Toys and Play with Everyday Materials

Sudarshan Khanna, Gita Wolf, Anushka Ravishankar, Priya Sundram

More than ever in the past, now it is necessary to bring in the possibility of free, unstructured, and open ended play to children. We can create opportunities for other kinds of play — such as through the toys in this book, based on so-called folk toys, created by small-time artisans from all over India.

A child who makes these toys needs to handle physical material intelligently — an important sense to restore in an increasingly virtual world. Along with step-by-step instructions on how to make a range of toys, the book also contains sections on the science behind some of them, tips, poems, jokes… and a thought-provoking section for adults to think through issues of toys and play in today’s world.