Cool Stuff at WotsKool!

Recently, whilst researching the experiences of children in the victorian era, I came across this interesting slide show presenting some examples of the toys that some of the more fortunate victorian kids might have enjoyed playing with: Victorian Toys. I found myself wondering ‘what are the modern equivalents?’ The Sony playstation or Nintendo Wii? I was interested to find that many of the victorian toys are alive and well and very popular even today.

The rocking horse has always been a popular toy, particularly for toddlers. This one, called the Filou Rocking Horse, is a beautifully designed example from France suitable for children aged from 1 to 3 years.

Games were as popular in Victorian days as they are today. There are many traditional games such as Ludo (an adaptation of the Indian game Pachisi) which are fun for all the family to play together.

Labyrinth is another example of a simple game of skill that would have been played by our great grandparents, if they were lucky enough. A compulsive game requiring the steel ball to be steered through a wooden maze of obstacles.

Of course many toys from Victorian times were cheap and simple. Poor families would make their own toys such as clothes peg dolls, paper windmills and spinning tops.

The Cup and Ball is a game of skill that is often associated with the Victorian era. It is as difficult today as it was then. The modern equivalent is probably something like the Sony PSP.

Really lucky children might have had a dolls house to play with. More specifically Victorian girls may have had a dolls house. Boys would have been given toy soldiers. This modern example is a beautifully crafted wooden dolls house that will be as much fun for boys as it is for girls. Intended for children of 3 years and upwards.

Of course plastics didn’t exist in Victorian days. Toys will have been made of wood, cloth, tin, clay, wax and glass. Traditional wooden toys make a pleasing change from the noisy, flashing plastic equivalents that fill the shelves of toyshops today.

London in a bag is a great example of a simple wooden building set featuring many of Londons famous buildings including Big Ben and Tower Bridge. Ideal for children aged from 3 years upwards it makes a great London souvenir or gift.

It is interesting to see that the prices for these traditional wooden toys are surprisingly low. The dolls house is available for £94.99 and the Filou Rocking Horse is available for £49.99. But you don’t have to spend even this much for a beautiful wooden toy. The all wooden Ludo set is only £7.99 and the classic Cup and Ball is £2.99. A great stocking filler.

There is some great stuff out there for kids these days. I’ve just been looking at some outdoor play equipment in the form of a climbing frame and treehouse for our little ankle biter. I daresay I’ll be playing with it more thay he does.

I was prompted to look at some garden toys and equipment by a teacher friend who told my partner and I that many kids these days are growing into accident prone adults as they have not had the opportunity to fully develop their physical skills through adventurous outdoor play. How times have changed!

I grew up at a time when very few people on my estate had a television set. We would play football in the road as there were so few cars we were rarely interrupted. We didn’t have any fancy outdoor toys and would occasionally visit the local council run park for a go on the seesaw and swings. What’s more, we were allowed to go to the park unsupervised from a very early age. I can recall taking my younger brother to the park when I was aged about 6 years old!

Kids today have different influences and some quite considerable pressures from their schools, their peers and the media. They are far more likely to become addicted to their gameboys or nintendos and their parents might not allow them to go anywhere unsupervised until they become teenagers. It is therefore not surprising that they are not getting the opportunity to develop their physical skills and confidence.

I used to love my old wooden building blocks, my wooden tricycle and my little carpenters woodworking set. These are the toys from my early childhood that I remember. I never had computer games, TVs, playstations or Wiis ‘cos they didn’t exist in those days. Instead we used to play happily for hours, using our imaginations, creating make-believe worlds from a few cardboard boxes, a sheet and maybe a couple of old pop guns.

Are children today adequately stimulated by toys which are primarily entertainment devices? Do these toys provide the stimulus and encourage the imagination in the ways that older, traditional toys did?

If you need to buy toys for your children, or as gifts for relatives or friends, I heartily recommend that you consider purchasing some traditional wooden toys such as a useful and useable junior carpentry set, or maybe a candyfloss cottage as a first dolls house. If you are looking for something for the very young child then what about the shapesorter drum or the sorting house. Both of these learning toys will provide plenty of creative and challenging stimulation for the younger child. They encourage the development of psychomotor skills, manual dexterity, shape and colour recognition and are great fun! And why not go way back in time and buy a traditional bagatelle, lots of fun for the whole family, and you don’t have to plug it in.

Traditional wooden toys shouldn’t be overlooked in favour of expensive, modern electronic devices that offer minimal creative stimulation and don’t necessarily encourage interactive, imaginative play.