If you have children then we’re sure, like us, that you want to encourage them to be creative and express themselves, whilst at the same time doing something they find fun and enjoyable.
When we were growing up in the 1980s there were lots of toys, activities and hobbies that encouraged our own personal creativity, and below we’ve selected 10 of our very favourites. Which do you remember from when you were a child? And are there other activities you can think of that you feel we should have included?
1. Fuzzy Felt
We’re certain that seeing pictures of some of the 70s and 80s Fuzzy Felt boxes will immediately fill you to the brim with nostalgia. Fuzzy Felt was, and still is, a brilliant way to encourage creativity in children, providing a template so they don’t have to start a work of art from scratch, but at the same time leaving enough room for them to express themselves individually.
Which Fuzzy Felt sets did you own?
2. Magic Painting
Do you remember partaking in some magic painting?
In case you’ve forgotten, you simply had to paint with water, and the magic of the books would fill your pages with beautiful colours!
3. Spirograph
Was there a single 80s child who didn’t own a Spirograph?
It was a clever piece of mathematical drawing kit that meant you could create some brilliant scientific masterpieces, but we’re sure you all remember that horrible moment when your pen slipped and your artwork was ruined!
4. Paint By Numbers
Unlike Magic Painting, with Paint by Numbers you had to do the actual painting yourself, but as long as you remembered to read the numbers correctly, you always painted the right colours.
The only question is: did you manage to stay inside the lines?
5. Fashion Wheel
Is there a single 80s girl reading this who didn’t own or at least want to own a Fashion Wheel?
We bet you spent hours creating your own amazingly fashionable designs, and we bet it made you dream that you’d one day become a famous fashion designer yourself!
6. Dot To Dot
Didn’t know how to draw an Elephant, Dinosaur, Train or Spaceship? Fear not, because Dot to Dot books had the answer.
We’re sure you all tried it at least once when you were a kid: You drew lines between the numbers and ended up with an absolute work of art!
7. Play-Doh
There were, and still are, many different applications for the brilliant invention that is Play-Doh.
We don’t know about you, but our very favourite Play-Doh set was the ‘Mop Top Hair Shop’, which allowed you to grow, cut and groom the hair of your little men and women.
8. Mosaic Stickers
Remember these?
You simply stuck square-shaped stickers into the right place and would end up with a total artistic masterpiece!
9. Lego
These days you can buy a multitude of Lego sets from a number of different ranges (Ninjago, Star Wars, Marvel etc). The list is endless, and the size (and price) of some of them are extremely impressive!
But whilst the Lego sets we enjoyed as children may have been simpler, they still hold a very dear place in our hearts.
10. Stickle Bricks
How great were Stickle Bricks?
Even as toddlers we could easily create spaceships, towers and castles by combining the miraculously sticky bricks, and if we’re completely honest we still love playing with them to this day!