What kinds of toys did you have when you were a child?
By dragon54u
@dragon54u (31634)
United States
October 26, 2009 3:15pm CST
My family never had much money so we were very creative in using materials around the house to play with. For instance, my mother would make a cradle for a doll out of a round box that used to contain oatmeal. We made cars out of small boxes, coloring in the features and using scissors to cut doors that would open and close. We were really thrilled when a neighbor or someone got a large appliance because that meant we had a really cool "cave" to play in!
We would take blankets and drape them from furniture to make tents so we could "camp" and use milk cartons for building blocks. My dad partially filled them with sand and sealed them so it was easier to keep them in place. He and my mom would draw pictures that we could color and we would cut models from catalogs and glue them to cardboard for paper dolls, using the pictures of clothing to dress them. We would make sock puppets and put on puppet shows, too.
What toys did you have as a child? Which ones were your favorites?
2 people like this
13 responses
@radiance27 (687)
•
27 Oct 09
Since I am a girl, I mostly had girly toys. I had Barbie dolls and Ansherina dolls. I used to play with them, given give them real food. It was very stupid of me to give my doll a soup because the next day, my doll's mouth was ruined & eaten by ants. I also had small teacups & sets wherein I play with them with my neighbors.
@dragon54u (31634)
• United States
27 Oct 09
We all make mistakes like feeding soup to dolls--that's what childhood is for!
I always wanted a tea set but had to content myself with playing with my friends' sets. Mom and I used to have tea parties using a few nice pieces of china that she had.
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@gogos11 (67)
• Bosnia And Herzegovina
27 Oct 09
i had lot of toys, but my favourite toys of all times was Lego System, its an very creative game, and develops your brain, i had lots of lego about 2 big boxes, i have my lego system saved, and offcorse the lego plans..my favourite lego complete is the electronic train...Nowi have 20 years, and when i remember the days when i played with lego, something around my hart i war
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@dragon54u (31634)
• United States
28 Oct 09
I enjoyed playing with Legos with my own children but we didn't have them when I was young. We had Lincoln Logs and Tinker Toys and my grandparents had some wonderful wooden bricks that my brother and I built with.
I'm so glad you have good memories that warm your heart!
@silverglint (2000)
• Philippines
29 Oct 09
I think that children are not really particular on whether their toys are expensive or not. I can't really remember the toys that we played with, all I remember that my female siblings and I each have a barbie doll. What we enjoyed the most, back then, was the also the carton boxes that we use as houses or stores and the indoor baseball games we play. We would run around our living room, climbing the sofa, tables, small cabinets. We only play with our barbie dolls when my grandmother is with us, she doesn't like us playing noisy games. hehe![](/Content/images/emotes/lol.gif)
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@gingerale (225)
• Philippines
27 Oct 09
HI! Your topic caught my attention and I was drawn to it. Indeed, it reminds me of my childhood and money was really hard to come by in the late 70s. My younger sister and cousins used to cut out paper dolls out of card boards and use pictures in magazines of clothing to dress them. I never realized that this thing was global until now (lol). Like you we drape blankets over small tables and we play bahay-bahayan (play-house) under them. We use softdrink bottle caps and candy wrappers for our play money and use various shapes of leaves and different seeds for our food. We also collect various shapes of pebbles and stones for play money or jewelry. One time our grandma came from a public market in the city and she bought with her tiny pots, frying pans and a stove, which were made of clay, we were so happy we could not believe our eyes to see such pretty little things she gave us. She said she bought it for us so we could practice a little bit of cooking. My, my those were the days.
1 person likes this
@gingerale (225)
• Philippines
27 Oct 09
sorry there's a typo there: she 'brought' with her
1 person likes this
@dragon54u (31634)
• United States
27 Oct 09
Those little cooking pots and stove would have delighted me! I had friends with things like that, I thought they were rich!
We also used to use leaves on the playground at school to outline a house and play like families.
You and I were so blessed to have to use our imaginations and creativity!
@msfrancisco9369 (10002)
• Boston, Massachusetts
27 Oct 09
I enjoyed toy dolls because my godmother and my aunt used to give dolls as a gift for my birthday and as a christmas gift. so i had a doll collection--rag dolls, walking and talking dolls. For a variation, me and my playmates did a cooking session using tin cans as our casserole and pans. We used flowers and leaves as our vegetables and other indigenous materials in our backyard as our viands.
I enjoyed cooking and playing dolls as little moms with my playmates. I missed those childhood days of mine-- life is so simple.
