Some classic toys from your own childhood make great gifts for today’s kids. They’re also a good excuse for you to play with them again.
So what makes a particular toy stand the test of time? Toys are said to have high ‘play value’ when:
- they can be used in more than one way.
- they allow children to be in charge of the play (no adult necessary).
- they appeal to more than one age group.
- they are not linked to the current popular video game or screen character.
- they are gender neutral.
So blast to the past with these classic toys that will give your children their own treasured memories!
1. Rubik’s Cube: Most of us have tried to unravel the mystery of Rubik’s cube at some point. Note: the modern ones are not made of stickers (for those of us…I mean you…who liked to cheat).
2. Etch-A-Sketch: We all remember the fun and frustration of trying to draw something with two knobs and then erasing our less-than-perfect picture with a few shakes of the Etch A Sketch.
3. Mr. PotatoHead: Mr. PotatoHead has been around since 1952! He was born as a collection of features and accessories that children stuck to real potatoes. Changes over the years include a plastic body, a wedding with Mrs. Potato Head, and countless pop culture versions.
4. Classic Play-Doh: Open a can of Play-Doh and the smell will take you back to your childhood immediately. Millions of kids around the world have created Play-Doh food, cut Play-Doh hair and squished Play-Doh under their fingers just because they can. Off-white was the only color available when this former wallpaper cleaner was turned into a toy in 1956.
5. Lincoln Logs: Created by John Lloyd Wright, son of architect Frank Lloyd Wright, in 1916. Why Lincoln Logs are still cool: there’s no right or wrong way to build with Lincoln Logs, which is why kids continue to play with them.
6. LiteBrite: Kids have been poking colored pegs into a backlit black piece of paper since 1967. Once you got over the awe of spelling your name in various colors across the screen, you moved on to the color by number style to create LiteBrite masterpieces. And who can forget taking the black page off to be blinded by the Lite Brite’s 25-watt light bulb when you were finished?
7. Simon: Most people will remember this cassic game of memorizing colors and repeating the sequence. The familiar sounds will bring you back to simpler times…when your only frustrations involved waiting for the aerial to rotate to just the right spot for a clear(er) tv picture.
8. Lego: The ultimate open-ended toy! Children have been building with Lego bricks since the ‘60s. Did you know that six pieces of 2×4 bricks can be combined in 915,103,765 ways? And Lego bricks from 1960s still interlock with those made today. Awesome!
Which one is your favourite? Do you have one to add to the list?
~D.
