Column: Reliving memories through our own children's toys

Research released this week has shown that 44 per cent of adults surveyed admitted they had bought play things they enjoyed as children as they brought back happy memories.

And over half have bought toys for kids in their family because they had owned the toy themselves as a child or because they always wanted it.

And I have to admit that I’m guilty of buying gifts for children because they were things I enjoyed as a child.

For example, the bookshelves in my house feature several board books for my daughter, which I bought simply because I remember them being really good from my childhood.

Once she’s older I know I’ll definitely continue to buy and encourage her to read the books I enjoyed as a child.

When it comes to toys, I love Lego and my daughter is already enjoying Duplo.

Christmas also saw her given a wooden train set from a relative – I used to love my Brio train set.

There may be all sorts of fancy all singing, all dancing toys out there nowadays, but sometimes I think you just can’t beat some of the classics.

And they are obviously still popular – perhaps simply down to parents recalling childhood memories – but if they weren’t, then they wouldn’t still be making them after all these years.

I guess there’s no point in hiding the fact that the reason for encouraging my little one to play with toys I used to have, or to read books I used to read, is simply a way for me to relive and enjoy those memories from childhood.

I’m sure we’ll come across things that I used to love that she’s not a fan of, but we’ve not found them yet...