Kindergarten Class, Baltimore, Md., 1965-66

A children with toys photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park.

A photo of the students and teachers in a morning kindergarten class at a religious school in Baltimore, Maryland, during the 1965-66 school year. Instead of the usual class photo showing students standing together in a group, the photographer has creatively positioned the students around the room using toys and other items as props.

Mouse over the photo above to see close-ups of the different toys and student groupings, and see below for descriptions of each separate image.

Felt Board - I believe that this is a felt board (also called a flannelgraph or flannel board) with different shapes that can be rearranged on the board.

Lincoln Logs - Three boys are sitting at a table containing Lincoln Logs. The boy at the head of the table also has a puzzle.

Easel and Paintbrushes - A boy is standing in front of an easel. A painting of a person is visible on the easel, and paintbrushes are propped up in front of it.

Ladder and Platform - A girl and a boy are standing on top of a wooden platform that has one or more ladders leading up to it. I'm not sure if this is some sort of indoor play equipment or whether the photographer just positioned the children there for dramatic effect. A girl sitting behind the platform is pretending to make a phone call.

Telephone and Table - Another girl is pretending to make a phone call, and two students are sitting at a round table.

Board and Pegs - The girl at front has a game or toy consisting of pegs that fit onto a board.

Loony Links and Other Toys - The boy at the head of the table is playing with Loony Links, an educational game with plastic parts that snap together to form figures of people and animals. The girl and boy at the front of the table are playing with blocks, and the girl sitting next to the Loony Links has an Add-A-Count Scale, which was an educational math toy (see the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History description of the Add-A-Count Scale in its collection).