The Children's Museum of Indianapolis is working on their new project: 100 Toys (& their Stories) that Define Our Childhood.
The program wants the public’s input on their favorite toy. Children and adults can vote for their favorites on a list of 100 toys from the museum’s collection. The toys represent the various ways children have used their imagination in the last century.
"Childhood is different for each individual and a person's experience of growing up is based upon many different factors," said Dr. Jeffrey H. Patchen, president & CEO of the Children's Museum.
The toys that are featured on the list were chosen for reasons such as popularity and long term success stories. Some of those listed include the Cabbage Patch Kids of the 1980s, the Beanie Babies of the 1990s, crayons, and the red wagon.
"Every day, we see our adult visitors become inspired by an object or toy from our collection and share a story from their own childhood with their young children. This sharing fosters the family-learning experiences we strive to create for our visitors,” said Patchen. “The 100 Toys (& their Stories) project is an extension of this experience by using iconic objects from the museum's collection to encourage inter-generational story-sharing and foster discussion about the role toys play throughout our lives."
The 20 toys that receive the most votes will be displayed in the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis. The public will then be asked to rank the 20 toys. In September, the bronze, silver and gold award winning toys will be announced.
"Museum curators gave great consideration to a variety of experiences that change throughout childhood when picking iconic toys from the collection,” said Patchen. “It is through public voting and memory sharing that we hope to foster fun and exciting discussions about what constitutes an iconic childhood toy."
Families can vote and tell some of their childhood memories with their toy here. People have the opportunity to vote until August 17.
