Which toys made the Hall of Fame?

     The holidays always bring out the kid in me!

     As a kid, I enjoyed playing with toys: Legos, Barbie’s, Lincoln Logs, even playing pretend kitchen and dress up.

     Earlier this month, several classic toys were inducted into the National Toy Hall of Fame. (Who knew there was such a thing?) Out of 12 finalists, the top three chosen to enter the Hall of Fame included:

     • Paper Airplane

     • The Wiffle Ball

     • The board game Clue

     To be considered, toys must have inspired creative play among multiple generations. Annual inductees into the Toy Hall of Fame are chosen based on the advise of historians and educators, a process that follows nominations by the public. Who knew that inducting toys into any hall of fame had a science to it… Any time you involve historians, it must be a big deal!

     How many of us have made paper airplanes in our lifetime? And, apparently, there is a science to making paper planes, too.

     I wanted to investigate the proper way to fold a paper airplane, and can you believe there is a website out there dedicated to such an art? Go to hwww.foldnfly.com. This site will visually show you the proper way to make a variety of paper airplanes, from the Basic Dart Plane to the Hunting Flight and the Gliding Plane. The site also tells you the benefits for each type of plane as well. (More information than you might want to know about paper airplanes.)

     I have to admit, I wasn’t an outdoorsy-type of kid growing up, so playing with a Wiffle Ball wasn’t on my radar. I’m sure we used Wiffle Balls in gym class, though a time or two.

     Brothers David and Stephen Mullany are the owners of the esteemed Wiffle Ball company today. The ball was invented by their grandfather in the mid-1950s as a way to give youth some assistance in throwing and batting. The perforated ball was invented in Fairfield, Conn.

     The murder mystery game of Clue was introduced in 1949 in the United Kingdom by English musician Anthony E. Pratt. While Pratt was granted the patent in 1947, due to post-WWII shortages in the UK, the game couldn’t actually launch into production until 1949. At the same time it launched in the UK, it was also sold to the Parker Brothers franchise here in the U.S.

     The object of the game is to determine which player performed the murder, in which room, and with which weapon. The famous cast of Clue players includes: Miss Scarlet, Professor Plum, Mrs. Peacock, Mr. Green, Colonel Mustard, and Mrs. White.

     Many generations have enjoyed hours of Clue, including myself when I was younger. Might be fun to dig it out again…

     The Game of Clue was also made into a move in 1985.

     I thought it also fitting to include those toys/games that did not make the induction, but were the finalists:

     • The Game of Risk

     • Magic 8 Ball (I was rooting for this one.)

     • Matchbox Cars (similar to Hot Wheels)

     • My Little Pony

     • PEZ candy dispensers

     • Transformers (Another favorite of mine. I love the modern-day movies.)

     • The Game of Uno

     Perhaps one of these or more will make the cut in 2018…