Children throughout history have been playing with simple games and toys. The games and toys children played with in the 1800's and later may not have had battery power or high tech plastic colors; but kids still had fun playing with them.

Small friends were the best friends of girls in the past. Wooden dolls, papier-maché dolls, cloth dolls, paper dolls, and printed dolls are some of the types of dolls that children could make and play with many years ago.

Favorite pastimes are games that many children would play in their free time. Some examples of these games are puzzles, building blocks, marble games, card games, and action books.

Toys on-the-move are toys that move and that may be wound-up for an action effect. Some on-the-move toys include: toy boats, horse-drawn vehicles, toy trains, fire fighting equipment, cars and trucks, and flying machines.

From the beginning of mankind, children as well as adults from all around the world have had their share of toys. After interviewing many adults, we have discovered games that they made-up as children and were very entertaining in their time. Today these games may be considered entertaining games to play even today. One game that was mentioned was "kick the wicky." In this game you have a 12 inch stick leaning against the curb and someone kicks it; you get points if you catch it.

Many people said that hide-and-go-seek and tag were very popular games of their youth. Besides these games, basketball, baseball, and football were very popular outdoor team sports.

Other toys that were very popular in the 1900's for many children were roller skates (with metal wheels and an adjustable bar), bikes, scooters, cards, dolls, and train sets. Children in the past also made some of their toys out of recycled items or they would add things to what they already had. One example of this would be a scooter. They would get a piece of lumber and attach wheels from their roller skates; then they would attach an old crate and a handle. Materials for some toys were not available at certain times. During the Depression and World War II many materials to make toys were scarce. Steel and rubber weren't used for toys for four years during WWII.