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Amazon USA Associate Most children have been said to play with
whatever they can find, such as sticks and rocks. Toys and games
have been unearthed from the sites of ancient civilizations.
They have been written about in some of the oldest literature.
Toys excavated from the Indus valley civilization (3010–1500
BCE) include small carts, whistles shaped like birds, and toy
monkeys which could slide down a string.
The earliest toys are made from materials found in nature, such
as rocks, sticks, and clay. Thousands of years ago, Egyptian
children played with dolls that had wigs and movable limbs which
were made from stone, pottery, and wood.[4] In Ancient Greece
and Ancient Rome, children played with dolls made of wax or
terracotta, sticks, bows and arrows, and yo-yos. When Greek
children, especially girls, came of age it was customary for
them to sacrifice the toys of their childhood to the gods. On
the eve of their wedding, young girls around fourteen would
offer their dolls in a temple as a rite of passage into
adulthood. The oldest known mechanical puzzle also comes from
Greece and appeared in the 3rd century BCE. The game consisted
of a square divided into 14 parts, and the aim was to create
different shapes from these pieces. In Iran "puzzle-locks" were
made as early as the 17th century
A toy is an item that is used in play, especially one
designed for such use. Playing with toys can be an enjoyable
means of training young children for life in society. Different
materials like wood, clay, paper, and plastic are used to make
toys. Many items are designed to serve as toys, but goods
produced for other purposes can also be used. For instance, a
small child may fold an ordinary piece of paper into an airplane
shape and "fly it". Newer forms of toys include interactive
digital entertainment. Some toys are produced primarily as
collectors' items and are intended for display only.
The origin of toys is prehistoric; dolls representing infants,
animals, and soldiers, as well as representations of tools used
by adults are readily found at archaeological sites. The origin
of the word "toy" is unknown, but it is believed that it was
first used in the 14th century. Toys are mainly made for
children. The oldest known doll toy is thought to be 4,000 years
old.
Playing with toys is considered to be important when it comes to
growing up and learning about the world around us. Younger
children use toys to discover their identity, help their bodies
grow strong, learn cause and effect, explore relationships, and
practice skills they will need as adults. Adults on occasion use
toys to form and strengthen social bonds, teach, help in
therapy, and to remember and reinforce lessons from their youth.
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