Toys, History of

Toys are the material components of play and are generally defined as child-specific objects. Play is considered to be a universal aspect of the human experience, which means that most children past, present, and future did and will encounter toys in their lifetime. Formal toys are those designed and created by adults for children’s use. The very presence of objects created exclusively for children expresses values surrounding children and childhood in a particular time and place, the nature of those objects even more so. Toys given to children by adults can be educational, can reflect expectations of children’s technological competency in the present and in their future, and can function as mediators in social relationships between parents and children and among children in their peer ...