100 Toys and Their Stories that Define Childhood

My daughter was convinced that she saw a plant closes its leaves in her science class and that it wasn't a venus flytrap. She called it a Tickle me Plant. OMG who know that you could grow a real house plant that folds its leaves together when you Tickle It. I am sure it will make the new 100 list.

- Jen, Beverly Hills, CA

This story was submitted as part of the 100 Toys Project at The Children's Museum of Indianapolis.

Play Doh was the best toy invented since sliced bread! I still love playing with it to this day, all of the fun things, designed and ideas you can create with it are out of this world. As like most kids who put things in their mouth, yes I have eaten a lot of Play Doh. It doesn't taste very good but I guess you'll have to try it once. Play Doh is a toy I'll have for my future children!

- Mindy, Ghent, KY

This story was submitted as part of the 100 Toys Project at The Children's Museum of Indianapolis.

I started collecting beanie babies at a very young age. I was a little girl when they first started becoming popular and it was everything from the first edition to the McDonald's Happy Meal teenie beanies that I loved to play with growing up. I shared them with my sisters and when my sister Kristina was younger, she could fit into a tote of my beanie babies with it almost under her head. Unfortunately, with us moving so much, the beanies are missing and I'm on a search to hunt them down. My favorite one of all was Gobbles the Turkey.

- Mindy, Ghent, KY

This story was submitted as part of the 100 Toys Project at The Children's Museum of Indianapolis.

My first Halloween costume was Oscar the Grouch and came in a box. There was the trash can that was made outta plastic the mask which was oscars face was also made of a plastic, it also had one of those uncomfortable elastic strings to hold it on my head. Don't see them made like that anymore.

- Angie, Jenison, MI

This story was submitted as part of the 100 Toys Project at The Children's Museum of Indianapolis.

This summer we asked YOU, our online visitors, to choose the Top 20 Toys that Define Childhood—and you sure did rise to the occassion! The project, “100 Toys (& Their Stories) that Define Our Childhood,” spread like wildfire across the web and resulted in over 600 stories, 24,000 votes, and countless comments on news and social media sites. We've learned that everyone, everyone, has an opinion about their favorite toy.

Back in July, our curators unveiled 100 objects from our 120,000-object collection that they felt best represented the last 100 years of childhood. From there you voted and, more importantly, shared memories about your favorite toy. We received stories from grandparents, young moms and dads, teenagers, and parents sharing stories for their young children, along with incredibly moving stories on everything from GI Joe to dinosaur toys to Yo-Yos. And they were coming from all over: Maine, Florida, California, Germany, Israel—and even a class of students in Queensland, Australia!

You can now see your top-voted 20 toys on display in a special case at the entry gates. This is our first adventure in "crowd-curation," where YOU chose the artifacts that are displayed. So come on in and enjoy the fruits of your labor—and share a memory about your favorite toy while you're at it!

Curious to know what toys made it out on top? In This Week's WOW, Josh and American Collection Curator Andrea Hughes unveil the winners in our fabulous...exclusive...first...and only...100 Toys People's Choice Awards!

I played with these in Pre-K every day. Great Fun!!

- Joe, Dallas, GA

This story was submitted as part of the 100 Toys Project at The Children's Museum of Indianapolis.

One of the only toys I liked growing up, Lego toys have been a household name since they premiered. I was a huge fan of their Bionicle line until its end in 2010, and still love seeing the new sets and licenses that the Lego Group keeps getting released.

- Chris, Olathe, KS

This story was submitted as part of the 100 Toys Project at The Children's Museum of Indianapolis.

When I was about 7, my uncle gave me a HUGE box of Legos that he played with when he was a kid. I would spend hours building houses, castles, and cars. As I got older, my creations became more elaborate and I started building whole towns in my room. Every Christmas I couldn't wait to see if I would get a new Lego kit to build. My family always opened presents on Christmas Eve so I usually had the kits built by morning! My mom always said that some day I would be an architect with all the Lego building I did (althought I'm in college studing to be a pilot now.) My favorite kits were the space and airplane kits that I got when I was in the fourth grade.
I'm 18 now, but I still have my box of Legos in my closet and my NASA Legos on various shelves around my room!

- Natascha, Morgantown, WVA

This story was submitted as part of the 100 Toys Project at The Children's Museum of Indianapolis.

I got the big box of Marx Dinosaurs when I was about six. I played with them indoor and out for many years. I became the "dinosaur kid" at school and even gave a lecture about dinosaurs to the First Grade (I was in the 2nd).

My favorite way to play was either on mountains I made by putting shoes under a throw rug in the house, or among the roots of a big tree in the park across the street. I and my friends spent hours doing that. Great memories!

- Rod, Milan, MI

This story was submitted as part of the 100 Toys Project at The Children's Museum of Indianapolis.

I got my first Little Golden Book on Feb. 4, 1986. I wasn't even three yet. It was Katie the Kitten. It soon became my favorite book. We at one time had like 5 copies of it. One for home, diaper bag, my aunts house, the car, and a spare. My mom, aunts, and older sister still to this day can start telling the story without the book! Just a week ago, my 7 year old neice read it to me for the very first time. It was great!

- Cassie, Oakland City, IN

This story was submitted as part of the 100 Toys Project at The Children's Museum of Indianapolis.
 

