the age that was considered suitable for marriage (sometimes as young as 12 to 13) were considered to show a sign of maturity by sacrificing their toys.
Today, the manufacture of toys is a whole industrial process, but in antiquity there were obviously only handmade toys and made with materials that were available.

So it was a good use in African nations and Inuit cultures to produce dolls from bone and then to spice them up with beads and even human hair. A little more obvious choice for us is that wood that has been widely used, so there are wooden dolls found dated from 2000 BC which were handmade in Egypt. In addition to wood also dolls were found made of different materials such as corn cobs, straw, wool and pottery.

From about 700 BC, it was already in use puppets to produce materials such as wood and then with clothes to dress according to the fashion of the time. Besides dolls, archaeologists have also discovered other toys like children's furniture. And then there are the toys that you need nothing for, playing games. Playing games is something that kids of all ages have done and will continue to do.

Source: Free Articles from ArticlesFactory.com

ABOUT THE AUTHOR