What was your favorite childhood game or toy? Mine were my Barbie, Bike and Jump rope. Colorforms. And you?

[debm55]

[SheltieLover]

1. A little horserace game. Spin the spinner & move horse forward.

Then later Sorry & Scrabble.

[debm55]

4. Thank you very much for sharing with us.SheltieLover. I remember the horserace game.

[SheltieLover]

7. Can't recall name of game.

It was small. A small rectangle & had 4 or 5 horses with bases tucked into their slots.

I've always loved horses.

Then there was my deck of Gypsey Fortune Telling Cards & my Magic 8 Ball. Lol

[debm55]

40. I had a MAGIC 8 BALL, too, Thank you SheltieLover.

[dhol82]

2. We couldn't afford a Barbie for me.

But, I had Mary Heartline doll. She had a really cool drum majorette outfit!

[debm55]

5. Thank you very much for sharing with us, dhol82. The MaryHeartline doll sounds very interesting.

[hlthe2b]

3. I actually liked my etch-a-sketch...jump rope, my sister's hoola-hoop

Gawd, I must be old.

I don't recall being all that "into" dolls, though I had a couple. I wanted a DOG! (that wish delayed for a very long time, sadly)

[debm55]

6. Thank you for your selections , hlthe2b. I enjoyed all except for etch-a-sketch. I could never make anything but a

Square. on it.

[hlthe2b]

8. I probably owe my ability to sign my signature surprisingly well using those e-sign digital pads...

to the etch-a-sketch, believe it or not.

[debm55]

9. Wow. Thank you hlthe2b. That is very interesting.

[WheelWalker]

10. An erector set, a science lab and a crystal radio kit

[debm55]

19. Those are terrific. Thank you for sharing with us, WheelWalker.

[No Vested Interest]

11. Paper dolls, with clothing we cut out and tabs to hold clothing to the paper dolls.

We also sometimes drew and colored our own designs for extra clothing for the paper dolls.

[buzzycrumbhunger]

15. I remember fighting my sister

… to be the first to cut the Betsy McCall paper dolls out of the McCall’s magazine each month. They were good for about half an hour’s entertainment.

[debm55]

41. HAHAHAHAHHA, thank you buzzycrumbhunger.

[debm55]

20. Thank you very much No Vested Interest. I remember the paper dolls. Some paper dolls had clothing that you had to punch

out and other dolls had clothing you had to cut out yourself.

[surrealAmerican]

12. Spirograph

I had a number of different sets - endlessly fascinating.

... and tinker toys; and another similar sort of construction set (that I can't remember the name of) that had flexible, flower-shaped connectors.

I also liked those spool knitting looms, and craft supplies of all kinds.

[debm55]

42. Thank you very much for sharing with us, surrealAmerican. I also liked any kind of craft supplies, too. Spirograph was

my favorite.

[buzzycrumbhunger]

13. I had a few...

Spirograph—though the pens were horrible and the plastic always broke around the nibs—and I also had those ugly trolls—with the cave house—which would probably be worth something if my mum hadn’t tossed it when we moved.

My sister got the “good” Barbie and store-bought clothes. I got the dumb little sister, Skipper. We used to use mum’s high heels as sports cars, and poor Skipper couldn’t sit all the way in the seat because her dumb legs were straight and didn’t bend.

We also put in hours and hours making clothes for them, though. Seems funny to think I have Barbies to thank for being able to use a sewing machine with some expertise.

I think my favourite things as a child were books, though. I’d take a bedside lamp into my closet and read all day long. Still a reader to this day.

[debm55]

21. I loved my Spirograph. Thank you for sharing that one with us, buzzycrumbhunger. I could play that for hours. I got the

good Barbie from my aunt. I too made clothing for her on my mother's sewing machine. Every special occasion I would get a Mattel made Barbie outfit.

[biophile]

14. Breyer horses, books, Spirograph and paint by number sets

Horse crazy, loved to read, and do art.

[debm55]

43. Thank you very much, biophile. I loved the Breyer horses. They had a kinds of horses. and yes the paint by number sets.

[PJMcK]

16. Three things

1. GI Joe action figures. I had various uniforms for the doll and I even had the Mercury spacecraft.

2. Matchbox cars. I probably had 50 or 60 of the little vehicles.

3. James Bond attaché case. Based on From Russia With Love, the case held a toy rifle, a plastic knife in a hidden compartment and a booby trap when opening the case. Bond was probably not a good role model for a 7-year old!

[debm55]

44. Wow, PJMcK , you sure had a selelection of toys. My Barbie drumped Ken for the GI Joe. She couldn't resist a man in

uniform. LOL. That James Bond case sounds interesting. Thank you for sharing.

[perfessor]

17. Bike, and baseball glove.

We also played a lot of card games during inclement weather.

[PufPuf23]

18. Lincoln logs, Tonka trucks and plastic whiffle balls and bat set. nt

[NNadir]

22. My Dad put in a lot of overtime to build my brother and I a rather large Lionel Train set.

I loved that thing.

I wish I had used to experience to understand what a transformer was and how it worked and why it was necessary, but I just played with the trains.

My father was like that; he'd do anything to keep his boys happy; work his ass off as a laborer, work two jobs or more, just to buy us stuff for Christmas.. He was that kind of guy, perhaps because his own father was such a terrible person.

There are parents who had horrible parents who repeat the behavior; and there are parents who had horrible parents who do everything to be different than the horrible parent. My father, and albeit not quite as dramatic, my wife, happily exemplify the latter.

