"Kaleidoscope A kaleidoscope () is an optical instrument with two or more reflecting surfaces tilted to each other in an angle, so that one or more (parts of) objects on one end of the mirrors are seen as a regular symmetrical pattern when viewed from the other end, due to repeated reflection. The reflectors (or mirrors) are usually enclosed in a tube, often containing on one end a cell with loose, colored pieces of glass or other transparent (and/or opaque) materials to be reflected into the viewed pattern. Rotation of the cell causes motion of the materials, resulting in an"
"Marble (toy) A marble is a small spherical toy often made from glass, clay, steel, plastic or agate. These balls vary in size. Most commonly, they are about in diameter, but they may range from less than to over , while some art glass marbles for display purposes are over wide. Marbles can be used for a variety of games called marbles. They are often collected, both for nostalgia and for their aesthetic colors. In the North of England the objects and the game are called ""taws"", with larger taws being called ""bottle washers"" after the use of a marble"
"Vortex ring toy A vortex ring toy is any of several toys that generate vortex rings – rolling torus-shapes of fluid, similar in structure to smoke rings – that move through the fluid (most often air, and sometimes water). Because of the way they rotate, a vortex ring can hold itself together and travel for quite a distance. Toys that blow air vortices, like the air vortex cannon, are mainly used to tickle people or animals at a distance with an ""invisible hand"". An interesting demonstration is to have a smoker blow a smoke cloud into the toy just before"
"Eye popper An eye popper or rubber popper is a popular children's toy. An eye popper is a small, dome-shaped piece of rubber or similar material resembling a half of a rubber ball; the shape of a smile is often imprinted on the dome. When pressed, the toy inverts, but after a few seconds, it pops back into its original shape, making a loud popping sound. If resting on the ground when this happens, the toy will fly several feet into the air. The eye popper's behavior resembles the process by which a ball compresses upon hitting a hard surface."
"Eye popper An eye popper or rubber popper is a popular children's toy. An eye popper is a small, dome-shaped piece of rubber or similar material resembling a half of a rubber ball; the shape of a smile is often imprinted on the dome. When pressed, the toy inverts, but after a few seconds, it pops back into its original shape, making a loud popping sound. If resting on the ground when this happens, the toy will fly several feet into the air. The eye popper's behavior resembles the process by which a ball compresses upon hitting a hard surface."
"thousand dollars. Tin toy A tin toy, or tin lithograph toy, is a mechanical toy made out of tinplate and colorfully painted by chromolithography to resemble primarily a character or vehicle. Tinplate was used in the manufacture of toys beginning in the mid-19th century. The invention of sheet metal stamping machines in 1815 allowed for the mass production of inexpensive toys. Tin toys were made from thin sheets of steel plated with tin, hence the name tinplate. Tin toys were a cheap and durable substitute for wooden toys. The toys were originally assembled and painted by hand. Spring activated tin"
"and the cancelled ""Transformers Universe"". Transformers (toy line) The is a line of toys produced by the American toy company Hasbro and Japanese company Takara (now known as Takara Tomy). It spawned the ""Transformers"" media franchise. The premise behind the Transformers toyline is that an individual toy's parts can be shifted about to change it from a vehicle, a device, or an animal, to a robot action figure and back again. The taglines ""More Than Meets The Eye"" and ""Robots In Disguise"" reflect this ability. The Transformers toy-line is typically divided into two main factions: the heroic Autobots and their"
"Optical toys Optical toys form a group of devices with some entertainment value that usually have a scientific, optical nature. Many of these were also known as ""philosophical toys"" when they were developed in the 19th century. People must have experimented with optical phenomena since prehistoric times and played with objects that influenced the experience of light, color and shadow. In the 16th century some experimental optical entertainment - for instance camera obscura demonstrations - were part of the cabinets of curiosities that emerged at royal courts. Since the 17th century optical tabletop instruments such as the compound microscope and"
"lipstick tubes and change purses. Sweet Secrets Sweet Secrets was a toy introduced by Galoob in 1984 which transformed from jewelry, makeup and other girl-oriented objects to animals, girls with hair, and playsets. This was done by opening the object and unfolding the head, arms, and legs. The playsets included a jewelry box which transformed into a dollhouse, a play phone which transformed into a nursery, a comb which transformed into a bed, and a photo frame which transformed into a pool. In Fall 2007, Play Along Toys re-released the Sweet Secrets series; but instead of charms, they were tiny"
