Toys

Medieval babies didn’t have much special equipment beyond a cradle, but some wealthy families had something like a modern “walker” for older babies to toddle around in. There’s also some evidence for baby bonnets with extra padding, intended to cushion the head from falls. (Baby bonnets take their shape from the universal medieval hat, the coif.)

We have evidence for only a few types of toys for older babies and small children: dolls, tops, balls and stick horses. Medieval dolls were called “poppets” (in English) and were made of pottery, wood or cloth. Tops included spinners with a groove for winding a pull string as well as hand-spun tops. Balls could be small clay marbles or larger throwing/kicking balls made of cloth or leather, stuffed with grass. Stick horses varied with wealth, as all toys did. Poor children used a stick, but richer children’s sticks had stuffed horseheads.

Wealthy children always had a wider range of toys, and since aristocratic boys were expected to command armies when they were grown, their specialty was the toy soldier. Not many medieval toy soldiers have made it into the present, since metal was so commonly melted and recast. By the 15th century, princes had moved on to toy cannons, while merchants’ sons in town had pewter soldiers. Their sisters’ dolls were tiny adults with multiple outfits.

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