Wooden toys: Still relevent today?

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by: Hannah Nixon
Total views: 36
Word Count: 330
Date: Thu, 7 Apr 2011 Time: 7:35 AM
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Some 40 years ago most of the toys available were either made of wood or colorfully painted metal sheets. I remember having had set of wooden dolls with spring necks, utensils and wooden cart.

Spring wound frog, mouse and such animals made of metals. Probably safety standards for toys were not very stringent those days. Infact there were a variety of toys available even those days, but many of the superior materials used for making toys today were not available.

Lego, Leo toys or Barbie dolls popular today were not heard of those days by us but might have been popular with some niche segments even those days. Even building blocks were not common. I think Monopoly, Scrabble, chess and such board games were available in those days. Now, with the development of technology and better awareness, the quality and variety of toys produced have vastly improved. The wooden toys available were well crafted. Even today the wooden toys, I suppose, are quite popular. The toys made of wood are generally not toxic or harmful to the children.

Even larger toys, though at times made little bit crude, like trolleys which can be pulled carrying a kid riding on it were popular ones. Now with machines available for boring, shaping and plaining wood there is a vast array of toys available in the market and many of them are products of reasonable quality. I think we need to check unhealthy competition and improve the quality standards of toys so that both producers and consumers benefit from the industry. Unlike toys made of synthetic materials wooden toys don't have any disposal problem, so it is more environment-friendly.

I hope the Internet, TV, theme parks and other such things accessible to children today do not take away from them the simple pleasures of playing with toys, especially wooden toys, which are home-made or hand-crafted by cottage industries. It should definitely have a better charm than for that which is a mass produced one.

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