Toys from child psychotherapist Margaret Lowenfeld's 'Wonder Box', England, 1920-1970

Made:
1920-1970 in London
32 toys from the personal "Wonder Box" of Margaret Lowenfeld; 32 toys from the personal "Wonder Box" of Margaret Lowenfeld; 32 toys from the personal "Wonder Box" of Margaret Lowenfeld;

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Creative Commons LicenseThis image is released under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 Licence

Buy this image as a print 

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License this image for commercial use at Science and Society Picture Library

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Creative Commons LicenseThis image is released under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 Licence

Buy this image as a print 

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License this image for commercial use at Science and Society Picture Library

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32 toys from the personal "Wonder Box" of Margaret Lowenfeld;
Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

32 toys from the personal "Wonder Box" of Margaret Lowenfeld;
Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

32 toys from the personal "Wonder Box" of Margaret Lowenfeld;
Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

32 toys from the personal "Wonder Box" (sand box) of Margaret Lowenfeld; used in child psychotherapy (the "Lowenfeld World Technique"), devised by psychologist Margaret Lowenfeld, 1925-1930

Psychologist Margaret Lowenfeld (1890-1973) devised the ‘Lowenfeld World Technique’ in the late 1920s. It let children create a play world through which they conveyed experiences via non-verbal communication. These 32 toys formed part of the ‘Wonder Box’. Children selected toys from the box to create a scene within a sandbox.

Lowenfeld was a paediatrician. She became a pioneer of child psychology and psychotherapy. She recognised language is often unsatisfactory or even impossible as an expressive medium for children. This is particularly the case with traumatised children. She also recognised play is essential to their development. Her development and use of non-verbal play therapy for children remains influential.

Details

Category:
Psychology, Psychiatry & Anthropometry
Object Number:
2005-9
Materials:
sand, wood (unidentified), textile, metal (unknown) and paint
Measurements:
sand box: 140 mm x 603 mm x 310 mm, 10.66 kg
overall each toy (average size): 50 mm x 30 mm x 20 mm,
type:
toy - recreational artefact
credit:
Margaret Lowenfeld Trust