WoodenToyShop.co.uk is searching for Britain’s oldest wooden toy. Here at WoodenToyShop we are passionate about wooden toys, not least because of their longevity, and we have a sneaky feeling that out there in the nation’s cupboards, lofts, garages and sheds are thousands of once loved but now long-forgotten wooden toys. As well as these buried treasures, we are sure that many families continue to play with wooden toys that have passed down the generations from brother to sister, father to son and grandmother to granddaughter. In an age where ‘nothing lasts forever’ we’re here to remind Mums and Dads that some toys will last longer than others and wooden toys are definitely here to stay! That is why we’re launching a campaign today to find Britain’s oldest wooden toy.

Museums across the world are filled with examples of ancient wooden toys. Historians and archaeologists have unearthed wooden toys as far back as ancient Greece and Rome, where children played with wooden animals (tiny Trojan horse anyone?) alongside toys made from other natural materials such as terracotta. The British Museum houses many examples of ancient toys, including a wooden toy cat from ancient Egypt around 1350 BC! Whips and tops and simple hoops have captivated children for many centuries and hobby horses appear to have been cantering through Merrie England since Tudor times.

Many of us still remember our favourite toys from childhood. Perhaps we recall a set of painted wooden blocks that we pushed and pulled around in our baby walkers. The blocks may have been cubes or even different shapes and sizes. They may have been plain or coloured and they may have been decorated with letters and numbers. To us they were just wooden blocks that we loved to grab, throw, bite (yes, we all did it!) and empty out onto the floor before building into a tall tower that had one sole purpose: demolition!

How many little boys and girls have spent happy times pulling engines along the tracks of their wooden train set? Or riding on the back of a rocking horse? Maybe you served behind the counter of your own play shop or cooked in your toy kitchen? Do you remember the first time you pressed the button on a Jack in a Box? Our minds are full of precious memories that come flooding back when we browse through an online wooden toy store or step through the door of our local toy shop.

At WoodenToyShop.co.uk we feel it’s time to bring our wooden toys back home and back into our hearts! We’d love to hear your memories of your childhood wooden toys and we’d also love to see some photos. We want Britain to tell us all about the toys that have stayed in families for years; we want YOU to tell us the story of your family’s favourite wooden toy. Take a peek in that cupboard you never really look in. Send one of the gang up to the attic and let us know what you find.

Over the next six months we will be publishing regular updates on our quest to find the oldest wooden toy in Britain. We’re not talking about the toys that nowadays live in museums and galleries; we want to hear about either the toys your family has always enjoyed or about those that you have just rediscovered. Whether it’s a hobby horse in Hexham, a train set in Tring or a dolls’ house in Dundee, let’s tell the world about our oldest and favourite wooden toys.