toy summary

Written and fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Below is the article summary. For the full article, see toy.

toy, Plaything for a child or infant. Toys survive from the remote past and from a great variety of cultures. They range from the simple to the complex, from a stick or piece of string that becomes a toy in a child’s hands to complex mechanical and electronic devices. Perennial favorites include balls, jump ropes, dolls, drums, whistles, dice, jackstones, board games, marbles, play weapons, and costumes. In the modern era the toy industry has grown tremendously, especially with the advent of computer games.

Barbie Summary

Barbie, an 11-inch- (29-cm-) tall plastic doll with the figure of an adult woman that was introduced on March 9, 1959, by Mattel, Inc., a southern California toy company. Ruth Handler, who cofounded Mattel with her husband, Elliot, spearheaded the introduction of the doll. Barbie’s physical

dice Summary

Dice, small objects (polyhedrons) used as implements for gambling and the playing of social games. The most common form of die is the cube, with each side marked with from one to six small dots (spots). The spots are arranged in conventional patterns and placed so that spots on opposite sides

playing cards Summary

Playing cards, set of cards that are numbered or illustrated (or both) and are used for playing games, for education, for divination, and for conjuring. Traditionally, Western playing cards are made of rectangular layers of paper or thin cardboard pasted together to form a flat, semirigid material.

kite Summary

Kite, oldest known heavier-than-air craft designed to gain lift from the wind while being flown from the end of a flying line, or tether. Over the millennia, kites have been used to ward off evil, deliver messages, represent the gods, raise banners, discover natural phenomena, propel craft, drop