What was your favorite toy growing up as a kid?

I do not remember having a favorite toy as a kid. Not one toy. I do remember having a big pile of dirt/sand in my backyard for the longest time though and I remember playing in and with this dirt pile a lot.

Can I stretch the definition of "Toy" to include "A Big Pile of Filler Sand/Dirt, Rain, and a Seasonal Pond"? My mom had purchased this filler to try and fix a deep depression in my backyard that every single Spring would fill up with water and turn our backyard into a legitimate pond. The filler never really got spread out correctly and the pond remained, it would fill from the rain and melt water and drain slowly into the tiny creek passing through our yard... taking most of the summer to do so.

It was this water and moisture that made the filler pliable and easily molded so I would wade through the pond with my dirty jeans and a few tennis balls to play on and in the mound of muddy filler. My main mission every time I did this was to make a roller track for the tennis balls to roll down and I became really good at creating intricate hills, tunnels, jumps, and loops for the balls to roll through. Both the best and the worst part of these roller coaster tennis ball gravity and force tester tracks was that they were perpetually temporary.

The rain and the flow of water would erode the delicate balances of the track almost daily so I had to be vigilant in my upkeep of the track or I had to deconstruct the track and begin anew. Each time getting a little better and better at making the balls do more and more interesting maneuvers through the muddy track on a hill of filler dirt surrounded by a seasonal pond.So at the end of this answer I have seen that although I as a child might not have store bought toys to build "favorite toy" memories with, a big pile of dirt, a few tennis balls, and a lot of water was more than good enough for me and additionally for me answering this question has brought all those messy, messy, and wet Springtimes in the backyard fantastically back to mind. Thanks.

The picture below is not me but it's close:).

Mine was Lego, the basic bricks, because I thought I could make anything out of them. My second most favorite was Play Doh, also because I thought I could make anything out of it.

My Barbie dolls were my favorites. I had lots of them, but only one Ken. Lucky Ken!

For some reason, Mom did not buy us Kens, only Barbies, and finally bought me one Ken. But my brother had GI Joe and Johnny West dolls (excuse me, "action figures") so my Barbies would date soldiers and cowboys when the one Ken was busy. I still had my barbies when I became a stepmother to two girls in the 1980's, and they thought my 1960's barbies clothing was hilarious.

One outfit was an orange velvet top and bellbottom pants with yellow fringe--way cool, eh? Too bad I didn't keep the dolls and their wardrobe (plus the cool pad they lived in) put away because of course everything got destroyed and vintage barbie clothes are probably worth a pretty penny to collectors these days!

Books. Lots and lots of books.

I did like biking around the neighborhood, and re-enacting bank robberies with my Lion King figurines, and I loved Legos too (I had a gigantic tupperware of them, often I had to carve a road to my bed because they were all over my floor), but my primary hobby as a kid was leaving little "book tents" around the house.

Ah, this question makes me feel as old as Methuselah, but here goes. I actually had two favorite toys. Both are most likely banned now with safety and all, but back in the 70's kids came from hearty stock.No one cared much if something exploded or poked your eye out back then.

Come crying to mom and dad and they'd really give you something to cry about. O.k.So favorite number one was Clackers; anyone remember that toy? Clackers consisted of two large, brightly colored, SOLID marbles attached to a string.

The idea was to put your finger in the ring at the top of the string and let the balls hang loose (don't even go there). You would then start clacking the balls together -first lightly and slowly then building up to a frenzied pitch of clacking the balls up and down. Problems arose because the balls were heavy and solid and kids are mean.

Just try grabbing one from your brother and you'll know what I mean. The bruises were awesome and kids compared them like trophies. I wish I still had my red Clackers.

My other favorite was the Slip and Slide; my dad's answer to 'can we have a pool?" The Slip and Slide was a long sheet of plastic that wets itself after attaching a garden hose. Kids line up and take a running dive sliding belly down along the plastic.

F-U-N! Other than careening off the plastic and sliding over rocks and other debri left on the lawn (ouch), it was a great way to cool off.

Here is a handful of some of my favorite toys when I was a kid: 1. Speak and Spell......I carried that thing with me everywhere, and I can still hear that guy's voice calling out words. It frequently annoyed my mother to no end, but she was the one who got it for me....It was educational (E-D-U-C-A-T-I-O-N-A-L), so what could she say?

