2.1 1900
2.1 Time for play
Time for play 1910
1920
1930
1940
1902 first teddy bear made
1950
1960
1970
1958 Lego introduced
Ever since the Stone Age, a long, long time ago, children have been given toys to play with. And many of them would be familiar to us today. The first doll in Britain, for example, was discovered at Stonehenge, and is over 2000 years old!
A
B
1980
1990
1983 first games console introduced
C
Three model trains
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Questions we might ask about old toys
Changing, and staying the same
Old toys can tell us a great deal about life in the past. Look carefully at these three pictures of model trains. What is each one made from? Which ones are meant for young children to play with, and which ones are for older children? Which is the oldest? Which is the newest? How can you tell? How do they work?
In some ways toys have stayed the same – each of these is a toy train – but they have also changed. New toys have come along – Lego was first sold in 1958, and Play-Doh in 1956. The first Nintendo game console was in 1983; and the Wii was first sold in 2006.
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