[MadLinguist]

23. Kick the can and marbles

Kick the can was this great neighborhood game, where all the kids for half a mile around came. Coalitions formed, broke and reformed over the course of a summer afternoon. High drama and daring-do! Friendships and rivalries waxing and waning all summer long.
Marbles was all about personal skill and I adored besting arrogant little boys who thought no girl could ever shoot marbles. Plus I just loved the look and feel of marbles. Still do. Winning a coveted marble in a match was the best feeling and it was revived every time I looked at the prized victory marbles in my collection.

[Srkdqltr]

24. Bike, sidewalk skates, paper dolls.

[debm55]

30. Wonderful, Srkdqltr. Thank you, very much for sharing with us.

[sinkingfeeling]

25. My dozens of teddy bears. I didn't like nor have a doll.

[debm55]

27. Oh thank you very much sinkingfeeling. Your bedroom must have been wonderful. I never had a teddy bear.Always wished I

did,

[Polly Hennessey]

26. Hopscotch, Jacks, and Pick Up Sticks.

Turning cartwheels 🤸‍♀️ was a favorite, too.

[debm55]

28. Excellent choices, Polly Hessessey. Love your choices.

[SheltieLover]

29. Connect the dot books & Nancy Drew books

Sent grandaughter a connect the dot book for V Day. Important life skill.

[BlueKota]

33. I loved Nancy Drew Books too.

Their was another short lived series of books called the Kim Aldrich Mysteries, that I enjoyed too.

[SheltieLover]

35. I never read those.

Thx for sharing about them!

[debm55]

56. YES! Connect the dot books and coloring books. Nancy Drew so enjoyed reading them. Thank you SheltieLover.

[BlueKota]

31. Mine was a black and white stuffed panda bear

that my Aunt Kay and Uncle Don bought me, after I came home from the hospital. The doctors thought they saw something on one of my kidneys, but it turned out to be nothing serious. I was four. I carried that bear with me everywhere for a long time.

[Goonch]

32. ;-{) COMET PIPER TRI-PACER GAS POWERED AIRPLANE

Won it selling news papers at age 12

[debm55]

54. Oh wow! That looks so neat. Thank you for sharing with us.

[Ziggysmom]

34. Chess and my cap gun. Sometimes we put a bunch of them together on the step

and hit it with a hammer for a bigger bang.

[SheltieLover]

36. Oh I forgot about my cap gun

Thx for the stroll down memory lane.

[debm55]

37. HAHAHHAHAAHH, Thanks SheltieLover. I rememeber those.

[SheltieLover]

39. I had a holster for it

Because I was convinced I was a cowgirl...in Chgo burbs. Deep love of horses warped my reality.

[debm55]

53. That's great. Thank you SheltieLover.

[debm55]

38. Thanks Ziggysmom. We used to use rocks to get a bigger bang. Cousin threw a roll of caps in the BBQ. ----VERY big bang.

[buzzycrumbhunger]

58. I don't know that we ever had the cap gun

… but yeah, taking a roll of caps out to the sidewalk and walloping them with a hammer was fun!

Edited to add that we also used to build volcanoes in the sandbox, then put those snakes inside all the passages and light them on fire. Vesuvius!!

[LoisB]

45. Football.

[debm55]

52. Thank you very much , LoisB, for sharing with us. That's great.

[nuxvomica]

46. American Bricks

They came in great cardboard drums instead of boxes and were superior to Legos because their limited colors (red and white) and shapes demanded more of your imagination. They even had little white inserts of sculpted doors and windows so if you are trying to make a model of a suburban brick home in the 1950s you had everything you needed. The standard piece was rectangular with eight nibs and sockets and I discovered you could created sturdy, futuristic circular towers by overlapping them on the corners.

Thinking about this made me realize it inspired my novel. It was only two years ago that I realized the main character's name was inspired by an Italian comic book character. Hmm.

[debm55]

51. Thank you very much for sharing with us, nuxvomica. They sound great. I like the idea and the creativeness of what you

described. I was born in 1955, so it was a little before my time.

[WmChris]

47. I had,2 favorites

20" Wizard motor bike
Twin McCullough chainsaw engine powered racing go-kart

[debm55]

48. Neat, Thank you very much for sharing with us, WmChris.

[Borogove]

49. I really enjoyed traveling the world with my View-Master.

[debm55]

50. Thank you very much, Borogove. I really enjoyed my View-Master.and all the things you could see.

[SheltieLover]

55. Yes! Forgot about my viewmaster & kaleidoscope

Ty!

[wnylib]

57. Hard to name a favorite because I liked a lot of things

First, though, was my gray and black tabby cat, Smokey. We played together a lot.

Board games -- Chutes and ladders, Candyland, and Cooties.

Dolls -- Barbie was not around until I was past the doll age. But I had a big collection of all kinds of dolls, clothes for them, and a wooden doll bed (which Smokey commandeered for himself). To me, my dolls were real people and I told them stories that I had learned.

Collections -- shells and sea glass from the beach on Lake Erie, colored pop beads from gum ball machines.

Outdoors -- jump rope (especially double dutch), bicycle rides and races

Books -- I was hooked on reading early.

[Bristlecone]

59. Baseball, glove, and bat

[Woodwizard]

60. Lego

Lincoln logs.
Books on home projects for kids.

[CanonRay]

61. Bicycle and baseball.