A Lifetime of Fun With Wooden Toys

There wasn’t a kid in my neighborhood who didn’t have the classic wooden toys that still exist today. Log cabins, building blocks, and those popular kids’ wooden workbenches were all toys you could find in my neighborhood. These wooden toys create lifelong fun due to their durability and the fact that they are always fun in any generation.

Babies born today still get these traditional wooden toys that even my grandparents played with. The log cabin kits were my favorite wooden toys. You could play with Barbie or Polly Pocket after building different sized cabins. You were definitely missing it if you’ve never been able to play Lincoln Logs! The assortment of different sized miniature wooden logs in these kits could be stacked on top of each other due to their specially designed notches at each end of the logs. The notch is actually a deep groove that allows the other log to sit perfectly in it.

These wooden toys were invented in 1916, but were not mass-produced for the public until about 1918. While most people assume that these classic toys were named after former President Abraham Lincoln, they actually received the name of the inventor’s father’s middle name! The inventor, John L. Wright, obtained the design for the Lincoln Logs by looking at an earthquake-proof basement structure in Tokyo. Until around 1970, all the logs included in the kits were made of wood, but that soon changed. Most manufacturers switched to plastic because it was cheaper, but there are few manufacturers left that only produce wooden logs.

Wooden educational toys were also popular in my childhood nursery and pediatrician’s office. While I was in kindergarten, I would play with the wooden tic tac toe board and another wooden toy that made you match pieces of wood into shapes placed on a block of wood. Building blocks were also considered a type of educational toy, so they were always around as well. The building blocks were a bit cooler than the Lincoln Logs simply because it wasn’t restricted to one or two designs. You could make houses, castles, bridges and many other things with the building blocks.

There are some kits for those of you who want more design potential. A variety of houses, including Appalachian houses, can be built with these kits. You may be able to find some classic wooden toys like these at local retail stores, but most of these kits can only be found online at certain retailers. However, you should start looking online if you want the best selection with these wooden log and building block toys.

You can even make your own wooden toys at home if you want. Making your own building blocks or even guitars will help your family do something together. If you like puzzles, you can also make a medium to large size puzzle. There are so many wooden toy options that you can make from your own garage or home. How about a couple of cars, a rocking horse, alphabet building blocks, or even your own wooden string guitar for your first wooden toy building project? Whether you decide to buy your wooden toys or make your own, you can be sure that you will find the perfect fit. You will learn the value of these classic wooden toys and how they provide a lifetime of fun.