Whether rich or poor, most children "grew up" between the ages of twelve and fourteen. If a family was extremely poor, the children were expected to start work at a younger age, sometimes as young as even or eight. Whilst those born into a rich family could play with toys and be educated, their schooling still finished at fourteen and a lot of the young boys were sent into the Navy. Once again, it was the boys who were given the schooling and college and / or university. However, it was at this time that Academies for Young Ladies started to form, and young ladies of quality were expected to have some form of education. Jane Austen, for example, was sent away to be schooled, only returning home ahead of her finished studies because of finances. This was a marked difference from other Eras, when girls were expected to "keep house", get married and have children. Although this was still sought after, in the Georgian Era education for girls was no longer frowned upon, even if it was still a new concept for the older generation to accept.
Some of the toys within the Georgian Era we recognize today --- marbles, spinning tops, dolls --- others we have never heard of --- spillikins, bilbocatch. It was at this time that books for children became popular, especially amongst the wealthier class, who could afford educational books / toys such as jigsaw puzzles which taught geography.
Children were taught to write on slates with soft slate pencils and progressed to paper, pencil, pen and ink. Some of us remember teachers using blackboards and whiteboards at school. Today, computers, laptops and tablets are used. Will the future generations be taught to write with pen and ink? An interesting question to ponder ---
Compared to the children of today, those raised during the Georgian Era had a hard life, and even those born into the rich families still had to "grow up" at a very young age. The idea of being an adolescent just did not exist and children were children for a very short space of time.
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