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Toy Story
A toy is an object meant to be played with. Toys are usually associated with children and pets, but it is not unusual for adult humans and some non-domesticated animals to play with toys. more...
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Building Toys
Classic Toys
Educational
Electronic, Battery, Wind-Up
Model RR, Trains
Models, Kits
Outdoor Toys, Structures
Pretend Play, Preschool
Puzzles
Radio Control
Robots, Monsters, Space Toys
Stuffed Animals
TV, Movie, Character Toys
Alf
Arthur
Barney
Batman
Bear in the Big Blue House
BeyBlade
Big Comfy Couch
Blues Clues
Bob the Builder
Caillou
California Raisins
Clifford the Big Red Dog
Curious George
Digimon
Disney
101 Dalmatians
Beauty & the Beast
Bug's Life
Cars
Chick Hicks
Doc Hudson
Flo
Guido
Lightning McQueen
Luigi
Mack
Mater
Other
Ramone
Red
Sally
Sarge
Sets
Sheriff
The King
Tractor
Chicken Little
Cinderella
Disney Princesses
Donald Duck
Finding Nemo
Goofy
Incredibles
Kim Possible
Lilo & Stitch
Lion King
Little Mermaid
Lizzie McGuire
Mickey
Clothing & Accessories
Figures
Home Décor
Other
Toys & Games
Minnie
Monsters Inc.
Nightmare Before Christmas
Clothing & Accessories
Figures
Home Décor
Other
Plush Dolls
Other
Pirates of the Caribbean
Pluto
Shark Tale
Snow White
Tinker Bell, Peter Pan
Toy Story
Clothing & Accessories
Dolls
Figures
Home Décor
Other
Dora the Explorer
Dr. Seuss
Dragon Tales
DragonBall Z
Dukes of Hazzard
ET Extra Terrestrial
Fairly Odd Parents
Family Guy
Flintstones
Futurama
Garfield
Gumby
Hamtaro
Harry Potter
Hello Kitty
Howdy Doody
Invader Zim
Jay Jay the Jet Plane
Jimmy Neutron
Lamb Chop, Shari Lewis
Land Before Time
Lost in Space
Maisy
Munsters
Muppets, Sesame Street
My Little Pony
My Melody, Miffy
Noddy
Other
Peanuts Gang
Pee-Wee Herman
Pokemon
Popeye
Popples
Powerpuff Girls
Rocky & Bullwinkle
Rudolph
Rugrats
Scooby-Doo
Simpsons
Smurfs
South Park
Speed Racer
Spider-Man
Spirit
SpongeBob Squarepants
Strawberry Shortcake
Teletubbies
Theodore Tugboat
Thomas the Tank Engine
Three Stooges
Veggie Tales
Warner Bros.
Wiggles
Winnie the Pooh
Toy Soldiers
Vintage, Antique Toys
Many items are manufactured to serve as toys, but items produced for other purposes can also be used as toys. A child may pick up a household item and 'fly' it around pretending that it is an airplane, or an animal might play with a pinecone by batting at it, chasing it, and throwing it up in the air. Some toys are intended primarily as Collector's items and are not to be played with.
The origin of toys is prehistoric; dolls of infants, animals, or soldiers, and miniature representations of the tools of adults are readily found at archaeological sites. The origin of the word is unknown, but it is believed to have been first used in the 14th century.
Toys and play in general are an important part of the process of learning about the world and growing up. The young use toys and play to discover their identity, help their bodies grow strong, learn cause and effect, explore relationships, and practice skills they will need as adults. Adults use toys and play to form and strengthen social bonds, teach the young, remember and reinforce lessons from their own youth, exercise their minds and bodies, practice skills they may not use every day, and decorate their living spaces. Toys are more than simple amusement, and they and the way they are used profoundly influence most aspects of life.
History
Most young mammals play, and will play with whatever they can find, turning such things as pinecones or rocks into toys. It simply makes sense then that toys have a history as old as human civilization itself. Toys and games have been unearthed from the sites of ancient civilizations. They have been written about in some of our oldest literature. Toys excavated from the Indus valley civilization (3000-1500 BCE) include small carts, whistles shaped like birds, and toy monkeys which could slide down a string.
The earliest toys were made from materials found in nature, such as rocks, sticks, and clay. Dolls are some of the oldest types of toy. Thousands of years ago, Egyptian children played with dolls with wigs and movable limbs which were made from stone, pottery, and wood. In Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome, children played with dolls made of wax or terra cotta, sticks, bows and arrows, and yo-yos. When Greek children came of age it was customary for them to sacrifice the toys of their childhood to the gods.
As technology changed and civilization progressed to what it is today, toys also changed. Whereas ancient toys were made from materials found in nature like stone, wood, and grass modern toys are often made from plastic, cloth, and synthentic materials. Ancient toys were often made by the parents and family of the children who used them, or by the children themselves, nowadays modern toys are often mass-produced and sold in stores.
Read more at Wikipedia.org
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