"much the same process described above, only with power equipment) compressed into ""time capsule"" form. Strange Change Machine The Strange Change Machine was a Mattel toy from the late 1960s, in which ""shape memory"" plastic figures of prehistoric animals & science fiction-like creatures could be reconstituted from compressed ""time capsule"" form, and re-compressed back into that form. The label on the box declares: ""A Strange Change Toy featuring The Lost World,"" suggesting that perhaps this was the first of a proposed series. The ""Lost World"" was the only scenario produced with this toy before it was discontinued. The playset itself"
"Strange Change Machine The Strange Change Machine was a Mattel toy from the late 1960s, in which ""shape memory"" plastic figures of prehistoric animals & science fiction-like creatures could be reconstituted from compressed ""time capsule"" form, and re-compressed back into that form. The label on the box declares: ""A Strange Change Toy featuring The Lost World,"" suggesting that perhaps this was the first of a proposed series. The ""Lost World"" was the only scenario produced with this toy before it was discontinued. The playset itself consisted of: To reconstitute a figure, one would first pre-heat the ""capsule"" on the side"
"diver can ascend. In addition, the principle is used to make small toys often called ""water dancers"" or ""water devils"". The principle is the same, but the eyedropper is instead replaced with a decorative object with the same properties which is a tube of near-neutral buoyancy, for example, a blown-glass bubble. If the tail of the glass bubble is given a twist, the flow of the water into and out of the glass bubble creates spin. This causes the toy to spin as it sinks and rises. An example of such a toy is the red ""devil"" shown here. The"
"Tin toy A tin toy, or tin lithograph toy, is a mechanical toy made out of tinplate and colorfully painted by chromolithography to resemble primarily a character or vehicle. Tinplate was used in the manufacture of toys beginning in the mid-19th century. The invention of sheet metal stamping machines in 1815 allowed for the mass production of inexpensive toys. Tin toys were made from thin sheets of steel plated with tin, hence the name tinplate. Tin toys were a cheap and durable substitute for wooden toys. The toys were originally assembled and painted by hand. Spring activated tin toys originated"
"firing, to create a large smoke ring. Some toys have a built-in smoke generator for this purpose. Vortex ring toy A vortex ring toy is any of several toys that generate vortex rings – rolling torus-shapes of fluid, similar in structure to smoke rings – that move through the fluid (most often air, and sometimes water). Because of the way they rotate, a vortex ring can hold itself together and travel for quite a distance. Toys that blow air vortices, like the air vortex cannon, are mainly used to tickle people or animals at a distance with an ""invisible hand""."
"history. The tactile qualities of optical toys that allow the viewer to study and play with the moving image in his own hands, seem more attractive in a time when digitalisation makes the moving image less tangible. Several philosophical toys were developed through scientific experimentation, then turned into scientific amusements that demonstrated new ideas and theories in the fields of optics, physics, electricity, mechanics, etc. and ended up as toys for children. Optical toys Optical toys form a group of devices with some entertainment value that usually have a scientific, optical nature. Many of these were also known as ""philosophical"
"Transformers (toy line) The is a line of toys produced by the American toy company Hasbro and Japanese company Takara (now known as Takara Tomy). It spawned the ""Transformers"" media franchise. The premise behind the Transformers toyline is that an individual toy's parts can be shifted about to change it from a vehicle, a device, or an animal, to a robot action figure and back again. The taglines ""More Than Meets The Eye"" and ""Robots In Disguise"" reflect this ability. The Transformers toy-line is typically divided into two main factions: the heroic Autobots and their opponents, the evil Decepticons (traditionally"
"toys and sports"" featured the thaumatrope and warned against inferior copies. The chapter head was illustrated with a drawing by George Cruikshank, depicting a man demonstrating the thaumatrope to a girl and a boy. It was first published anonymously, but posthumous editions were credited to John Ayrton Paris. Thaumatrope A thaumatrope is an optical toy that was popular in the 19th century. A disk with a picture on each side is attached to two pieces of string. When the strings are twirled quickly between the fingers the two pictures appear to blend into one due to the persistence of vision."
