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100 Classic Toys for Kids: Favorite Classic Toys, Retro Toys, and Vintage Toys
After much reminiscing and debating, we’ve winnowed down our list to the 100 top classic toys for kids. What you'll see below are the best classic, retro, and vintage toys—the ones that capture the nostalgia of childhood and the pure bliss of playtime. Now, this is not a list of simple games and fun like kick the can or hide and seek. This is a list for your ultimate inner child—the one who wants all the toys! Perhaps the most amazing thing is that you can still buy every single one of them, either for yourself or to share the classic toy fun with your own kids. So sit back, remember, and possibly be inspired for your child’s next birthday or holiday. Or maybe your own?
Looking for more childhood favorites and classics? The bookworms here (that's pretty much all of us) brainstormed a list of 100 Kids' Books Every Child Should Read, and we've also got ideas for family movie night on our list of the 50 Best Kids' Movies of All Time.
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Classic Toys for Building Things
Build a castle. Build a tower and knock it down. Build a spaceship. Just add imagination and it’s all possible with these fun building sets. Sure, you probably have blocks and Lego sets, but if your kids don't have bristle blocks or a marble run yet, they're in for some old-school fun!
1. Blocks
2. Tinkertoy Construction Sets
Lego play never gets old. Photo by Jody Mercier
3. Legos
4. Lincoln Logs
5. Bristle Blocks
6. Marble Run
7. Duplo Blocks
8. Cardboard Bricks
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Remember Fisher-Price Little People? They still enchant kids. Photo by Telstar Logistics, licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0
Classic Toys to Inspire Pretend Play
These are the toys you could play with for hours—imagining other worlds, recreating unconscious family patterns, deciding who will be the dog—the opportunities are endless. Maybe one will bring back precious memories or help foster some adorable moments between your little ones.
9. Fisher-Price Little People
10. Doctor Kit
11. Pretend Play Dress-Up Shoes
12. Play Kitchen
13. Tea Set
14. Drink and Wet Baby Doll
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This will entertain a baby the way an iPhone entertains a tween. Photo courtesy of the manufacturer
15. Fisher-Price Classics Retro Chatter Phone
16. Paper Dolls
17. Magnetic Dolls
18. Classic Barbie and Ken
19. Playmobil
20. Army Men
RELATED: 64 Indoor Activities for Kids on a Rainy Day
Remember these guys? Photo by REL Waldman, licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0
Classic Toys That Make You Say, "They Still Make That?!"
Ah, the favorite toys you remember so well—maybe it's the details, like the way your Cabbage Patch Kid smelled like baby powder or the timer dinging on your Easy Bake Oven. Now they're back and eerily similar to the originals.
21. Transformers
22. G.I. Joe
23. Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots
24. Polly Pocket
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With My Little Pony's resurgence, it's time to dig out your old toys. Photo by Sandra Lee
25. My Little Pony
26. Lite Brite
27. Simon
28. Easy Bake Oven
29. Cabbage Patch Kids
30. Strawberry Shortcake
31. Snoopy Snow Cone Machine
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The hours you can spend designing your dream wardrobe! Photo by the manufacturer
Classic Toys for Arts and Crafts
Kids love creating, and these crafty toys will get them coloring, sculpting, and Shrinky Dinking up to their eyeballs.
32. Fashion Plates
33. Play-Doh
34. Spinning Wheel Painting
35. Shrinky Dinks
36. Window Paint Sun Catchers
37. Velvet Poster Coloring
Classic Toys for Toddlers
Repetitive play. Repetitive play. (See what we did there?) Toddlers can't get enough of it. With these toys, they can pull strings, push noisy stuff down hallways, and spin in circles over and over. And then do it again.
38. Fisher-Price See 'n Say
39. Fisher-Price Corn Popper Push Toy
40. Playskool Sit 'n Spin
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Can you hear the commercial in your head? "Operation ... you're the doctor!" Photo by the manufacturer
Classic Board Games
When the kids are bored, break out some board games! From Candy Land for preschoolers to Mall Madness for preteens, there is a classic board game for every age kid.
41. Operation
42. Hungry Hungry Hippos
43. Candy Land
44. Monopoly
45. Chutes and Ladders
46. Connect 4
47. The Game of Life
48. Dominoes
49. UNO
50. Guess Who?
51. Sorry!
52. Mall Madness
53. Clue
RELATED: Top Outdoor Activities for Kids
Teaching life skills from a young age. Photo by prb, licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0
Classic Toys for Outdoor Fun
For those long summer days, grab some Kool-Aid or Crystal Light and have fun in the backyard (drop-in neighbor kids encouraged).
54. Bubble Lawn Mower
55. Velcro Toss and Catch
56. Scoop and Toss
57. Riding Stick Horse
58. Big Wheels
59. Kickball or 4-Square Ball
60. Sidewalk Chalk
61. Ribbon Wand
62. Frisbee
63. Radio Flyer Wagon
64. Wham-O Slip 'N Slide
65. Jump Rope
66. Skip It
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Ok, but can you solve it blindfolded? Photo by Miguel a Padrinan via Pexels
No Batteries Required for These Vintage Toys
These toys are so amazing your kids will think they run on batteries. What sort of magic powers these toys? Pure child wonder.
67. Rubik's Cube
68. Jack in the Box
69. Yo-Yo
70. Slinky
71. Etch A Sketch
72. Mini Bouncy Ball
73. Spinning Top
74. View-Master
75. Magic 8 Ball
76. Kaleidoscope
77. Silly Putty
78. Fingerboard Skateboards
79. Magna Doodle
80. Slap Bracelets
RELATED: 100 Hardest 'Would You Rather' Questions for Clever Kids
This classic goes from cradle to college with your kids. Photo by Denisse Leon via Unsplash
Classic Stuffed Animals
Because every kid needs something to cuddle.
81. Sock Monkey
82. Glo Worm
83. Troll Dolls
84. Raggedy Ann & Raggedy Andy
85. Pound Puppies
86. Dressy Kids Doll, the Original Zipper and Button Doll
87. Rainbow Brite
88. Ty Beanie Babies
While these hurt to step on almost as much as Legos, they're loads of fun. Photo by Ben Grant via Unsplash
Wheely Fun Retro Toys
Get some speed with these throwbacks that don't ever get old.
89. Hot Wheels
90. Tonka Trucks
91. Remote Control Truck
Classic Toys for Playing Pranks
One of the pleasures of childhood—playing a trick on your parents. But who is really fooling who?
92. Whoopee Cushion
93. Snake in a Can
94. Magic Trick Kit
More fun than a barrel of, well, you know! Photo by Mick Haupt via Unsplash
Classic Toys That Refine Motor Skills
These toys get those little fingers working!
95. Jacks
96. Pick Up Sticks
97. Spirograph
98. Barrel of Monkeys
99. Pog Kaps
Anyone else who can't look at Mr. Potato Head without hearing Don Rickles? Photo by Caleb Mays via Unsplash
And Last, But Not Least...
100. Mr. Potato Head and Mrs. Potato Head
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