Understanding a toy as a social phenomenon

The study presents main approaches to understanding a toy as a social phenomenon. A toy can be interpreted as a means of children’s socialization, education and development, and in this case its purpose is to develop necessary traits of character in a child. This approach allows to pay attention to the direction in which education of an individual takes place (or should take place), what personal skills are in demand for a particular society. A toy can be understood as a symbol that conveys cultural values and the state of culture as a whole. Here a toy is both a tool for learning about human culture as well as an indicator of certain trends in the development of the culture itself. Moreover, a toy can be considered as a product, and this is why the following issues become important: factors influencing the purchase of toys, toy’s attractiveness to consumers, trends in the toy market, etc. A toy can turn into an important element of social interaction environment, as it is closely connected with a society and determines the situation of a game, as well as represents an embodiment of social meanings. During a game various qualities of a subject of communication can be attributed to toys. It is emphasized that is is necessary to conduct a comprehensive study of a toy as a social phenomenon.