Kindergarten Movement

In the early 1980s, toy and entertainment companies Those Characters From Cleveland, American Greetings, and Kenner came together to break into the plush toy market with a new kind of teddy bear. Plush teddy bears had existed for at least a century—they needed a unique, eye-catching product to grab the attention of kids and parents. Ralph Schaeffer, co-president of Those Characters From Cleveland, stumbled upon a solution. Freelance illustrator Dave Poulter had submitted sketches of rainbows and hearts for a […]

Continue Reading about Care Bears Bring Cheer to the National Toy Hall of Fame Published on:
November 13, 2026

My childhood Pokémon cards are still sitting in a red tacklebox at my mom’s house. Like many kids my age, I lovingly organized my cards and showed all my favorites off to my very patient grandparents. I never quite grasped the game, but the cards were a delight to collect. I’d even break tornado warning protocol to run upstairs for my cards before rushing down to the basement. Today, I can’t believe that I get to herald the Pokémon Trading […]

Continue Reading about The Pokémon TCG Catches a Place in the National Toy Hall of Fame Published on:
November 6, 2026

While the origins of the first slide for play and recreation are debated, many scholars believe they have existed for centuries. In one prominent example from the 19th century, biologist Charles Darwin commissioned a carpenter in 1842 to install a wooden slide over a section of staircase in his Down House in the English countryside. I love to imagine the chaos that ensued as his 10 children took turns sliding down and landing on a floor cushion. By the 1900s, […]

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November 6, 2026

What makes a puzzle difficult? For a lot of folks, their gut response to this question would be the more pieces a puzzle has, the more difficult it is. As children we work our way up, 24 pieces, 100-300 pieces, 500-750 pieces, and on up to 2,000+ pieces for the “serious” puzzlers. There is, however, a certain puzzle of only 340 pieces that has gained notoriety to puzzle hobbyists and collectors —Convergence
In 1964, Springbok Editions sold a puzzle billed as […]

Continue Reading about The World’s Most Difficult Jigsaw Puzzle Published on:
October 30, 2026

By Adam Nedeff, researcher for the National Archives of Game Show History
On September 21, host Drew Carey and model Rachel Reynolds kicked off The Price is Right by saying “Happy 55!” This year marks the 55th year of The Price is Right on CBS. In the late 1990s, when the show had been on the air for a quarter of a century and was already the longest-running game show in U.S. history, then-host Bob Barker observed that the show […]

Continue Reading about The (New) Price is Right Turns 55 Published on:
October 30, 2026

By Marli Simmons, Collections and Conservation Intern, 2026
Interning for The Strong’s Collections and Conservation team has allowed me to see and interact with thousands of the museum’s collections items. Many objects are exactly as you’d expect, lighthearted games, toys, and dolls. But some artifacts are a little more bizarre, eccentric, and even scary. I came to discover that many of these more unconventional objects were a part of the museum’s founding collection. Securing a charter for a “museum of fascination” […]

Continue Reading about Three Eerie Objects from the Museum’s Founding Collection  Published on:
October 23, 2026

By Jena Black, G2 Site Coordinator
At The Strong National Museum of Play, we believe play is the language that connects generations. Through play, children learn, friendships grow, and communities become stronger.
The Strong’s Generation Two (“G2”) is an intergenerational volunteer program that pairs adult volunteers with kindergarten and first-grade students throughout the school year. Through weekly, one-on-one play sessions, these partnerships grow into genuine friendships that enrich the lives of both the students and their volunteer “play buddies.” Each week, along […]

Continue Reading about G2: Where Play Connects Generations Published on:
October 23, 2026

About 10 years ago, I came across an article about John William Patrick Ryan, “Jack,” an eccentric, Yale-educated electrical engineer. He hosted dinner parties in a tree house with a crystal chandelier; drove a 1935 Reo fire engine around Bel Air, California; designed Cold War missiles; and married five times, including once to Zsa Zsa Gabor. Like many of the women Ryan charmed in his lifetime, I was intrigued by this brilliant, playful, and complicated person. Ryan began work with […]

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October 2, 2026

By Adam Nedeff, researcher for the National Archives of Game Show History
60 years ago, this month—October 17, 1966, to be precise—game show fans first laid eyes upon the largest tic-tac-toe grid ever constructed, an 18’ by 18’ arrangement of boxes and lights from which some of the funniest gags in game show history would emit. The Hollywood Squares with Peter Marshall debuted on NBC.
Creators Merrill Heatter and Bob Quigley had been dabbling with variations on an idea in recent years; […]

Continue Reading about Hollywood Squares Turns 60 Published on:
September 30, 2026