By Peter Thomas

Marvelling, playing, learning – experimental toys are great fun for children and young people, allowing them to playfully explore and understand the major issues of a specific era. At present, for example, toys on topics such as renewable energies and robotics are very much on trend. A look at the past reveals interesting parallels.

Skill-building kits: future technologies explained in simple terms

The smart home as a platform for innovative energy technology is a topic that’s been seized on by the latest experimental and educational toys, such as Eco House from Kosmos. Presented at the Spielwarenmesse 2024, it will be launched on the market in the last six months of the year. Whether it’s a matter of photovoltaics or heating and climate control technology, the model deals with issues that the spheres of science, industry and politics are currently trying to get to grips with. The long-established manufacturer doesn’t just call them experiment kits, but “skill-building kits”.

Technoseum Mannheim: The history of technology in toy format

Parallels between toys on the one hand and the worlds of adult engineers and researchers on the other are by no means a new phenomenon – as is currently being demonstrated by the new special exhibition Spiel mit! Bauen – Zocken – Knobeln (Join in! Build – Gamble – Roll the Dice) at the Technoseum in Mannheim. It showcases over 1,000 objects from 1900 to the present day and is on display until 9 March 2025. The extremely extensive exhibition demonstrates how various toys have always been fascinating miniature contemporary witnesses to matters of scientific and industrial innovation, as well as to everyday technical culture.

Robotics kits: the smart industrial and everyday technology of tomorrow 

Back to the world’s leading trade fair for toys in Nuremberg. Another major trend in current research and industry is robotics. For years now, major car manufacturers have been working on autonomous taxis, for example. And the potential of robots interacting with humans (a.k.a. “cobots”) will soon be unlocked as well. To what extent does the toy sector overlap with robotics? By a considerable extent. And a lot of toys are even a few steps ahead of the real product world, too – ranging from playful approaches with virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) for controlling electric vehicles to the programming of such models via apps. Avishkaar from India, among others, presented its solutions in Nuremberg early in 2024. With Tweak, the manufacturer has launched a robotics construction kit designed for children in the first two years at primary school. Other robotics kits that extend well into the upper grades build on it, enabling the sophisticated application of smart industrial and everyday technology (Internet of Things, IoT).

Generating energy: nuclear power from your child’s bedroom

Throughout history, many a product for children and young people has overshot the mark when the latest scientific and technical findings were incorporated into toys – as can be seen from the historical perspective that the Mannheim exhibition provides. Take nuclear power, for example. The Atomic Energy Lab from the American manufacturer Gilbert from 1950 bears witness to people’s enthusiasm for its use in civilian life. The experiment kit contained radioactive materials and uranium ores, among other things! Not so risky are the historical experiment kits on display in the exhibition, such as the classics Optikus and Elektromann, which helped generations of young researchers to take their first steps in the fields of optics and electronics.

The mobile society: assistance systems for a realistic driving experience

In the current product range of the industry as well as in the museum, toy and model cars of all kinds play a key role. After all, mobility machines are particularly ubiquitous in everyday life and demonstrate a fascinating gamut of diversity: from sports cars to construction machines via police cars. The contemporary culture of innovation is also reflected here: car racing tracks, for example, pick up on the latest developments in assistance systems. For its hybrid system without the typical slots, Carrera relies on the use of artificial intelligence (AI) for automatic track detection, allowing for a much more realistic driving experience with remote-controlled cars than is otherwise possible on a small scale. 

Toy sets: inspiration for your dream job 

The many interconnections between experimental, educational and technical toys and the genuine technology always offer children the chance to try out the relevant adult roles themselves. The exhibition in Mannheim employs examples to show how this worked –and still works. In the middle of the 20th century, metal construction kits encouraged boys to design bridges and construct machine tools as engineers. And the girls? They became astrophysicists, built space telescopes or programmed pioneering software. Just like Nancy Grace Roman, Katherine Johnson, Margaret Hamilton, Sally Ride and Mae Jemison, who are honoured as role models in the 2017 LEGO^® set Women of NASA. The Technoseum is displaying the kit in a section of the special exhibition dedicated to the overarching theme of space toys.

About the author Peter Thomas

Telling stories about technology and people: This has fascinated Peter Thomas, the journalist, author, cultural scientist and lecturer, for more than 30 years. Technical toys are always in focus, from construction kits to interactive digital educational toys. After studying and working as a research assistant at university, Peter Thomas writes for daily newspapers, magazines and corporate publications in German and English-speaking countries. In addition to the world of games, his focus is on mobility, security, energy and medical technology.