Every TOY or GAME has a STORY… a WHO, WHAT, WHEN, WHERE, WHY & HOW to share with kids.
Today, it’s the TOP’s turn to tell its story (with a little help from Grandma Sharon)…
WHO invented the Top: Let’s just say that from the beginning of time, people of all cultures and across the world have been fascinated with the spinning Top. Historians cannot credit a specific time, place, culture or person with its discovery or invention. That’s incredible, isn’t it?
WHAT is a Top: A Top is most always described as a child’s toy… shaped like an inverted cone with a circular section, and a point on which it’s made to spin.
WHEN was the Top invented: The earliest Tops were found in nature… things such as acorns!
WHERE was the Top invented: No one really knows. According to research, Tops have been found on every continent but Antarctica. The earliest written reference to the Top is from 1060, speaking of its swiftness.
WHY was the Top invented: It seems the answer to this question is simple – pure, simple FUN. Children and adults alike are fascinated with the Top for its ability to defy gravity while it spins and spins on its tiny point. There is no research that concludes that the Top has ever been used in any way other than entertainment.
HOW does a Top work: Tops have evolved over the centuries… from spinning acorns to colorfully elaborate Bolz, Ohio Art and J Chein spinning Tops. The conical-shaped body of every spinning Top has a principle axis, and the mechanism to begin the spinning can be a string, spring cap or pump (or fingers, of course, when spinning things like acorns). Tops are created with clay, wood, and metal such as tin.
Features such as lithography, humming and musical components have been built into more modern tops, but the simplicity of the Top design hasn’t changed much since time began. That’s a “ta-dah!”
Get a couple of Tops for your kids and grandkids and enjoy the simplicity of one of the oldest and most fascinating toys ever.
Join me here each day in July for TOY STORIES on 365 Days of Literacy for Kids! A little fun, a little learning and a little “ta-dah!”
