What did you play with as a child?

[Gemini]

What were your favourite childhood toys. Did you love dolls, or were you more of an outdoor girl?

I loved my dolls, especially my long haired doll with brushable hair. Considering that I love babies so much, I was never much into baby dolls. I prefered the 'child ' dolls, then when I was older, Sindy dolls. My friend had a Tressy doll whose hair grew. I would have given anything for one of those. She had a Chatty Cathy too. Looking back, they must have been well off!
I had my beautiful ebony skinned doll, a bride doll, boy and girls twins, and several random girl dolls. I loved them all!

Apart from the dolls I don't remember a lot of toys. I loved drawing and spent hours doing that. I loved reading too, so often had my head in a book.
In summer I played outside with friends. We didn't need many toys though - a ball, a skipping rope, a length of elastic for Chinese Skipping! I loved my scooter, and spent many an hour scooting around the cul de sac

[Oma]

My toy sewing machine , I had a lovely black doll I called Mandy and my pram also Jacko my toy monkey who I still have , apart from them my skates scooter and skipping rope also one of my Mams stocking with a ball inside to bang from side to side on the wall 😀

[Plantaholic]

Skipping rope, tennis balls up the wall, bike, five stones.

[Daisy]

I wasn't a great lover of my dolls - I had quite a large baby doll, and one with a china head but fabric body. I tended to play doctors with them and the poor things had countless operations! I loved drawing, colouring and painting but best of all I loved books! Outdoors we didn't play with toys a lot - we had meadows at the end of our road, and beyond that woodland (now the M6!). We used to build dens, cross the river by balancing on water pipes (eek!) play very politically incorrect games, re-enacting films seen at the pictures on a Saturday, cops and robbers, and just hang around. We were never bored.

[Grauntie Mag]

We lived way out in the sticks next to a dairy farm and spent a lot of time there playing in the straw barn and out houses. I seem to remember making a club hut in one of our disused pig styes. There were more boys than girls (just 2 of us) in our gang so we played their games mostly. Cops and robbers in the dark was my favourite. We didn't seem to need toys as such but we did have them of course.

[Mimi]

I seemed to spend most of my time either doing handstands or sat up in our neighbours tree.
I also played tennis in the street with my sister, when we saw a car coming we would stand to one side and when it had passed , carry on with the game. I also had a lovely red scooter which I used constantly.

[Oma]

Can you remember laying on your back and looking at the stars and trying to count them , with so much lighting these days kids can't do that now you can't see them in the towns and citys

[Gemini]

Oma, I used to lay on my back on the drive, looking at the clouds moving across the sky. I remember that clearly.

[Enfys]

I loved my dolls but spent most of my time reading or drawing. As an only child I had quite a solitary childhood, not many children my age around us so my books were my companions. Could never imagine being without my books.

[Clover]

I loved my Teddy so much my Mum had to patch it's paws!
I also remember a lovely doll's pram that my parents bought me second hand for Christmas.
Skipping, two balls against the wall and handstands were outside activities as well as wandering on the local common and in the woods with friends and making jumping courses for our dogs.
A rather "posh" friend had a wonderful tree house and for snacks we lad lychees!

[Glammanana]

I loved my dollies and my pram but as I got bigger it went to my bike and my friends and I would cycle to the sand dunes and spend the day there until it was tea time surviving on a bottle of water and jam sandwiches supplied by our mums.
After tea we girls could be found playing two balls or tick or whip and top.

[Gemini]

I loved my Teddy so much my Mum had to patch it's paws!
I also remember a lovely doll's pram that my parents bought me second hand for Christmas.
Skipping, two balls against the wall and handstands were outside activities as well as wandering on the local common and in the woods with friends and making jumping courses for our dogs.
A rather "posh" friend had a wonderful tree house and for snacks we lad lychees!

Clover, I loved my teddy so much he is bald. I still have him, in my dining room! He spent many years in the loft, but when we moved to this house I rescued him, and now I see him every day

[Avo]

I had a beautiful Silver Cross dolls pram, it was green. I had a large baby doll which I dressed in real baby clothes - oh how I loved pushing that pram, (in fact I bought a green Silver Cross when I had my own babies!!) I loved (and still do) board games. My bike was great fun too. I had a dressing up box and loved wearing different outfits.

[ZIZI]

When I was a child my dad was in the army so we were not allowed "big" toys. We had to share a bike and it was usually inherited from a family who had moved. I remember longing for a proper silver cross coach built dollies pram and, to my shame, being jealous when my little sister got one years after my dad left the army and a twin one at that! I was 16 at the time! I do remember getting some "ball bearing rolling skates" for my birthday. We were living in Gibraltar and I was seven. I rushed home from school so excited because I was sure I was going to get said skates. Daddy sat me down and explained that my birthday present was a lovely ............ Baby boy. I remember saying "I don't want a baby brother, I want some roller skates" petulant little madam. I did get the roller skates!

Mostly we played board games and dad always had us singing times tables to records on the Dansette. He did try to make it fun but we were never impressed.

We did have a lot of freedom in that we would go on a military bus to the swimming pool for the day on our own with sandwiches. In Gibraltar we used to walk down a long damp dark tunnel from Europa Point and the boys would hide and jump out on the girls to scare us. The steps at the end to get to the swimming pool were very rickety and would be absolutely condemned now but then it was OK you just jumped over the rotten steps to the one you thought would hold you! At home time mother would ring an old school bell from the top of the cliff. We could never get away with pretending not to hear it as everyone, man, woman, child would say "your mum is calling you" woe betide if we were not quick enough or did not arrive together.

[Nana]

I love reading all your lovely childhood memories. I have a cousin of a similar age & we were inseparable. We played all the outside games mentioned in the previous posts. Did anyone mention hopscotch. My very favourite toy was a cloth doll with a beautiful face which I got in Blackpool with a plastic carry cot. I called her Esmerelder. Mum always gave our toys away so away she went. I got an identical Esmerelder last year on ebay. Happy, happy.💜