Toys

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A toy is an object used for play. Most toys are made especially for children, some toys are also used by adults. A toy is appreciated for its own sake and for the pleasure of the game.

Definitions
In principle, any object can become a toy for the period of corresponding use by humans or animals. Crafted or industrially produced toys and games marketed through trade are referred to as toys. A play device, on the other hand, refers to objects that are not declared explixit as toys in their original function, but are still suitable for children to play; these can, for example, come from the household or consist of natural materials. The design of toys reflects the different natural and cultural references of people. Among the simplest and oldest toys in human history are wooden blocks, dolls and board games.

Meaning and purpose
Unlike a tool, which is primarily used for manufacturing or machining, the purpose of a toy lies in itself. A toy serves the pleasure of engaging with its material, functions and possibilities. Toys are used to live out the play instinct. It can fuel the desire for movement or the need for communication and in the optimal case also release design forces. Toys are not necessarily and primarily used for specific learning purposes, such as the acquisition of various motor or cognitive abilities. However, learning processes can occur incidentally or also be planned specifically under didactic ideas.

With toys, certain events and observations of everyday life can be imitated, replayed or even their own imaginary worlds realized. Toys, for example in the form of doll kitchens, merchant shops or toy trains, can and is also used by children for living specific gender roles and for socialization within society.

Educational toys
Educational toys can promote the fine motor skills and logical thinking of children. The child's play and the toy used are thus not only for the entertainment of the child. Rather, play and toys are an opportunity and means to encourage children in their development. In the game, physical, cognitive and social skills can be developed and trained. In this sense, any toy that gives impetus or is suitable to discover and train these skills is an educational toy.
In addition to such a broad definition, there are narrower definitions, such as that of the game didactician Klaus Kube, according to which all those forms of play are to be described as an educational game, “with the help of which in the original sense the learning of signs, terms and facts as well as their regular orderly nature”