Do you like to play with toys?

If you said yes what is your favourite toy?

Is that the one you think you would keep forever?

I have kept two toys from when I was little, one of them is a knitted rabbit.

Do you have any knitted toys? They were common in the past and a lot of people still love them today.

This person is knitting a toy using wool and knitting needles. Can you knit? Maybe you know someone who can.

Many of the toys these days are made of plastic. Plastic was first used for toys about a hundred years ago, like these toys.

Doll from 1900

These modern toys are made of plastic. I wonder if you have played with any of them.

We also have electronic toys today, lots of toys contain electronic parts some can move or talk.

 Others are used to play games like a Ps4 or a Wii.

Your grandparents would not have had anything like these toys!

Now it's time to go exploring into the past!

We want to find out what sorts of toys and games children played with long ago. 

Toys in the past were made of cloth, wood, stone and animal bone.

Here are some ancient children's toys, can you tell what they are?

 Here are some medieval toys from about four to five hundred years ago. 

Toys were still made of the same things as in ancient times, but some were also made of leather or metal. 

The ball is made of leather, the dice are bone and the doll wood. 

Can you guess what the hoop is made of?

 (Turn the page to find out)

Children have been rolling hoops, often made of metal or later wood, for thousands of years since ancient Greece. 

Sometimes adults complained about children running their hoops all day and not doing anything else, or getting in the way of horse riders!

"Us boys love to roll our hoops in the streets, we push 'em with a stick."

Toys a long time ago, from the early 1900s to the late 1900s, were made of different things. 

Some toys, like dolls and building blocks, were made from wood.

 Others, like toy cars and trains, were made from metal, which is strong and shiny.

Some toys also had parts made of fabric, like teddy bears and dolls with soft bodies.

Toys from the early and mid 20th century

Later on, people started using plastic to make toys because it's easy to shape and not too expensive. 

Plastic toys include things like Lego bricks and action figures, dolls, soldiers etc.