List of Traditional Children’s Toys

With so many high tech toys on the market today, we often forget to cut through the hype and focus on traditional children’s toys that are so key for developing young minds.  It is easy for parents to buy the latest toy being hyped by advertisers on kid’s television channels.  We all do this sometimes, but if you spend time to think back to some of the favorite toys you had as a child, you’ll come up with a wealth of excellent gift ideas for the children in your life (and even for grown-ups who are kids at heart).

With the holidays fast approaching, I put together my top list of traditional children’s toys.  This list should help give you ideas for all the gift giving times ahead, as well as bring back some wonderful childhood memories.

Top List of Traditional Children’s Toys :

#1) Whizzer – fun for children and a surprisingly satisfying workout for the desk bound.  This classic toy features a wooden disk mounted on a nylon rope and looped through two wooden handles.  The disk is wound tight by holding on to the handles and rotating the disk.  Once it is fully wound you simply pull the handles apart and the disk rotates at high speed.  Once fully unwound the disk will then continue to spin and rewind the rope, setting it up again to be pulled apart.  This toy is fun and a great workout for your arms!

#2) Yo-Yo – this classic and addictive toy consists of a well balanced wooden disk or ball with a twisted string wound around the disk and looped around your finger.  The yo-yo is then dropped or thrown and when it unwinds near to the end it is pulled back toward the hand where it winds itself up again.  With practice, many incredible tricks can be performed with a yo-yo  while providing a way to burn some energy.

#3) Tiddlywinks – is an indoor game played with sets of small discs called “winks” lying on a surface, usually a flat mat. Players use a larger disc called a “squidger” to pop a wink into flight by pressing down on one side of the wink. The objective of the game is to cause the winks to land either on top of opponents’ winks, or ultimately inside a pot or cup.

#4) Playing Cards – playing cards provide for an infinite number of games to be played.  There are games for the younger set,  like Concentration, Go Fish, and Crazy 8s, to more challenging games like Poker, Rummy or Bridge.  Playing cards also make a great toy for the budding magician as there are tons of magic tricks that can be performed with a deck of cards.  Cards are easy to take with you on road trips or for playing games when stuck in a hotel room or hospital.

#5) Kite – from the beginning of time man has been fascinated with things that fly.  What better way to stir a young imagination interested in flight than by letting them fly a kite?  Flying a kite takes practice and skill while also helping to provide exercise and burn calories while running around launching it into the air and chasing it when it crashes.  Just be sure to keep your kite away from trees and electrical wires!

I hope you found some good ideas from this top list of traditional children’s toys.  If the list brings back some memories for you, let me know by leaving a comment on this blog entry.