Everything You Wanted to Know About Victorian toys | For Kids

Comprehension questions:
What two reasons meant Victorian toys are more expensive than today's toys?
What did poorer families do if they couldn't afford to buy toys?
Can you name a toy that was popular in the Victorian times?
What toy makes pictures move?

Reflection question:
Do you think poor children enjoyed playing with their homemade toys?

Other videos in the Victorian series:

No matter how times change, one thing will always be certain - how much children love toys! However, getting your hands on one would have been quite difficult in the Victorian era, because they were far more expensive than they are now.

Why? Well, toys were made differently than today. Each one had to be handmade and required a lot of work and skill from a toymaker. Toys made by machines, as they often are today, are much cheaper to make, and therefore much cheaper to buy. The materials used back then were also very different. While today, most toys are made from cheap plastic, in the Victorian times, most toys were made from expensive wood or metal. Rocking horses had manes made from real horses hair, and dolls were made from china - like the dishes!

So a big difference between then and now is that, in the Victorian times, many many poorer families couldn’t afford to buy toys so they would often make their own. One great example is the peg doll, made of - you guessed it - a peg with a bit of cloth wrapped around it. Let’s have a look at other common Victorian toys.

Like today, children in the Victorian times would play with marbles, skipping ropes, or kites - if they could get them. Another toy they liked that isn’t very common now was a hoop and stick which they’d roll it down the road. There was also the cup and ball - which is exactly what it sounds like; a wooden ball on a string which had to be swung upwards and caught in the attached cup. Spinning tops were also popular in Victorian times.

Doll’s houses were out of reach for most, but were a firm favourite in well-to-do homes and would have replica furniture down to the last detail, all made by skilled craftsmen. Rich children also had rocking horses, dolls, and clockwork train sets.

During the Victorian times, people had become fascinated by toys that made pictures move. For example, lots of people had kaleidoscopes which created ever-changing symmetrical patterns using mirrors.

So, many of the toys they had back then are the same toys that children like to play with today. Dolls, trains, marbles and skipping ropes are still seen everywhere. Other toys, such as peg dolls are not quite as common.

So you can see that Victorian toys were a bit different, but also, very much the same. Toys are always designed for one thing - so kids can have fun!

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