This toy helped me win a number of spelling bees later on. 2. Sit N Spin.....This never got old.

Spin around, make yourself dizzy, fall off, and get back up and do it all over again. I really miss this toy. I wish they made these for grown-ups, but I still play that same game in my office chair.3.

Simon Game.....Because it was the only game that I could beat all of my friends at and yet another way to annoy my mom. (Kids, this was the first handheld portable game system, and it was just as cool then as Nintendo DS and PSP are today. ) 4.My Little Pony....I think this was my dad's answer to "I want a pony.

" Instead of having one pony, I had lots of them, and I could do their hair and dress them. Some of them were even scented like cotton candy or bubble gum...which smells a lot better than real life ponies.(Yes, I still have them...(see below). This is what I play with when my internet goes down.

).

I must confess that I was a tom boy growing up and used my bike and a frisbee more often than most of my other toys, but I also fondly remember a series of dolls that have left an olfactory dent on my memory forever. When I was very little... around four or five, my mother bought me a set of Little Kiddle dolls. They were the size of small troll dolls.

They had the regular themed dolls, but they also had ones that came in their own magical bottle and fragrance. I had Honeysuckle, Rose and Lily of the Valley. collectdolls.about.com/library/price/blg... Those dolls still pop into my mind today when I smell a fragrance with similar ingredients.It is funny how the sense of smell can bring back memories that normally would be long forgotten.

My Lionel Santa Fe Super Chief train set. I still have it and break it out and play with at xmas every year. Got it 50 years ago and it doesn't sound as good as it once did, but she still chugs along and makes my wife crazy.

Now that I think about it my mom use to get pretty crazy about it too. Oh well I love my old trains and they love me...just don't touch em! youtube.com/watch?v=4ACzjP73zek&feature=....

There are two toys that created lasting memories for me. This question inspired me to sketch them from memory. The very first one, given to me as an infant, was a stuffed rabbit I still have.

Stiff as all get out, he's red and green, and has always stood like a stern sentry. One ear lost its wire, so it flops down, but he's still got that don't-mess-with-me protector's energy. The second toy I had the most fun with was the stepstool my father let me build at age 5.It was made of scrap oak, and weighed a ton.

He showed me how to brace the legs, making it so strong even a giant could have leapt up on it. I lugged it around, and used it as a miniature portable desk to set up shop wherever and whenever the mood struck for drawing or writing. The best part was using my Dad's official tools; saw, hammer, nails, screws, level, sandpaper, plus oil base paint, turpentine and two sizes of real paintbrushes!

Never a fan of pink even as a kid, I painted it pale pink with the leftover paint he gave me. I wasn't jealous of my younger brother's turquoise paint, dashing as it was, since my stool was much heavier, with thick chunks of wood.Hmmm... maybe that's why I still find assembling those Ikea-style bookcases, tables and bureaus to be fun and relaxing. I like it even better when the directions are just pictures and arrows, no words.

I think my ultimate favorite toy wasn't really a toy at all. I LOVED playing imaginary games and being someone else (probably why I got into acting) and I would just grab things from all over the house to be the person I decided to be that day. The first thing on my list was to make a house, or basically a tent.

I think I used every chair, blanket, sheet, pin, etc, imaginable. I was obsessed with making tents, like a boy and his forts. Next favorite thing ... my sing-a-long videos.

Then, my dress up clothes. Then, my dolls, which is funny, because I didn't play with them. I just decided one day that I wanted a doll collection.So I ended up having 50+ dolls just sitting on shelves and dressers around my room.

Other notable toys in my life ... my brothers nerf guns, pogo stick, one of those kiddie laptop computers with educational games, those plastic heels for little girls, the stick on fingertips with nails, board games, AND ... Polly Pocket - old school style - choking hazard to the max.

Clay figurines made of mud and different arts made of mod. They are cost-efficient but contains our hardwork.

Paper Dolls. Does anyone else remember them? Books of cardboard figures with pages of clothes-with-tabs to cut out and dress the dolls with.

I love fashion to this day, and I'm well along in years.

I cant really gove you an answer,but what I can give you is a way to a solution, that is you have to find the anglde that you relate to or peaks your interest. A good paper is one that people get drawn into because it reaches them ln some way.As for me WW11 to me, I think of the holocaust and the effect it had on the survivors, their families and those who stood by and did nothing until it was too late.