"Roly-poly toy A roly-poly toy, round-bottomed doll, tilting doll, tumbler or wobbly man is a round-bottomed toy, usually egg-shaped, that tends to right itself when pushed at an angle, and does this in seeming contradiction to the force of gravity. The toy is typically hollow with a weight inside the bottom hemisphere. The placement of this weight is such that the toy has a center of mass below the center of the hemisphere, so that any tilting raises the center of mass. When such a toy is pushed over, it wobbles for a few moments while it seeks the upright"
"Beyblade toy, which is modelled after beigoma has caused a re-surge in interest. In 2001 there was only one factory still making them, in Kawaguchi, Saitama prefecture. Beigoma Beigoma (Japanese: ベーゴマ) are traditional Japanese spinning top toys. A small but light pointy shaped toy of approximately 3 cm in diameter, it is spun by wrapping a thin 60 cm cord around it, then throwing it while releasing the cord to spin it onto a surface such as matting spread across the top of a barrel. The thrower aims it at another beigoma that is already spinning to knock it out"
"Creepy Crawlers Creepy Crawlers (or Thingmaker) is an activity toy made by Mattel, beginning in 1964. The toy consists of a series of die-cast metal moulds resembling various bug-like creatures, into which is poured a liquid chemical substance called ""Plastigoop"", which comes in assorted colours. The mould is then heated to about in an open-face electric hot plate oven. The Plastigoop is cured by the heat, and when cooled forms semi-solid, rubbery replicas which can be removed from the mould. The concept of the Thingmaker was introduced in 1963, as part of Mattel's ""Vac-U-Maker"" set. This omnibus toy combined the"
"Whirly tube The whirly tube, corrugaphone, or bloogle resonator, is an experimental musical instrument which consists of a corrugated (ribbed) plastic tube or hose (hollow flexible cylinder), open at both ends and possibly wider at one end (bell), the thinner of which is rotated in a circle to play. It may be a few feet long and about a few inches wide. The faster the toy is swung the higher the pitch of the note it produces, and it produces discrete notes in the harmonic series like a valveless brass instrument, but the fundamental and second harmonic are difficult to"
"Whirly tube The whirly tube, corrugaphone, or bloogle resonator, is an experimental musical instrument which consists of a corrugated (ribbed) plastic tube or hose (hollow flexible cylinder), open at both ends and possibly wider at one end (bell), the thinner of which is rotated in a circle to play. It may be a few feet long and about a few inches wide. The faster the toy is swung the higher the pitch of the note it produces, and it produces discrete notes in the harmonic series like a valveless brass instrument, but the fundamental and second harmonic are difficult to"
"objects, enhanced learning: Automata Toys Construction"" (CLOHE). Also they play a valid part in teaching young children motor skills and are used in some schools to do this Mechanical toys were the subject of the Academy Award-winning 1972 short Dutch documentary, ""This Tiny World"". Mechanical toy Mechanical toys are toys powered by mechanical energy. Depending on the mechanism used they can perform a range of motions, from simple to very complex. The types of mechanical energy used to power mechanical toys include rubber bands, springs, and flywheels. Mechanical toys use 4 types of different movements, rotary (going around in a"
"""Popen o Fuku Musume"" (, ""Young woman blowing a ""poppen"" glass""), a young woman plays with a —a glass toy that changes sounds depending on whether the breath is blown or sucked through it; the change makes an onomatopoeic ""po–pen"" sound. It was an exotic type of toy a sheltered girl from a respectable family could have innocent fun with; she is likely the daughter of a wealthy merchant family. To Japanese art historian Tadashi Kobayshi, ""Utamaro has marvelously captured her just when she seems about to achieve a more mature, voluptuous beauty but has yet to lose the innocence"
"Reifendrehen Reifendrehen is a unique type of toy manufacture using wood turning techniques that was developed in the Ore Mountains in the vicinity of the town of Seiffen and continues there to the present day. The process produces small animals and other figures or even little wooden houses in outline, that are used as toys or to decorate Christmas pyramids or Nativity scenes. The animals and figures (""Reifentiere"" and ""Reifenfiguren"") so produced are an inherent part of Ore Mountain folk art. In the process known as ""Reifendrehen"" (literally ""tyre turning"") a suitable piece of wood, as far as possible free"
