If you grew up in the 1970s, playtime probably came with a lot fewer rules than it does today. Some toys were loud, messy, surprisingly dangerous, or simply built with risks that parents now would think twice about.

Yet for the kids who played with them, these toys were just part of an ordinary childhood.

From backyard games to strange science kits and toys that could leave you with a few scratches, these 12 forgotten ’70s toys bring back a very different era of play. And as you go through the list, you may recognize a few that were once sitting in your own home.

1. Lawn Darts

Lawn darts looked simple enough: toss the large darts toward a target on the grass and see who could get closest.

The problem was right there in the design. These weren’t soft plastic toys—they had heavy bodies and pointed ends, which meant a poorly aimed throw could cause a serious injury.

For generations of kids, backyard games often involved much more risk than parents would accept today. Lawn darts are a perfect example of how something that seemed like harmless outdoor fun could have very real consequences.

2. Clackers

Clackers were two hard plastic or acrylic balls connected by a string. The goal was to swing them up and down until they repeatedly struck each other.

When you got the rhythm right, they made a loud, satisfying clacking sound.

When you got it wrong, however, those hard balls could hit your hands or face. Some versions were also known to shatter when struck repeatedly, creating another safety concern.

It was basically a coordination game where the penalty for losing your rhythm could hurt.

3. Creepy Crawlers

For kids who loved making their own toys, Creepy Crawlers was hard to forget.

The kit allowed children to create little rubbery creatures by pouring a liquid material into metal molds and heating it with a special device. Once cooled, the creations could be removed and played with.

The appeal was obvious: you weren’t simply playing with a toy—you were making one yourself.

But the combination of hot equipment and a child-focused toy feels very different from what many parents would expect from a children’s craft kit today.

4. Metal Toy Soldiers and Other Heavy Miniatures

Toy soldiers had been around long before the 1970s, and many children built entire miniature armies with them.

Unlike today’s lightweight plastic figures, older versions could be made from heavier materials and sometimes had sharp or rigid edges.

That made them perfectly suited for imaginative battles—but not necessarily for every age group.

A child could spend hours creating elaborate battle scenes, knocking soldiers over and starting the game again. The toys were simple, durable, and very much part of an era when “built to last” sometimes also meant “built pretty hard.”

5. Chemistry Sets

A chemistry set could make a curious child feel like a real scientist.

Older sets sometimes included genuine chemicals and equipment that allowed children to perform experiments rather than simply following a harmless craft activity.

That made them exciting, but it also meant that mistakes could have consequences.

A modern parent might look at some of those old kits and wonder how children were ever allowed to conduct certain experiments at home without the level of supervision we would expect today.

For kids in the 1970s, though, having a chemistry set could feel like being given your own tiny laboratory.

6. Easy-Bake Oven

The Easy-Bake Oven was designed to let children make tiny treats themselves, which sounds innocent enough.

But older versions relied on a real incandescent light bulb as the heat source. The small oven could become hot enough to create burns if children weren’t careful.

That doesn’t mean the toy was inherently disastrous—millions of children enjoyed it—but it highlights how different toy safety expectations were.

Today, products designed for children tend to receive much more attention around heat, burns, small parts, and supervision.

And that’s exactly what makes these old toys so fascinating: they weren’t necessarily viewed as dangerous at the time. They were simply part of childhood.

7. Shrinky Dinks

Shrinky Dinks were one of those craft toys that seemed almost magical. You would draw or color on a special sheet, cut out the design, and then watch it shrink into a much smaller, thicker piece.

For a child, the shrinking part was the fun. But the process involved an oven or other heat source, which meant this wasn’t exactly a craft activity a young child could safely handle alone.It is a good example of how many older toys were designed around doing something yourself first and worrying about the safety rules second. The basic idea was creative and harmless enough, but the heating step required much more adult supervision than today’s typical children’s craft kits.

8. Toy Guns With Projectiles

Toy guns were a normal part of childhood for many kids, and some versions were designed to fire caps, darts, pellets, or other projectiles.

That made pretend battles considerably more physical than simply pointing a plastic toy and making a sound.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission specifically warned about toys that could discharge or propel objects because projectiles could cause injuries, particularly to the eyes.

Today, toy weapons are generally designed with much more attention to how projectiles behave and how clearly the product can be distinguished from a real weapon.

9. Metal Construction Sets

Building toys were a huge part of childhood, but older construction sets could contain metal strips, screws, nuts, bolts, and sharp-edged pieces.

The appeal was obvious. Instead of simply following one fixed set of instructions, children could build cars, machines, structures, and whatever else they could imagine.

But those little metal components weren’t particularly forgiving. A sharp edge, loose screw, or misplaced piece could turn an afternoon of building into a painful experience.

The CPSC was already warning in the 1970s about sharp edges and points on children’s products, showing how much attention was beginning to shift toward toy construction and injury prevention.

10. Super Elastic Bubble Plastic

This strange little product was fascinating to kids because it let them create bubbles using a small tube of sticky plastic-like material and a straw.

You could blow it into a bubble, stretch it, and play with it.

The problem wasn’t necessarily that every child who used it was going to get hurt. The bigger issue was that products like this belonged to an era when children’s novelty toys could contain materials and instructions that would receive much more scrutiny today.

It also required children to put a straw or similar tool near their mouth while handling the material—something modern parents might look at rather differently.

11. Water Wiggle

The Water Wiggle was one of those outdoor toys that could turn a backyard into instant chaos.

It attached to a garden hose and sprayed water while the flexible toy moved unpredictably around the yard. Kids tried to chase it, dodge it, and keep it under control.

It sounds harmless until you remember how easily a wet lawn, running children, and a rapidly moving object can turn into a fall.

The toy itself wasn’t necessarily “dangerous” in the way a sharp object was, but it represents something common about older play: children were often expected to figure out the risks while playing.

12. Homemade and Improvised Toys

Perhaps the most memorable “toy” of all wasn’t a commercial toy.

Kids in the 1970s could turn cardboard boxes, rope, old containers, pieces of wood, blankets, and whatever else was available into forts, vehicles, games, and imaginary worlds.

There was something wonderful about that freedom. But improvised toys obviously didn’t come with modern age labels, safety instructions, testing standards, or carefully designed materials.

And that’s what makes the childhood of the 1970s so fascinating.

Many kids didn’t need a room full of sophisticated toys to have fun. They could turn almost anything into a game.

The Part That Makes These Toys So Fascinating

Looking back, it’s easy to wonder how some of these toys ever made it into children’s hands.

But the story isn’t simply that “toys were dangerous back then and everything is safe now.” Toy safety was already becoming a serious issue during the 1970s. The CPSC was introducing and strengthening requirements around sharp points, sharp edges, small parts, electrical toys, and other hazards during that period.

What really changed was the level of attention given to those risks.

And that may be the most interesting part of all: the toys haven’t just disappeared because kids stopped liking them. Many disappeared because our idea of what is acceptable for a children’s toy changed.

So if you grew up in the ’70s, looking at this list might bring back some surprisingly strong memories.

You may even remember one of these sitting in your own toy box.