Victorian Toys Rich Children In Victorian times toys were very expensive, rich children had very different toys to poor children. Rich children had lots of beautiful toys in their nurseries. The favourite was the rocking horse with real horse hair for the main and the tail, made from wood and brightly painted. Girls also enjoyed playing with their doll's houses, made of wood with fabulous miniature wooden furniture inside identical to the real thing. Girls played with dolls and cots. They had beautiful dolls whose heads and shoulders were made from wax or china with bodies made of calico or wood. Most dolls were dressed as adults with beautiful clothes made of satin, taffeta or lace. Boys would play with tin or lead soldiers and later on when railways became popular they would have clockwork trains to play with. Older children would play with toy theatres. Girls might spend their spare time sewing or embroidering samplers. Reading was also a popular pastime, many books written during the Victorian era are still enjoyed today. Poor Children Families were large in Victorian times and the homes of poor working families were small and often overcrowded. Children worked in the fields and in factories to bring in extra money. At homes there were lots of chores to do. There was little money for clothes and shoes and even less for toys. For children in working families there was little time for playing but the toys that poor children did have were often home made. Poor children would have played with a diabolo which is a two headed top. It was spun and tossed into the air and caught on a string. They would also have had spinning tops, ball and cup games, five stones or marbles. Games such as marbles, hopscotch, skipping, hoops and whip and top were played in the street. Boys played with soldiers and girls if they were lucky would have rag doll.