This bibliographical review, aimed at contributing to the thought on the role of games and toys in education, sees in the authors of the Critical Theory its main interlocutors. It brings forward part of the history of some toys and of the relationships among games, parties and rituals. It thus discusses the changes in the concepts, uses and meanings of games and toys and relates them to the increasing process of rationalization that has affected the Western World, these last centuries. Finally, it criticizes the mimesis found in the sacred rites and suggests its inclusion into the process of becoming aware of the present days phenomena.
Education; Games; Toys; Rituals; Mimesis