The Toys Portal
A toy or plaything is an object that is used primarily to provide entertainment. Simple examples include toy blocks, board games, and dolls. Toys are often designed for use by children, although many are designed specifically for adults and pets. Toys can provide utilitarian benefits, including physical exercise, cultural awareness, or academic education. Additionally, utilitarian objects, especially those which are no longer needed for their original purpose, can be used as toys. Examples include children building a fort with empty cereal boxes and tissue paper spools, or a toddler playing with a broken TV remote control. The term "toy" can also be used to refer to utilitarian objects purchased for enjoyment rather than need, or for expensive necessities for which a large fraction of the cost represents its ability to provide enjoyment to the owner, such as luxury cars, high-end motorcycles, gaming computers, and flagship smartphones.
Playing with toys can be an enjoyable way of training young children for life experiences. Different materials like wood, clay, paper, and plastic are used to make toys. Newer forms of toys include interactive digital entertainment and smart toys. Some toys are produced primarily as collectors' items and are intended for display only. (Full article...)
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Theresa Caplan (1913–2010) was an American twentieth-century scholar of early childhood development and a collector of worldwide toys. Working with her husband Frank, she wrote multiple acclaimed books and built a massive collection of toys that is now part of a significant museum.
Born on 6 June 1913, Caplan collaborated with her husband in authoring multiple books that studied the ways in which children played, whether alone or individually, and at different ages; for example, one of their books, The First Twelve Months of Life, concentrated on infants but included observations of children two years old and comparisons with adult trade unions. (Full article...)General images -
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A puzzle of dexterity, a type of mechanical puzzle (from List of wooden toys) -
A bead maze (from List of wooden toys) -
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Rows of pink girls' toys in a Canadian store, 2011 (from Girls' toys and games) -
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Detail from Children's Games by Pieter Bruegel the Elder (1560), showing Flemish girls playing popular games of the era (from Girls' toys and games) -
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1970s No. 2 Meccano set (from Construction set) -
A bauernroulette game (from List of wooden toys) -
Burr puzzles (from List of wooden toys) -
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Constri (from Construction set) -
A matryoshka doll taken apart (from List of wooden toys) -
Girls assembling a puzzle (from Girls' toys and games) -
Interlocking Disks enable the construction of high-symmetry models such as that of C
60 Fullerene. (from Construction set) -
Paintings of girl with dolls (from Girls' toys and games) -
Girls playing in a park in the Netherlands (from Girls' toys and games) -
A ball-in-a-maze puzzle (from List of wooden toys) -
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Jeujura wooden construction set (Swiss chalet) (from Construction set) -
A girl in Udaipur playing "Jungle Child" (from Girls' toys and games) -
Tartu Toy Museum (from Toy museum) -
An infant boy playing with a toy dump truck at the beach. (from Boys' toys and games) -
Toy Museum - http://www.raheelpatel.com/toymuseum.html. (from Toy museum) -
Various spinning tops (from List of wooden toys) -
Lego bricks are a prominent example of a construction set (from Construction set) -
Girls in Barbie Fashion Show in Children's Museum of Indianapolis (from Girls' toys and games) -
A gee-haw whammy diddle in use (from List of wooden toys) -
Hello Kitty Dreamcast set, 2009 (from Girls' toys and games)
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A puzzle is a problem or enigma that tests the ingenuity of the solver. In a basic puzzle, one is intended to put together pieces in a logical way in order to come up with the desired solution. Puzzles are often contrived as a form of entertainment, but they can also stem from serious mathematical or logistical problems — in such cases, their successful resolution can be a significant contribution to mathematical research.
Did you know...
- ... that the Roman emperors Augustus and Claudius may have had an affinity for gambling?
- ... that the case Lewis Galoob Toys, Inc. v. Nintendo of America, Inc. was considered essential to the future of video game modding in the United States in 1992?
- ... that Woody from Toy Story was originally written as a ventriloquist's dummy and the main villain of the film?
- ... that the design for the water playground at Chelsea Waterside Park was criticized because local residents thought that the sprinklers resembled sex toys?
- ... that Elizabeth II's childhood toys at 145 Piccadilly included 30 toy horses and a farm set collected from Woolworths?
- ... that development economist John Toye said free-market proponents "first turn liberty against equality and fraternity, then overthrow liberty itself"?
- ...that antique china dolls were predominantly made in Germany in the 1800s?
- ...that the first themed Lego Modular Houses set, released in April 2007, was designed for people aged 16 and older and meant to be "toys for adults"?
- ...that Tuttuki Bako players insert their finger 60 mm (2.4 in) into an electronic device to render images of that finger on an LCD screen?
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Types: • Doll • Vehicle • Puzzle • Teddy bear
Industry: • American Specialty Toy Retailing Association • Birmingham toy industry • International Union of Allied Novelty and Production Workers • Kiddicraft • Play value • Toy safety • Toy store • Toyetic • Wooden toymaking in the Ore Mountains
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