TOYS ON A TIMELINE TEACHING SESSION
Years 1 and 2 – 1 hour
Jetfire, Takatoku Toys (designers), 1985 © Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Introducing chronology and comparing skills through the accessible topic of toys. Find out how
the toys the pupils’ parents and grandparents played with are different to those of today. This
session involves looking at and comparing toys from two generations, and there is plenty of
opportunity for playing with the different toys.
NATIONAL CURRICULUM
History: Develop an awareness of the past using common words or phrases relating to the
passing of time; understand some of the ways in which we find out about the past; create a
simple chronological framework of ‘now’ and ‘then’.
LESSON PLAN
Objectives
To encourage pupils to investigate and compare toys from their parents’ generation and those
from their grandparents’ generation with their own toys. To help pupils understand
chronology and to use appropriate vocabulary and adjectives to describe the artefacts.
Resources
1950s toys for playing with: (metal cars, Magnetic fishing game, Happy Families, Tiddlywinks,
wooden jigsaws)
1970s toys for playing with: (Rubik’s Cube, 3D glasses and dinosaur pictures,
Action Man and Barbie toys,Superhero Snap, Sylvanian animals and houses
Teaching activities
Introduction (15 minutes)
Grouping and comparing toys from the 1950s and 1970s with toys today.
Activity 1 (20 minutes)
Children play with five different toys or games from the 1950s.
Activity 2 (20 minutes)
Children play with five different toys or games from the 1970s.
Word List
Modern New / old
Before / after Different / similar
Background information
1950s and 1960s – toys pupils’ grandparents played with
Up until the mid-1950s, children played with the toys their parents had played with because
the Second World War meant that few new toys were being produced. By the mid-1950s
however, demand for toys was increasing and so was production. Popular products were
Matchbox and Corgi cars (which were made from die-cast metal), Scalextric cars and Airfix
aeroplanes.Toy manufacturers were starting to use plastic for their products, which was
welcomed by parents because it was much easier to clean and therefore much more hygienic
than toys had previously been. Soft toys were also becoming much softer thanks to new
synthetic materials such as Terylene.
Other popular toys from the late 1950s were Lego, Scrabble and Muffin the Mule which is one
of the earliest examples of television creating demand from children.
Schoolboy comics like Eagle and films like Godzilla also prompted huge demand for spin-off
toys and memorabilia.
In 1961 the British Standards Institute issued new safety regulations concerning toys, including
rules about sharp edges, toxic dyes, and secure fastenings. There were also debates in the
1960s about the educational value of toys and how toy-makers could encourage learning
through play.
Barbie and Sindy were two incredibly popular toys of the 1960s, and the space race which was
occurring between the US and the USSR also led to numerous science fiction inspired toys.
1970s and 1980s – toys pupils’ parents played with
During the 1970s and 1980s new types of toy were being designed as a result of changes in
popular culture, changing ideas about ethics, and new technology.
Despite the Arab-Israeli war and memories of Vietnam leading to a backlash against toy
weapons, one of the most popular toys of this period was Action Man. He overcame the
public’s dislike of war toys by being more of an adventure hero than a military character.
Other highly popular toys during this time were Lego and the Space hopper. Lego enhanced its
appeal by creating Duplo for younger children and Lego Technics for older ones.
The trend, which began in the 1950s and 1960s, of producing spin-off toys from films and
television, rocketed in popularity during the 1970s and 1980s. Big examples were Star Wars,
Superman, and Jaws. The book The Lord of the Rings also inspired a new type of game –
Dungeons and Dragons. Unlike a traditional board game, this game did not even have a board.
Players instead used their imagination to create fantasy adventures.
The biggest change to the toy market during this time was the introduction of the video game.
The first ever video game was called Pong and was based on Ping Pong. The most popular early
video game was Space Invaders. Advances in technology also produced educational toys which
could speak and spell.
Video games were not the only popular toys in the 1980s. The Big Yellow Teapot was a very
popular modern version of a dolls’ house. There were also fantasy toys which came in families
such as Care Bears and My Little Pony. These toys broke away from traditional dolls which, in
previous decades, were seen as having a role in preparing girls to be mothers.
Other iconic toys of this era were the Cabbage Patch Kids, Rubik’s Cube, He-Man and
Transformers – the last two being very popular cartoons on children’s television.
THINGS TO DO AT THE MUSEUM
Some of the objects that were looked at in the session are on display at the Museum. Can you
find them?
Look carefully at the dates on some of the labels to find some other toys from our
grandparents’ time and some from our parents’ time. Which would you really like to play with?
THINGS TO DO IN THE CLASSROOM
Ask children to bring in photos of their parents and grandparents playing with different toys.
Think about the following: Which toys from our grandparents’ time are still popular today (if
any?) Which toys from our parents’ time are still popular today? Why do the children think this
is?
Make a chart: ‘Grandparents’ time’, ‘Parents’ time’, ‘Today’ and see if the children can sort
some photos or objects into the correct column.
Extend your investigation into parents and grandparents’ time by looking at clothes, music,
domestic items etc.
Make a collage of the toys that were looked at in the session using photos, drawings and
labels. Invite some parents or grandparents in to school to look at it, and see if they recognise
or remember any of the toys.