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We know virtually nothing about children in the Indus Valley civilization. There is every reasion to believe that childhood in the Indus valley would have been similar to tht in Mesopotamia, but there is no real evidence. We do note that toys have been found among the artifacts. This includes some of the village sites at a very early stage contained tiny carts with clay wheels. There were even tiny clay pots caried in the carts.
The wonferful example pictured here was found at Mohenjo-Daro (figure 1). There were othervtoys such as whistles shaped like birds, and toy monkeys which could slide down a string.
These may be some of the very earliest children's toys. There are some other potential explanations for these artifacts, but toys seem th nost likely explanation. Certainly they are the earliest really sophiticated toys. The creation of such toys does suggest a concern with childhood. An appreciation of the importance of play is a very modern concept. Toys of course have been found in the other river valley civilizations, but the Indus toys seem remarkably sophisticated.
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