Top 10 Toys (1-5)

I'm taking the rest of this week off and re-posting pieces I wrote a few years ago. Yesterday I posted a piece about the importance of playing for adults. Today, I'm posting a piece I wrote in March 2007 about my favorite toys.

Since I'm a baby boomer, the toys I've chosen are mostly those that were popular in my youth. Still, I learned about a few new ones when my son was young and I've also included them. I'm sure everyone has their own list and I'd love to hear about yours. These are not rank-ordered and I'll post them in two blogs of five.

1. Raggedy Ann (and Andy). While I never played with dolls as a child, I recently bought Raggedy Ann because she makes me smile. I learned that her creator, Johnny Gruelle, was a freelance artist and illustrator, who patented the dolls and wrote the books. Read more about him at the Raggedy Ann and Andy Museum.

2. LEGOs. When my son was young, we played LEGOs for hours. I particularly liked the LEGO people. Some days I was a gas station attendant; other times I was a police person, a pirate, or a municipal worker. You can buy LEGOs from the LEGO website.

3. Marbles. When we were kids, we played fairly simple games with inexpensive marbles. I've recently begun learning more complex games like Dropsies, Potsies, and Puggy. The marbles in the graphic are from the Nebraska State Historical Society.

4. Yo-Yo's. When I was about five, I felt lucky if I could just make the yo-yo go up and down the string. These days I'm learning to "walk the dog" and go "around the world." But who was to know that there are yo-yo tournaments and a rich history of yo-yo use? You only have to go to Yo-Yos.net to learn all about it.

5. Slinky.The Slinky was invented by Richard James, a WWII engineer in the Navy, when he saw a torsion spring fall to the ground and move in this weirdly wonderful way. The Slinky in the graphic is from Live and Learn: Educational and Classic Toys.

What are your favorite toys?