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Making toys of dirt and weeds was inexpensive, relaxing and, sparked my interest in gardening. Dirt was also great for making the mud pies I used to "pretend" feed my baby dolls; and mud balls I used to toss at shelter seeking bats eager to nest in a hole in our roof.

In addition to "pretend feeding" mud pies to dolls, I "actually" fed them cup cakes, bread, and candy after jabbing their mouths with scissors in order to increase their pinhead sizes. The problem with feeding dolls real food was the food had no way to exit their little plastic bodies. Consequently, I had to relieve them periodically by taking their heads off and rinsing molded debris from their tummies.

Marbles were great toys for playing cowboys and Indians. Cat-eyed marbles represented cowboys and multi-colored swirled marbles represented Indians. In playing cowboy and Indian marbles, one had to "roll" or "shoot" his/her marbles at the opponents marbles from either side of a line. Hitting an opponent's marble eliminated it from the game.

Marbles were also great for games of "innocent" gambling. The games consisted of shooting your "main" marble at marbles within a dirt-drawn circle hard enough to knock them out of the circle. If you were good at shooting, and were able to convince brave souls to "put up" their marbles by placing them in the circle, you could shoot their marbles out and win them for keeps.

Another skill requiring game was played with jacks and a ball. Jacks and balls were great additions to a kid's {usually a girl's} toy collection especially when one had the talent for tossing all ten jacks (the number required for a game) in the air, and catching them on the back of one's hand in order to gain a lead in a "jack-rock tournament".

In addition to roller skates that had to be attached to my shoes other toys I played with included sling shots, darts, cap guns, bows and arrows

Oh...yes! Every kid in my tree infested neighborhood had an opportunity to make and play with bows and arrows. Making a decent bow merely consisted of picking a straight branch, fastening a strong string to one end of the branch, and then holding the branch in a curved position while wrapping the string around the other end. Slimmer branches were skinned, slit at one end to accommodate bow a string, and provided arrowheads by means of smashing soda-bottle-caps around the branches opposite ends.

Last, but not least among the toys I grew up with are spinning tops. Spinning tops were some of my favorite toys; and had the capacity to provide hours of non-stop outdoor entertainment. My favorite spinning top game "crack tops". The object spin your top on top of an opponent's top while the opponent's top was spinning in attempt to split or crack open the opponent's top.

Learn more about this author, R. Renee Bembry.
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