Toys and games have been around for millennia and come from worldwide. Toy balls, kites, and yo-yos are among the earliest known toys. In terms of toys, you can find everything from a simple stick to the most complicated mechanical devices, from a child’s imagination to the imagination of a grownup. Playing with marbles, jackstones, and other toys that require hands and bodies as a child helps develop coordination and other manual skills. The ability to solve spatial relationship puzzles is tested from an early age.

Archeological excavations in Sumer dating back to 2600 BCE have unearthed objects with human and animal forms. In about 500 BCE, a Greek historian mentions yo-yos made of wood, metal or painted terra-cotta as the earliest known toy in written history. The yo-yo, however, is thought to have originated in China much earlier than previously thought. In addition, the kite, which is still a popular toy in China, has been around since at least 1000 BCE. Animal toys made of clay on wheels date back to about 2500 BCE in India. Later, Indian children from wealthy families would play with brass and bronze horses and elephants.

Laying with toys has two primary purposes: mimicking and teaching. Self-preservation may have been the driving force behind some of the earliest forms of play. In many human cultures, the simple stick or club was the precursor to later military instruments of play, such as swords and guns, which were first taught to the young.

Even though many games and sports requiring physical action were derived from the practice of the skills used in warfare and hunting; however, the instruments of the game or sport, such as the miniature bow and arrow given to an ancient Roman boy for training, were regarded not as toys but as weapons. However, by the Middle Ages, war-related objects, such as miniature soldiers and guns, were regarded as toys. Toys of the modern era depict cutting-edge military technology and the futuristic weapons and war machines of science fiction and Hollywood.

The ball, which has been used in religious and secular games for centuries, is one of the oldest toys available to adults and children. Magical artifacts and sacred objects may have inspired other types of toys.

Toys are a standard part of many cultures’ religious traditions. Many of these forms are essentially religious symbols, but in children’s hands, they become toys that are played with and eventually eaten. For example, sugar is still used in Mexico’s Day of the Dead festivities. Toys of religious origin include Christmas tree decorations, Easter eggs, and the Neapolitan presepio (crèche), which features an abundance of intricate figures depicting the birth of Jesus.

Native American children play with the kachina dolls of the Pueblo Indians to learn about their mythology, which is an instructive sacred object. The doll is one of the oldest and most basic toys.

Throughout history, children have been given miniature versions of themselves by their parents and caregivers. Dolls from Roman times and Christian times have been found in the graves of their young owners, preserved in their original packaging. Early Roman dolls made of linen and stuffed with papyrus can be found in the Royal Ontario Museum and British Museum.

There are more types of moving toys than there were before. In many cases, experiments with basic physical principles were first realized in moving toys described in books and other works of fiction.

Gunpowder was used by the Chinese to make fireworks, which led to the development of exploding toy weapons and rockets. In addition, a wide variety of devices and principles have been used in toys, such as the wheel, magnetism, centrifugal force, flight, and the pendulum.