@dragon54u (31634)
• United States
27 Oct 09
I miss my childhood, too, but I had a second chance at it with my two sons. I'd play with them for hours, we'd play with cars and blocks and dig in the sand.
@msfrancisco9369 (10002)
• Boston, Massachusetts
27 Oct 09
Good that you have sons to continue playing you boy-days hobby and plays. i have two sons and no room for me to play dolls with them but i am starting to introduce cooking with them.
@stee09 (101)
• Ireland
27 Oct 09
Hey dragon,
When I was younger most of the time I used to play with my Power Rangers action figures. Lol I know it's kind of weird but I used to think that at night when I was asleep they would all come alive and fight ha. I think my second favourite toy as a kid would have been my BMX I used to love cycling around for ages not a worry in the world. Thinking back now to my childhood days it really makes you think how simple life was back then ha thinking toys were alive ha good thing none of my friends no I'd never hear the end of it. Good post :)
@dragon54u (31634)
• United States
27 Oct 09
My kids were crazy about the Power Rangers when they were little. I really enjoyed the show, too. ![](/Content/images/emotes/happy.gif)
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@eaforeman6 (8979)
• United States
27 Oct 09
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@dragon54u (31634)
• United States
27 Oct 09
Except for the toys, that's similar to my own childhood. We played baseball, climbed trees, had mud fights and all the other fun stuff kids do! It was great, wasn't it? I enjoyed playing with my kids and teaching them the things I used to do.
@angemac23 (2003)
• Canada
27 Oct 09
I know one thing is for sure, the toys I had were nothing like the toys they have today...lol! Barbie dolls were popular and my little pony and things like that. I think I had a pogo ball and a bicycle. None of these high tech gadgets they have today! And I guarantee the generations before the kids today had the most fun because we actually went outside, we were adventurous and interacted with other kids!
@dragon54u (31634)
• United States
27 Oct 09
Yes, it was a great time to be a child! I don't know what a pogo ball is but a friend of mine had a pogo stick and it was a lot of fun!
We'd be out playing all day, go home to eat then play till the street lights came on. ![](/Content/images/emotes/happy.gif)
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@elitess (5070)
• Ipswich, England
26 Oct 09
Hi there dragon.
I used to have toy cars, that i used to play with on the carpet, and me and my brother pretended that the design of the thing was a network of roads. We also used to build rail tracks during Christmas with our toy train, that belonged to our dad when he was young. The toy train used to be electrical, but in it;s younger years...
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@dragon54u (31634)
• United States
27 Oct 09
How are you?! I haven't seen you around here for ages!! I hope you're well and your studies are interesting.
I loved playing with cars with my boys when they were young. We especially loved the micro cars that were very tiny. We'd build barricades and buildings and make a little city. My adult sons remember those days fondly and so do I.
@lilei99168 (2)
• China
27 Oct 09
In fact, I have a similar childrenhood as you !
1 person likes this
@dragon54u (31634)
• United States
27 Oct 09
I think there are many blessings in not having money to spare. Our lives are richer now because we had very little as children and we are more appreciative.
@sender621 (14894)
• United States
27 Oct 09
I had toys in abundance as a child. I loved board games and had so much fun playing them. My favorite toy had to be dolls. Barbie dolls were my ultimate joy. I had several Barbies and her accedssories. Barbie provided hours and years of fun!
@dragon54u (31634)
• United States
27 Oct 09
I was never one to play with dolls, although I had a lot of them. I would rather play soldiers with my brother than dress and play with dolls. We used my dolls as enemy soldiers! ![](/Content/images/emotes/lol.gif)
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@dragon54u (31634)
• United States
27 Oct 09
I was always jealous of my brother's friends who had GI Joe dolls, I really enjoyed that toy!
@megganjoy26 (1)
•
27 Oct 09
I had many toys growing up, I was blessed with grandparents who spoiled me and as I was the only grandchild it got out of hand at times. I remember my favorite toys being Strawberry Shortcake figurines, Smurf figurines, Barbies, and my little ponies. I used to make furniture out of styrofoam packaging and cardboard. I could be quite creative when I wanted something such as a sofa for my dolls and I didn't have one. My favorite was a styrofoam pool i made for my Barbies while we were on vacation one time. My parent's had bought something and it came with a huge piece of styrofoam. My mom helped me cut it and my barbies had a blast swimming. I so miss being a kid and not having the responsibilities of being and adult.
1 person likes this
@dragon54u (31634)
• United States
27 Oct 09
It's so much fun to be creative, isn't it? I miss being a child, too, but got to have a second childhood with my two boys which are now adults. We'd play with cars, trucks, fire engines, bricks, etc. So I got to have two childhoods!
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