Have you ever wondered about the toys and games you play with today? How old are they? Where did they come from? Where are they played today? How many people play them?

This time line shows some toys and when they were first made.

In the past 10 years many more toys have been made. Each time a new children’s film comes out, lots of toys are made. Toy Story Harry Potter Monsters Inc.

Let us first of all look at some toys that children played with about 100 years ago.

Let’s look at some toys and games that you might play with today.

These building blocks are made from wood and are lots of colours and shapes; cubes, cuboids, circles, semi-circles, cylinders, arches and prisms.

This Victorian annual was made It contains lots of stories and songs with full page illustrations. It cost 1 shilling and sixpence (7.5p) when the average weekly wage of working parents was 30 to 55 shillings a week. (£1.50 to £2.75).

This is a baby's rattle. It is beautifully made from silver with 6 bells and a whistle. It also has a pink coral teether.

This toy magic lantern has 11 slides, which are projected by the light of an oil lamp. It would probably have belonged to the son of a wealthy family.

Children from poorer working families had only a few toys, usually home made. They had little time for playing. These marbles are made from clay. Marble games were very popular and were played outside in the street.

We’ve all had a teddy bear. Teddy bears are named after an American President called Theodore Roosevelt. In 1902, he went out hunting but wouldn’t shoot a little bear cub that was brought to him. A cartoon appeared in the newspaper the next day and the bear cub was called Teddy’s bear. Teddy bears soon became popular all over America.

The yo-yo is one of the oldest known toys. Stone yo-yos more than three thousand years old have been found in Greece Yo-yos may also have been used in ancient China. In the 1700s, the yo-yo or jou-jou, as it was called, was used to entertain French royal children.

This doll is called Florrie. She is about 130 years old. She is beautifully made with a porcelain head and arms and a leather body, which has moveable, jointed legs. She has cotton petticoats, a lace shawl, a green velvet dress and bonnet and leather shoes. These are just like the clothes that would have been worn by the wealthy little girl who owned her.

This is Florrie in her wooden pram which is black, cream and red with a folding hood. It was exactly the same as a real baby’s pram of the time.

We’ve all had wax crayons. They were first made about 100 years ago. The first crayons were probably made of charcoal and oil. Later, wax was used making the coloured sticks neater and easier to handle. The first Crayola crayons came in a box of eight. The eight colours were black, blue, brown, green, orange, red, violet, and yellow. Today, one hundred and twenty colours are made.

In 1930 Scrabble was invented. Players have to draw seven lettered tiles from a bag and then make words. It was first called Lexiko 100 million sets have been sold worldwide.

In 1935 the game of Monopoly was invented. People thought it was too complicated and would take too long to play But 100 million games have been sold, making it one of the best-selling games in the world. It is sold in more than eighty countries and has been translated into twenty-six languages, including Braille.

In 1943 the Slinky was invented. 25metres of wire is coiled into two inches Business is as good as ever, thanks to Slinky Dog in 1996's Toy Story.

Barbie was first shown at a toy fair in New York in February She was named after the inventors’ daughter, Barbie. Ken is the name of their son. A lot of people thought that it wouldn’t be popular. But who would have guessed that almost 50 years later Barbie would still be one of the most successful toys on the market. Each week, over 1.5 million dolls are sold —that's two dolls per second.

Old Toys and New Toys Let’s have a look at an old teddy and a new teddy and see how they have changed over the years.

Here is an old bear He has long jointed limbs. He has a long nose. He has a hump on his back. He feels hard. He has rough fur.

Here is a new bear He is soft and cuddly. He has smooth fur. He has short limbs that are not jointed. He is fatter. He has a short nose.

Which would you prefer?