| 
  • If you are citizen of an European Union member nation, you may not use this service unless you are at least 16 years old.

  • You already know Dokkio is an AI-powered assistant to organize & manage your digital files & messages. Very soon, Dokkio will support Outlook as well as One Drive. Check it out today!

View
 

m) Toys and Games

Page history last edited by Lee Adcock 12 years, 10 months ago

 

Toys and Games

 

 

     In the colonial period, children had to make due with what they had.  Since there were no toy stores in the colonies, colonial families made their own toys from nature or from items found in the home.  For example, Native American children made dolls from leftover strips of corn husk.  Kids also relied on their imagination and found creative ways to past the time.  On this page, we have provided several examples of the toys and games that children played during the American Revolution.  As you are reading through this page, consider your favorite toy or game.  How is similar or different from colonial toys and games?

 

 

 

European American toys and games:

 

 

In early American, the game we know as Jacks was commonly referred to as "five-stones" or "jack-stones."  This game is still played today!  

 

 

 

 

Courtesy of the NC museum of history Colonial History in a box kit 

 

 

 

 

 

Many colonial children played with clay marbles like the ones pictured below.

 

 

 

© The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation 2010

 

 

 

These are musical toys referred to as "jaw harps."  They are missing the steel/brass reeds used to pluck music. 

 

 

© The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation 2010

 

 

 

This is a doll from Colonial America.  Do you think the owner of this doll came from a

wealthy family or a poorer family?  Why?

 

                                                                                                                                                                             

 © The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation 2010

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Riddles

 

Riddles were also popular during the eighteenth century.  Can you solve these Colonial riddles?

 

 

 

1. When is a boy most like a bear?

2. What kind of room is not in a house?

3. What has teeth but cannot eat?

4. What has a tongue but cannot talk?

5. What has 3 feet but cannot walk? 

 

 

 

Answers: 1.When he is barefoot. 2. A mushroom. 3. A comb. 4. A shoe. 5. A yardstick.

 

 

 

 

 

Native American toys and games:

 

 

Below you see some beans that have been painted black on one side. Native Americans played a game with these butterbeans! Using big white beans you can make your own set of pieces for this game and play with your classmates!

 

 

Courtesy of the NC museum of history Colonial History in a box kit 

 

 

Courtesy of the NC museum of history Colonial History in a box kit 

 

 

 

Native Americans have made corn husk dolls for centuries!  How is this doll different from the doll we saw earlier?

 

 

 

 

Chippewa corn husk doll

 

 

 

Here are the direction to making your own Chippewa corn husk doll! Be creative and have fun as you follow the directions below!

 

 

 

 

 

Courtesy of the NC museum of history Colonial History in a box kit 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next time you are out on the playground remember these games and try them out! Are they similar to any of the games that you and your friends play today? How are they different? Have fun and use your imagination to pretend that you are living during the Colonial time period of the American Revolution!

 

 

 

 

Courtesy of the NC museum of history Colonial History in a box kit 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Works Cited:

 

(2010). Colonial Games and Toys. Retrieved Apr. 1, 2010, from Noah Webster House, West Hartford, Connecticut. Web site: http://noahwebsterhouse.org/games.html.

 

(2010). Toys and Games. Retrieved Apr. 1, 2010, from The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, Williamsburg. Web site: http://www.history.org/.

 

 

Comments (0)

You don't have permission to comment on this page.