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Dolls from antiquity -

Kids have been playing with dolls since antiquity. Indeed, as playthings dolls are among the oldest and most culturally universal toys. The oldest known doll is thought to be 4,000 years old.

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'Bisque' dolls -

'Bisque' dolls—named for their biscuit porcelain construction, which gave their skin tone a realistic matte finish—were hugely popular in Europe in the 19th century. They had their peak of popularity between 1860 and 1900 with French and German dolls.

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The automaton -

A figurative piece perhaps rather than a plaything, this doll on a tricycle with a bell is a automaton, a self-operating machine. It's 19th-century German in origin.

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Life-like dolls -

A young girl clutches her two eerily life-like dolls in this 1930 photograph. More elaborately-made dolls appeared in the 20th century.

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Dollhouse -

With dolls came the dollhouse. Dollhouses trace their history back about 400 years to the baby house display cases of Europe, which showed idealized interiors. They became especially popular in the Victorian era of the late 1800s. Pictured is an example created from oak and veneered with tortoiseshell and pewter, which was made in the 17th century.

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Everyday playthings -

Ancient Roman children loved to play games and were given all sorts of toys to amuse themselves with. Pictured is a bronze model of a cart from the 2nd century BCE, part of a set of farming-themed toys.

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Toys for boys -

War-type toys were typically given to Roman boys who'd pretend they were in battle, just like their fathers or elder brothers.

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Knucklebones -

This marble statue from the 2nd century CE shows a young Roman woman playing knucklebones— modern-day jacks or fivestones. The name knucklebones is derived from the ancient Egyptian version of the game, which uses the astragalus (a bone in the ankle, or hock) of a sheep.

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Modern-day marbles -

And the game caught on. Here, a group of children pictured in 1870 play marbles outside.

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Stuffed toys -

Some primitive toys such as this crocodile from ancient Egypt were made of papyrus and stuffed with cloth or hay.

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Yo-yo -

The yo-yo very likely came from China. But the plaything was popularized in ancient Greece in at least 1000 BCE, with discs made from stone and later wood and terracotta. This illustration is of a child playing with a yo-yo on a dish decorated with the Greek key pattern.

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Yo-yoing down the years -

Thousands of years later on August 17, 1944, this American soldier is seen teaching a French child to play with a yo-yo while her mother looks on fondly, during the Allied liberation of France during the Second World War.

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Toy bear -

Up there with the doll as one of the most cherished of children's toys is the stuffed bear. And the rarest of bears are those made by Steiff. Purpose-made stuffed animals are a relatively recent invention. The first Steiffs appeared in Germany in the early 20th century. 

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Phenakistoscope -

The phenakistoscope was an optical toy invented by the Belgian physicist Joseph Plateau (1801–1883). The first widespread animation device that created a fluent illusion of motion, it is held with the printed side of the disc facing a mirror. When the disc is spun, the viewer looks at its reflection through the apertures on the disc's circumference and the drawings appear to move. The disc pictured shows a family scene and was made in 1830.

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Rocking horse -

The wooden rocking horse became a popular child's toy from the 19th century onwards.

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Horse on wheels -

Pictured in 1870 is a young lad taking his rocking horse out for a ride. It's mounted on a tricycle frame.

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Hoop rolling -

Ancient Greek youngsters were known to have played hoop rolling, a simple game where a large hoop is rolled along the ground using a stick. Hoop rolling remained hugely popular with children until the early 20th century.

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Jigsaw -

In 1767, the first jigsaw appeared. Invented by cartographer John Spilsbury (1739–1769), it was created ostensibly to help children learn geography. Spilsbury made eight puzzles comprising of maps pasted onto boards and dissected along country boundaries to make a jigsaw. Pictured is the Europe jigsaw.

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Meccano -

The turn of the 20th century is recognized as the golden age of toy development. Meccano was created in 1901 by inventor Frank Hornby (1863–1936). This metal construction kit was more than just a toy: it was educational, teaching basic mechanical principles like levers and gearing. Meccano became one of the must-have toys for boys across Great Britain.

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Hornby Railways -

Frank Hornby was also behind the launch of Hornby Railways. The first clockwork train was produced in 1920 and put thousands of model railway enthusiast on the right track for decades.

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Dinky Toys -

The die-cast miniature vehicles known as Dinky Toys were made in England from 1934 to 1979. Dinky remains one of the most iconic of toy makers. Examples include this 1962 Jaguar E-Type.

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Toy cart -

This lucky youngster pictured in 1908 is sitting in a beautifully-made Mercedes pedal car. First introduced as a toy in the 1880s, the basic cart or wagon design has changed little over the years.

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Cart -

This young lad pictured in 1921 is about to take flight in his toy cart designed as an airplane.

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Toy airplane -

Toy airplanes had become popular during the First World War. By the late 1930s, youngsters, mostly boys, could be seen dressing for the part in leather aviator caps with goggles, 'flying' the latest model plane designs.

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Toy soldier -

Military figurines have been found in ancient Egyptian tombs, such is the powerful symbolism associated with the soldier. Tin soldiers first appeared in Germany in the 1730s. Originally used by military strategists to plan battle tactics, these miniature figurines became increasingly popular as toys throughout the 18th and 19th centuries. Pictured is a collection of Russian Imperial Guard toy tin soldiers housed in the Suvorov Memorial Museum in Saint Petersburg.

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Model yacht -

Enthusiastic school boys steady their toy yachts before the start of the National Model Yachting Carnival at Kensington Garden in London in April 1930.

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Building blocks -

A young boy and girl play with toy building blocks in this 1951 photograph. The manufacturing of blocks began in the late 18th century, although children played with homemade blocks and built with natural materials for many centuries before this.

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Slinky -

The Slinky was launched onto the toy market in the early 1940s. The plaything was developed after an engineer named Richard James accidentally knocked a spring from a shelf and watched as it 'stepped' in a series of arcs to the floor, where the component settled upright.

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Disney toys -

The advent of cinema and later television saw toys produced as licensed merchandise appear on toyshop shelves everywhere. In 1934, mass production of Mickey and Minnie dolls began. Disney later licensed more of its characters as toys.

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Toy robot -

Remember this guy? It's Robby the Robot, the science fiction icon who first appeared in the 1956 film 'Forbidden Planet.'

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Space age toys -

Toymakers took full advantage of the space age of the 1950s and 1960s to manufacture products like this miniature planetarium.

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Moon-landing playthings -

This illustration from the box of a science fiction-related children's toy leaves no doubt as to what's inside, a model of Eagle, the Apollo 11 lunar module. This was a much sought-after toy in the summer of 1969.

Sources (National Geographic) (Popular Science) (Dolls House Parade) (Meccanoman) (Encyclopedia.com) 

See also: How to make sure you’re buying safe toys for kids

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