• Þróun Leikfanga
  • Sjöundi áratugurinn
  • Áttundi áratugurinn
  • Níundi áratugurinn
  • Tíundi áratugurinn
  • Nútíminn
• Markaðurinn
  • Latibær
  • Mengun
• Fullkomin ímynd?
  • Þróun Barbie
  • Mattel fyrirtækið
  • Hlutföll
• Waldorf-stefnan
  • Waldorf-dúkkan
  • Dúkkan okkar
• Rannsóknir
  • Laugarnesskóli
  • Laugaborg
  • Heimildir

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“How have toys developed and how have they affected children for the past 50 years?”

For our final project in the 10th grade, we decided to look into the toys’ industry during the past 50 years. We explored the development and how they affect children. The focus of our research was: “How have toys developed and how have they affected children for the past 50 years?” Since the project was so widespread, we divided the project into two main elements, development on one hand and toys and children on the other. We created a mind-map and wrote down all the ideas that came to our minds while we were brainstorming, and when that was finished, we started researching the subject matter.
The story of the world renowned Barbie-doll and the toy company behind it, Mattel, became the starting point of the project. Since the doll had a 50 year old anniversary last year, in 2009, the idea to cover her came to our minds, and it was also convenient because the theme of the final project is in fact education, arts and science for 50 years.
The more information we got about the connection between toys and the upbringing of children, the more we wanted to research the Waldorf education and who was its founder. In addition to that, we decided to sew the so-called Waldorf doll, because she is in fact one of the most known creation of Rudolf Steiner, the founder.

The toy industry has often been called one of the most corrupted markets, where children are used in the sense of profit. That is why we researched that particular industry and how he has changed over the past half century, and with that, we could form an opinion of our own.

We went to Laugarnesskóli, which is a neighboring elementary school for children from 6 to 12 years old, in the sense of asking 6th graders a few questions. We asked them how they play both during school and in their spare time, and what opinions they had on the toy industry. We also filmed interviews with six 6th graders of both sexes, where the questions were more thorough. We have prepared a pie chart to introduce our results, and that way we can see how the answers fluctuate between the genders.
When our investigation was complete, we realized how extensive and cutthroat the toy industry is and how easy it is to seduce children.