Birthdays and holidays were not complete without Barbie. Barbie birthday cakes, Barbie wrapping paper, Barbie sleeping bag for slumber parties--it was all synonymous with me! Barbie's friend, Midge, was even used as a bribe to get to me perform at a 1989 Christmas pageant at church that I refused to be a part of. It worked! Today, I keep my love for Barbie alive with a Barbie Christmas tree complete with pink lights and a pink tree skirt. I add new decorations each year.

- Beth, Frankfort, KY

This story was submitted as part of the 100 Toys Project at The Children's Museum of Indianapolis. Vote for your favorite and share a toy memory through Aug. 17, 2012.


 

I still love to go into Babyland General. Even though I am 50+, to go see the "magic" in the kids eyes is awesome. To see a little boy or girl take an oath to be a good parent and the love in their eyes for these dolls is so special. What a magical place. Love taking my grandchildren there. You see such an excitement in their eyes. It is contagious.

- Debbie, Marietta, GA

This story was submitted as part of the 100 Toys Project at The Children's Museum of Indianapolis. Vote for your favorite and share a toy memory through Aug. 17, 2012.

Being from Cleveland, Georgia, the Cabbage Patch Kids hold a special place in my heart. I remember when the craze hit the world and everyone from White County was happy that that so 'Kids found new homes all over the world!! Now, I am fortunate enough to play with the 'Kids everyday and watch them continue to grow. :)

- Cindy, Cleveland, GA

This story was submitted as part of the 100 Toys Project at The Children's Museum of Indianapolis. Vote for your favorite and share a toy memory through Aug. 17, 2012.

In my family there are 3 children. I was the youngest with 2 older brothers. My brothers got cabbage patch kids before I did and they were birthday cabbage patch kids. When you squeezed them, the birthday popper would make a noise. As the youngest of course I stole these dolls as my own when my brothers grew out of them.

- Caitlin, Melbourne, Australia

This story was submitted as part of the 100 Toys Project at The Children's Museum of Indianapolis. Vote for your favorite and share a toy memory through Aug. 17, 2012.

I loved drawing & coloring as a kid. It was a comfort thing. So much so, that at age 21, when I had to have major surgery, I requested to have a new box of 64 Crayola Crayons & a coloring book to give me something to do during recovery. I still have that box of crayons almost 20 years later. (And my daughter had to ask permission to color with "Mommy's crayons!)

- Donna, Indianapolis

This story was submitted as part of the 100 Toys Project at The Children's Museum of Indianapolis. Vote for your favorite and share a toy memory through Aug. 17, 2012.

It must be fate.. I enjoyed this toy as a kid, but always liked playing with the parts on a real potato. Now I work for a big potato and onion growing & packing company and I get access to any amount of the right sized spuds to do it! And yes I have Potato Darth Vader on my desk and my boss has Transformer Potato on his.. LOL!

- Sue

This story was submitted as part of the 100 Toys Project at The Children's Museum of Indianapolis. Vote for your favorite and share a toy memory through Aug. 17, 2012.

This was a toy that grew up with me. I started with my Dad helping me make amazing patterns, then I had a go at the simple ones on my own, to being able to master the big complicated ones myself, and 'compete' with Dad about who could make the neatest versions of the really complicated ones, it was lots of fun and gave me a big sense of accomplishment. It was cheap and portable (colured pens and paper, a board and you were away..) Did anyone else use it to design a pin and string pictures popular in the 70's? I remember my art teacher being really impressed with that project.

- Sue

This story was submitted as part of the 100 Toys Project at The Children's Museum of Indianapolis. Vote for your favorite and share a toy memory through Aug. 17, 2012.

I had a few, but my first one will always be my favorite. Sadly, Conway and I are no longer together. He had curly brown hair, came wearing a red cordery overall with a little elephant, and he went every place I did. I would sleep with him at night, hold him if I was scared, I even was able to take him to Germany with me. I had great times with Conway.

- Nicole, Pendleton, IN

This story was submitted as part of the 100 Toys Project at The Children's Museum of Indianapolis. Vote for your favorite and share a toy memory through Aug. 17, 2012.

In the 1960s, we always had a Monopoly game set up at our house in the summertime. Games would go on for days or even weeks. It made our house the place all the neighbor kids would come so they could (in varying combinations) play. Sometimes we would play for a few minutes or an hour, or, when it rained, all day, and then we'd stop and pick up where we left off later. It seemed like it could take forever to accumulate all the properties and build houses and hotels. But it was like our own little world that we controlled and we just loved it, even more than watching TV.

- Rosa, Fort Wayne, IN

This story was submitted as part of the 100 Toys Project at The Children's Museum of Indianapolis. Vote for your favorite and share a toy memory through Aug. 17, 2012.

My favorite color has always been purple. But when I was in school, I discovered that Crayons gave me the power to choose Which purple, and gave it a name! Wisteria.. that's my favorite. No, Wisteria is not in the pack of 8 crayons, you have to buy the big packs, but who doesn't Love to see a beautiful new package of crayons with its endless artistic possibilities? I certainly do, and I'm so proud to say that my boys love crayons just as much as I did! This toy will be #1 in my book (coloring, that is) for decades, if not longer!

- Christen, Terre Haute, IN

This story was submitted as part of the 100 Toys Project at The Children's Museum of Indianapolis. Vote for your favorite and share a toy memory through Aug. 17, 2012.