A Visit to the Past
Your knees are curled into your chest, hands clenched with excitement, eyes closed as tight as they can be and the duvet over your head. Your mind is willing you back to sleep, but you are just too excited. You stretch out your feet and that’s when you hear it… crackle. Your heart pounds with anticipation, heavily in your chest. Boom, boom, boom! That’s it. You cannot wait any longer. You have heard the crackling of the paper. The presents are on the end of the bed, you must have been good this year, he has been!!
Let’s face it we all remember our favourite Christmas mornings, or perhaps a birthday, when you got that gift you had waited for, for so long. Whether you had been flicking through the catalogue of dreams endlessly, seen it on TV, seen the person at school with one and had thought about it non-stop since. As a child nothing can beat the toy that brings you endless amounts of joy for hours on end.
What was your favourite?
Here are a few toys that I remember vividly and even looking at the photos of them makes me smile and takes me back straight away. What toys bought you joy?
Mr Frosty
The year I got him for Christmas I beamed from ear to ear. I will never forget, pushing down on his head with all my might, turning the handle, hearing the ice crunching away and most of all licking the sticky syrup off my fingers after most of it missed the cup! Wonderful!
Photo credit: PicClick UK
Keypers
These were just great. Hours of locking and unlocking your favourite trinkets. Not to mention the little glow in the dark friend inside. You brushed their hair and thought of all number of things to put inside to keep them safe. Did anyone else have a Sheldon?
Skip it!
The energetic skipping friend. All the children in the street had one and there you would be hopping over the ever-rotating wheel that swung around 360 degrees from your other ankle, counting each rotation as you went. The ultimate outside toy!
Photo credit: everything80spodcast.com
Glo Bugs
Ah, the little light up friends that would keep you company in the dark. You would spend what felt like ages, holding them up to the light but when you saw their little faces glow it was worth it. And don’t forget tucking them in their own little sleeping bags!
Rainbow Brite
Just looking at her made you happy! She came with all sorts of colourful friends too. I remember having a large cuddly starlite, which was her rainbow maned steed. The colours, the rainbows! I even had bed covers and a light shade to match!
Pound Puppies
The little pet friends that you cuddled and stroked. The big mummy and all the little puppies that would fit in her velcro belly. Hours of love to be had! These seem to be back on the shelves this year and they still come with their cardboard kennels and adoption certificates!
Little Professor
The mathematical dude that helped you with your sums! I was never too keen on maths, but I still loved seeing the quivering of this little guys moustache when I got the answers right! He is still going strong too and my daughter has one now! The perfect gift for mathematicians!
Sweet Secrets
I loved these! Tucking their heads, arms and legs into their bellies and getting them out again. They came in all shapes and sizes, but this little mouse was my favourite and I’m pretty sure I got it for my 6th birthday. The best bit….. when they were all tucked away you could wear them like a locket! To this day I still have the little cola can/rocking horse that came with it!
Photo credit: eightieskids.com
Screwball Scramble
The timed ball bearing obstacle game! I will never forget the little humming sound of the timer as I crazily tried to get the ball over the parallel bars just in time. A great game that you would play time and time again
Photo credit: Flickr
Acorn Green Treehouse
I loved this miniature play set. Taking the animal characters up and down in the tree trunk lift. Not to mention the little log car, tables and seats. It was creativity at its best! And I loved that the tree would lift and down to keep all the animals safe when they had gone to bed!
Photo credit: Ghost of the doll.co.uk
And there you have it…… a toy blast from the past! I wonder what this generation’s favourite toys will be. Fingerlings? Hatchimals? Big tubs of rainbow slime? Who knows! But I bet they will get as much joy looking back as I have.
So, whilst we don’t want to shower our children with gifts. Just remember the toys that might liven imaginations, bring hours of fascination, bring siblings and families together, promote sharing and caring, bring fun and most of all…….. create lovely memories! Happy playing and reminiscing!
