I have many fond memories of the toys I grew up playing with as a child. I’ve never really grown out of being interested in toys, I’m often just as keen as the children to play and explore new toys together. Play is so important and the primary way in which the children are learning so I’m always happy to give the boys new play opportunities and introduce new materials and ideas to them. It’s not only new things that can spark their imagination though. Many of the toys and games that they love best have been around since I was small, and even for generations before that.
I often chat to the boys about the toys and games I used to play with my brothers and sister growing up. My eldest, Mr Z, who is 6 years old loves to hear about this. He’s very close to my twin sister (his favourite aunty) and he loves to hear tales of what we got up to as kids. These simple moments sharing family stories and reminiscing are great for strengthening family bonds, and also introducing a little bit of history (modern history – because I am not that old!!). It can help the children to feel that we understand them. Yes, I am the grown up parent and you are the child, but not so long ago I was a 6 year old playing with my ‘puppy in my pocket’ cards with my sister just like you play with your ‘top trumps.’
It helps children to connect the passage of time and be aware of the basic ‘circle of life’ – how children grow into adults, and have their own children and so it continues. Very young children are not always aware that the adults in their life were once children too. As they have only known them in their current form, they might find it hard to imagine! As children become older, hearing tales of their parents, aunties and uncles and other family members helps to strengthen their identity and sense of belonging in the family. They know who they are, and where they came from, who has gone before them. Sometimes young children find it hard to grasp the concept that their aunties and uncles are their parents brothers and sisters, and that their granny is actually their mum or dad’s mum. Sharing a few childhood tales can help to reinforce those concepts, and including stories about the favourite toys that you used to play with usually grabs their interest.
It’s so interesting to see how some things have changed so much since we were kids (the prevalence internet and mobile phones are probably the main things!) and yet other things and many aspects of play have stayed just the same.
Every Thursday for the next four weeks, a different retro toy will be featured on the John Lewis ‘What Matters‘ microsite. This week it’s the good old teddy bear, and what better choice is there to start the reminiscing. For many people their childhood teddy bear is their most beloved childhood toy and the one they always remember.
John Lewis Insurance wants to hear your special childhood toy memories, share them on Twitter. Also, why not keep up to date with John Lewis to see what retro toy they will be featuring next week!
I do have a beloved teddy from my childhood. It’s a Popple! I’m sure it’s familiar mainly to people born in the late 80s and others may have no idea what it is (these were made first only from 1986-1988.) I have kept some popples from my childhood and now they belong to my kids.
 I’ve shared about these Popples a couple of times, along with other toys we used to play with. Because I loved these so much as a child, it’s so lovely to see my children now being familiar with the Popples characters and snuggling up with these same plush toys.
They are multi purpose teddies, you can snuggle up with them and use them as a conventional soft toy or you can curl them up into a ball and then throw them around. I always found it a bit mean to turn the popple into a football though, while my brothers were always more keen to do that and give my popple a kick!
I had two main popples, one was the small slumber party Pancake popple, and the other one was a bigger “Baby Popple” – I had “Cribsy” and my sister had “Bibsy” – not that we called them by these names, we just made up our own and the baby popple used to change names several times a week since we always had a baby names fascination! I still have the very same “Cribsy” baby popple for my kids along with a larger Pancake popple (the one in the picture above is Pancake)
The smaller slumber party popple was carried around by me so much as a young child that the arm started to fall off, so sadly that one is no longer with me. I do remember it well though!
 What was your childhood teddy? I’m sure many of you have a tale to tell, so share it with me in the comments!
If you fancy some more nostalgia, you can also check out the old My Little Pony Baby Bonnet School of Dance toy advert I shared here. Let me know if any of you fellow children of the 80s and 90s also had these toys, or what your favourites where.
Image Source: Shutterstock (modified) This is a sponsored post which has been written in association with John Lewis Insurance
Anna Marikar, mum of four and seasoned blogger, has spent over a decade sharing her parenting journey and passion for kid-friendly crafts and free printables.
Her easy-to-follow craft ideas and practical parenting advice have transformed In The Playroom into a cherished resource for parents.
Ah. I remember Popples, I think I was a bit old for them. We found a bag of soft toys in my Mum’s attic recently and my two have claimed some of them for their collection.
I also loved popples and had one and a story book , the only toys I have now are a hand knitted yellow teddy bear that I was given as a baby and 33 years on it is still cuddled and going stron all 4 of my kids played with it and was in there prams as babies my youngest is 3 and she has it to sleep with sometimes . I also have a large doll that is made of plaster that was my mums when she was 3 called kimmy all my kids love her and sometimes dress her but she is getting old now so is played with less. I did pass on my love of trolls to my 9 year old he has one that was mine that my younger brother ended up with and passed it on and now my son has a collection of trolls he finds at car boots. I love talking to my kids about my childhood games and fun they love school tales and the games we played there that no longer get played at school.
What a lovely idea sharing your memories with your children. I don’t remember Popples at all but I do have some of my childhood teddies which my children love to play with. Thanks for linking up to #Playtime
What a great idea. I can’t wait to share my childhood toys with our little one. Not quite sure how Star Wars, WWF and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles will go down with our little girl though! 🙂
I had Alf! He came everywhere with me…one time I left him at home when we went on holiday and I was devastated, I was sure he would know and be really upset! #PoCoLo
ooo how exciting. I have introduced some to my daughter but I am saving my Sindy house. Seriously though, I cant wait haha #PoCoLo
Lovely post – my children have several of my books, but my Mum didn’t save any of my toys!
I have fond memories of my white popple with a cerise tummy. I wish I still had her 🙂
My husband’s toys are now scattered all over the house and I will check this out. He is sharing his toys to my son and he would tell stories behind every toy. Its their bonding moment and a chance for my son to experience playing old toys that carries so much of my husband’s memories =) #pocolo
Some of the best toys from when we were younger = popples, trolls, pogs, game of life, Yahtzee, that dinosaur board game, monster game where you swack the card with a hand on a stick, Polly pocket, that dog with some mini puppies that zipped out, the dolls where you grow the hair by winding the arm, cupcake dolls, quints, rainbow brites, Polly pocket, my little pony, puppy in my pocket, mastermind game, swing ball, Lego, some old fashioned games on the computer eg zool and lemmings 😉
I had forgotten about the monster swacker!!
I’m a child of the. 80’s and adored my Care Bear. My 2 year old has recently adopted him.
http://learnermama.com/care-bears-grumpy-bear/
I loved Sindy dolls too – no Barbie for me!
When we weren’t playing with toys we were on the Commodore 64 🙂
81 baby – Hands down my all time favorite was… no still is LEGOS! I’ve picked up a couple off the tiny box sets but I think I honestly want to add to my collection. I’ll end this now as I need to shop for LEGOS online. 🙂