Rattle

The essence of a toy has not changed for many generations. It is meant to entertain and help a small person learn about the world. One of the oldest, and certainly a child's first toy, is a rattle. It is by playing with rattles that the youngest have been learning to distinguish between a clatter and a rattle or bell and to locate the source of the sound in space. Special toys that make sounds were given to children at Easter. They were usually bought at pre-Easter stalls. These were: knockers, clatters, rattles, magpies and ticklers, known in various forms in all Slavic countries, Western Europe and Asia. In Poland, they were already toys in the 17th century.