Simple Colonial Toys

Grown in the garden and spun like a top!

Since toys were derived from simple materials handy in a child's environment, the mechanisms were simple as well. Homestead Folk Toys shows several versions of traditional toys from several time periods. Tops play a large part of traditional toys as so thaumatropes.  Spinner gourds get their name from the spinning action they produce when spun quickly by the neck-end of the gourd.

Thaumatropes, also referred to as whirligigs or a buzzsaw toy, are another type of spinning action involved two different but related images spun so fast they appear to be moving - as early motion picture show!

The balero, or toss-and-catch toy, uses eye-hand coordination. This takes a variety of shapes but basically uses a string to connect two objects: one is caught by the other after swinging it into the air and letting gravity do the work of dropping it into or onto the other object.

Bilbo: another term for a toss/catch toy.

Any of these toys could be easily translated into a gourd toy. The top can easily be make with a spinner gourd, the thaumatrope with a large disco gourd wall, and toss/catch toy with a hollowed out gourd on a stick or a long handled gourd with a small gourd attached with a string.  All would exhibit a gourd with motion!

So now, given this information, what other playthings could be adapted, or re-fashioned using gourds?