Watch any child play outside, and they will almost inevitably pick up a stick, or a handful of rocks, and start playing. For thousands of years, kids have played with whatever is available. It seems to be hardwired into their system. Parents joke about giving their kids expensive toys, but the kids play with the empty box.

Playing with toys is fun, but it also stretches children’s imaginations, and develops brain synapses and neural pathways.

It’s also a way of imitating adult behaviour, and thus learning adult skills and actions. Little girls have played with dolls for eons. They copy the nurturing behaviours of their mothers, and when they become mothers themselves, the cuddling and rocking seems to be instinctive. Little boys in past civilizations learned to track and hunt their prey by copying their fathers. Games played with sticks and toy arrows taught them to hone their marksmanship, and slip silently through woods and grasslands.

Toys back in time

Simple wooden or rag dolls have been found in archaeological sites from many different civilizations from Egypt to Pompeii to American Indians. Kites have been known in China for thousands of years, and in India, archaeologists have unearthed clay figures on wheels. The yo-yo, considered to be a modern toy by most people, is believed to have originated in China also. The first written mention of a yo-yo is found in Greek material dating from 500 BC.

Boys and girls have probably always enjoyed drawing, although drawing at one time was most likely limited to drawing with a stick in the dust of the ground, or the nearest mud puddle. Children of both sexes have always had fun playing with coloured stones and pebbles that were the forerunners of games such as jacks. These games enhanced eye-hand coordination and quick reflexes—skills much needed by more primitive peoples when instant action could mean the difference between life and death.

Learning life skills

Children today still play with toys which can help them learn life skills, such as dolls, cars, toys and games. Crayons, markers, and pencils have replaced the stick and the dirt, and finger paints have replaced the mud puddle. Well, maybe not entirely. Kids today have more toys than ever before in history.

The big toy explosion started back in the early part of the twentieth century, when manufacturers were able to make toys quickly and cheaply for the mass market. Die-cast metal cars and trucks were popular for boys, while Raggedy Ann dolls and Madame Alexander toys appealed to girls. Crayola produced boxes of brightly-coloured crayons for kids to drool over, and teddy bears were everywhere.

As the century progressed, board games such as Scrabble, Monopoly, and Clue were invented and marketed. With the advent of technology like radio and TV, marketing aimed directly at children was set in motion. The toy market just kept on booming. Today’s kids have more toys, both old-fashioned toys like dolls and blocks, and technologically advanced toys like Leap Pad. Every department or discount store has toy departments, there are mail order catalogues, and online toy stores galore, and stores like Toys R Us are big business.

All these toys, so many choices of playthings but are kids any happier today than they were three thousand years ago?