Play and Learn Collection: Toys That Influence's photostream

Mission
The Play and Learn Collection: Toys That Influence aims explore and highlight the didactic power of toys. The collection focuses on understanding how toys serve as a means to prepare children for adulthood through play simulating “grown-up” tasks as well as show how toys have continually been used to influence perceptions of gender and race. The Play and Learn Collection aims to establish a dialogue between past and present childhood material culture and reveal how social values and norms have changed, starting from the 1950’s when media and advertising began to play an important role in the consumption of toys to today’s world of over abundant media influence.

Collections Policy
The aim of the Play and Learn Collection: Toys That Influence is to collect toys/objects dating from 1950 through to today that simulate real life scenarios, influence individual notions of race and gender.

The toys in this collection are owned or experienced between the ages of 5-12yrs and represent various cultural backgrounds.

This collection is composed of photographs of toys and their representations in the media and advertising. Special attention is given to finding toys that have been on the market for a longer period of time in order to reveal the developments made in its appearance, style, and didactic function.