"one direction, reach its maximum, and then, helped by another yank, start spinning in the opposite direction. Gurrufío The Gurrufío is a simply constructed traditional children’s toy, very popular in Venezuela. It is made from a soft drink bottle cap that has been hammered flat, with holes drilled or nailed equidistant and close to the center. A rope is inserted through both holes, leaving a length of about 15 to 30 centimeters on each side, and the loop is closed with a knot. Take the ends of the loop at both sides with the fingers, rotate the disk a bit,"
"Toy block Toy blocks (also building bricks, building blocks, or simply blocks) are wooden, plastic, or foam pieces of various shapes (square, cylinder, arch, triangle, etc.) and colors that are used as construction toys. Sometimes toy blocks depict letters of the alphabet. There are mentions of blocks or ""dice"" with alphabets inscribed on them used as entertaining educational tools in the works of English writer and inventor Hugh Plat (his 1594 book The ""Jewel House of Art and Nature"") and English philosopher John Locke (his 1693 essay ""Thoughts Concerning Education""). Plat described them as ""the child using to play much"
"Squeaky toy A squeaky toy, squeak toy, squeaker toy, or squeeze toy, is a soft, hollow toy made from flexible materials such as rubber or vinyl, and usually equipped with a small device known as a ""squeaker."" When the toy is squeezed, air is forced through the squeaker, resulting in a high-pitched sound, such as a squeak, or the sound of a toy horn or whistle. The tone and duration of the sound may depend on the size of the squeaker, the amount of air squeezed out of the toy, and the speed with which it is squeezed. When the"
"Toy A toy is an item that is used in play, especially one designed for such use. Playing with toys can be an enjoyable means of training young children for life in society. Different materials like wood, clay, paper, and plastic are used to make toys. Many items are designed to serve as toys, but goods produced for other purposes can also be used. For instance, a small child may fold an ordinary piece of paper into an airplane shape and ""fly it"". Newer forms of toys include interactive digital entertainment. Some toys are produced primarily as collectors' items and"
"Paper toys Paper toys are toys made of paper. They are constructed in several ways, by folding, as in paper airplanes, paper fortune tellers or Origami, or by cutting, decorating or assembling pieces of paper with glue or tape to create a paper doll or paper model. Paper toys date back to ancient times. The history of paper toys can be traced back to the art of origami (or-i-GA-me).The word is based on the Japanese words ""Ori"", which means to fold, and ""Kami"", which means paper. However origami's roots are from China and it spread to Japan somewhere around the"
"Stuffed toy A stuffed toy is a toy with an outer fabric sewn from a textile and then stuffed with a flexible material. In North American English, they are variously referred to as plush toys, stuffed animals, plushies, snuggies, stuffies, or snuggled animals. In British English, they are soft toys or cuddly toys. The toys developed in their current form in the early years of the 20th century and have remained consistently popular with children throughout. Different fads have caused specific toys to surge in popularity among adults and collectors. Noticeable examples include Tickle Me Elmo and Beanie Babies. Textiles"
"Playskool Pipeworks Playskool Pipeworks with the unique 'click-lock' locking system is a construction toy consisting of white tubes and multi-colored connectors assembled and disassemble with a plastic wrench. Playskool dubbed it as ""a kid-sized construction system that's a new toy every day!"". It was first designed by John Choong Pipeworks first introduced in the 1980s were originally available as three different Pipeworks sets. The same manual was shipped with 1000, 2000 and 3000 sets but the only way to build everything in it was to purchase the Deluxe Set 3000 as it had all the necessary parts. Later, in 1987,"
"Thaumatrope A thaumatrope is an optical toy that was popular in the 19th century. A disk with a picture on each side is attached to two pieces of string. When the strings are twirled quickly between the fingers the two pictures appear to blend into one due to the persistence of vision. Examples of common thaumatrope pictures include a bare tree on one side of the disk, and its leaves on the other, or a bird on one side and a cage on the other. Many classic thaumatropes also included riddles or short poems, with one line on each side."