The classic wooden toys are still popular to this present day despite the abundance of other toys developed with today’s technology. The earliest wooden toys found by archaeologists dated as far as 1100 BC. Children of ancient Rome, Egypt and Greece played with wooden toys that were miniaturised versions of objects used by adults of that time. German toymakers were the first to produce wooden toys for sale to the general public in the 1700s. Then, the favourite playthings of children all over Europe were life-like dolls and animals. During the 19th century, toymakers began creating more elaborate and detailed toys. Bright vivid colours were used and painted on the toys by hand. The popular toys were dollhouses, wooden toy soldiers and wooden train sets.
Wooden toys, unlike battery-operated toys, encourage a child to think and find creative ideas for play. Besides stimulating their mental capabilities, they also help develop their hand-eye coordination and fine motor skills. Wooden toy blocks, lacing beads and lacing boards are those that encourage such play. Toys like wooden shape sorters and pegs help children develop spatial reasoning, matching, shape and colour identification while memory games help them with concentration and memory retention. | 
