Inducted Year: 2008
Crying, cooing, sleeping, eating, drinking, and wetting. What aspiring mom (or dad) doesn’t want a lifelike baby doll with all those features? But before the first baby doll appeared in the mid-1800s, girls were limited to companion-style dolls or elaborate fashion dolls—neither suited to cradling or cuddling. Unlike companion dolls, with which children play tea party and dress-up, baby dolls have a specific function in imaginative play. Children primarily treat baby dolls as they would infants—they are toted […]
Skateboard
Inducted Year: 2008
When it comes to the development of skateboarding, you could say that a calm sea is the mother of invention. Some historians report the first skateboarders were surfers who fitted wheels to boards and mimicked their surfing maneuvers. Skateboarding became something to do when the surf wasn’t up. But those first boards were clumsy, and the skater had very little control over his ride. The first wave of enthusiasts seemed not to notice. Millions of kids took to […]
Stick
Inducted Year: 2008
The stick may be the world’s oldest toy. Animals play with sticks, and we use them to play fetch with our dogs. Children find sticks an endless source of make-believe fun. Sticks can turn into swords, magic wands, majorette batons, fishing poles, and light sabers. When children pretend with sticks, they cultivate their creativity and develop their imaginations. They explore as they search outdoors for just the right one. Children build with sticks, bat balls with them, and […]
