INTRODUCTION T oys play an important part in the lives of children. They are vehicles for the imagination of children, as well as tools with which to instruct them about the world in which they live. Unfortunately , too many of the toys that are available to children today do not encourage them to discover or invent things for themselves. Historically , this has not always been the case. Many of the toys that were popular during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries required the imagination and inventiveness of the child.

The His torian’ s Toy-box: Child ren’ s Toys from the Pa st You Can Make Yourself is

about these toys and how to make them. Children have always made toys for themselves. In doing so, they have been provided the opportunity to penetrate and understand the physical environment in which they live. As the Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget has explained, “The essentia l functions of intelligence consist in understandi ng and inventing, in other words in building up structure s by structuring reality.” Often the most exciting toys for the child are those that ar e based upon a scientific pri nciple. A spinning top demonstrates the idea of centrifugal force, and a picture flip-book demonstrates the phenomenon of the persistence of vision, which makes possi ble motion-picture f ilms. A number of the toys included in

The His tori an’ s T oy box

will pro bab ly be fam ilia r to the rea der ; oth ers wil l be tot ally new . Non e of the m is ori gin al to thi s era; ins tead the y rep rese nt toys that were popular in Europe and America during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The toys included in

The Hi storian ’ s Toy box

are intended for a wide age range. Ideally , almost all children will find toys included in the book that are both interesting to them and relatively easy to make. The simplest toys ca n easily be made by a six- or seven-year-old child. Many will be of interest to children who are much older. Some of the scientific toys, for example, may be of inter est to adolesce nts and adults. Signific antly, all of the toys included in the book provide the opportunity for teachers and parents to work together with children in the process of creation and invention. All of the toys included in

The His toria n’ s Toy box

can be made with simple materi als found in most homes and schools. Cardboard, scissors, tape, soda straws, string, scrap wood, paper , and simple tools are all that are needed to make most of the toys. The book can be used in a number of ways, depending upon the interests of the reader. Children can simply read about the toys and their history or make them for themselves. They can choose to make only those toys that are of particular interest to them, or they can progress systematically through all of the examples included in the book . Likew ise, the book may be used by teach ers as a supp lemen t to scien tific or histo rical curri cula. Ideally,

The Hi storian’s T oy box