The most common wooden toys in early childhood days are the rattles. This has been a part of every child's play toys. To our surprise these very same wooden toys has been found to be the first ever toy of mankind. Archaeologist have found wooden toys which date around thousand two hundred years before Christ. These were found in Cyprus and are now stored very safely in the famous and exotic collections of British museum. The rattles of ancient Greek has got shapes of different animals and birds such as ducks, rabbits and so on. Wooden toys were also found in the tombs of children in ancient Rome.
There were many play toys of ancient world. Archaeologists have also found the Egyptian tiger toy which is estimated to around two thousand five hundred years old. The most amusing part is that the jaw of the tiger is movable and is attached to a string from inside and joined to the tail. So every time the tail is pulled the mouth opens. This clearly shows how wooden toys have always been a part of human life throughout centuries. Another famous play toy of the present world is dolls. But even this has been a part of a very old Egyptian society.
This might be the perfect example as to how long dolls have been present as a playing companion to kids. Many wooden toys were found in the tombs of the Egyptians. Though most of them have been very primitive in nature still their very presence is the most significant. Most of these wooden toys were made out of flat boards of wood. To make a good body texture they were painted and also were worn with linen. Of course this toy was no ordinary and it was unique when compared to all others mainly due to the fact that the amount of details added to the toy was very high. It was wearing dress which is white in color. The size of the dress was small which portrayed that the wooden toys resembled small girl. Also the most wonderful part is that the hands are movable. These are the most advanced level of wooden toys which are supposed to be dated thousands of years before Christ.
These wooden toys were retrieved from the tombs of the Egyptian pharaoh's daughter. The doll also had hair which was made out of soft threads and were beaded. The long hair and the traditional way of dress design around the hips shows that these wooden toys were in feminine in gender. These wooden toys had one more important feature. That is the geometrical design over the body. This is denoted to be as the design of dress and jewellery of women. Being in a girl child tomb it can be considered that it was left in tomb as a faithful companion which had always accompanied the child. Also few believe these wooden toys were a part of the ritual of Egyptians as a part of afterlife.
1. Wood can be made into toys suitable for outdoors or indoors. Plastic toys break easily, and is no where near wooden toys when it comes to durability.
2. Miniature wooden toys make the ideal gifts for both adults and children.
3. Wooden toys are often pass the test of time with flying colors, as they never seem to fade away.
4. Wooden toys are excellent toys for pretend play. They can be reused again and again to play out different scenarios, thus providing hours of fun and entertainment.
5. Simple wooden toys engages children and motivates them to think.
6. The color, size and shape of wooden toys may vary. Young children can benefit from wooden toys greatly because toys like wooden puzzles help a child's mind to grow.
7. Wooden toys are suitable for both boys and girls. There are toys like toy cars and toy furniture that are suitable for both genders.
There are many different types of wooden toys. They include flyers, soft toys, puzzles, pedal cars, toy furniture and more. A mint condition wooden toy means that it comes with its original toy box. And these toys are often worth more. In the popular fairy tale Pinocchio, the puppet is made from wood.
For education purposes, many wooden toys such as beads, mazes and puzzles are used. This is because they don't break easily and can be used over and over again.
Plastic eventually starts to replace wood when it comes to making toys and its cheaper for mass production. Hence, many toy makers switched to plastic. But given the many advantages wooden toys have over plastic toys, wooden toys will never truly be replaced.
Toy collectors like collecting wooden toys more because they are more durable. And although plastic toys cost less than wooden toys, they often break more easily, making them less desirable to keep in a collection. Also, isn't it funny why wooden toys have managed to retain its popularity over the years? That's because there are many different types of wooden toys, and surely, some must have captured the hearts of the collectors.
So where do you start looking for wooden toys? The Internet of course! The Internet is a good place to source for wooden toys as most modern toy stores don't have them on their shelves any more. Once you manage to find the toy that you want, learn how to preserve it.
It's rather simple to preserve a wooden toy. Protect it from dirt and grind by cleaning the surface with some clean water regularly. A rust inhibitor is optional.
It is not uncommon to find wooden toys that cost much more than plastic toys. That's because crafting a sophisticated wooden toy takes years of practice and experience.
Finally, assume nothing when it comes to safety. Always read the labels to make sure that paints are child friendly before giving the wooden toy to a child.