

Today, the seperation between work that kids do and work that their parents do is far from similar. In earlier years (such as the early 19th century), the work that kids and their parents did was basically the same thing. Kids were needed for work much more than they are now because there were not many tools available, other than basic things. Things like hammers, axes, saws, buckets (although some of these are still used today) and a few other simple things. Back then, parents thought that not working was a terrible thing.

In the country, work on the farm and life in a family were so similar that they could barely be considered too different. There were many things that had to get done that kids could have helped just as much as adults did. Kids around ages 6 or up were very important when it came to the work that needed to get done. Kids started work with easy chores, doing things like shelling corn or weeding the garden. As the kids got older, they began to take on harder jobs. Younger girls worked with their mothers and older sisters, they learned how to sew, cook, wash, and milk cows. Boys worked with their fathers and brothers in the fields around the barn.

The children were often pressured with more work in poorer families, who often were given to neighbors for a while to do work for them. They worked for a little bit of money (which would be called "spare change" now adays) a day, doing things like picking stones out of feilds, or carrying firewood. Those jobs were for mainly boys, the girls did housework and cared for younger children. Susan Blunt, from Merrimac, New Hampshire, remembered that she spent a week cleaning and caring for a neighbor's house for a week when she was only 10 years old. She made 15 cents by the end of the week. Even in families who were doing well, the kids were still put to work. Kids whose fathers were ministers, lawyers, printers, or storekeepers didn't have much farm work to do, but they did say that their parents kept them busy.

Some social broadcasters in the 1830's were concerned that as simple society changed, New England kids might end up having less work to do for their parents. But recalling past experiences of growing up during this time period tell us that alarmists (people who lie to scare others) did not have much to be afraid of; the age of childhood relaxation still had a while to wait before it was here.

The work experiences of early 19th century kids had few opposites in today's middle-class life; but play supplies a link over the years. Over a long time, one era of kids has passed its games on to the next through vocal traditions that kept many things together. The rules of marbles and the game of tag, as an example, have not changed very much. Like their opposites today, early 19th century kids played fantasy games, told scary stories, hiked, skated, sledded, and jumped rope. Some once-popular past-times like rolling hoops or playing "The Graces" have left our memories. Other old games have been brought back, such as the New England game called "Roundball", or "Towners" would be known today as Baseball.

The physical world of childhood, toys, games, and other objects, is far more plentiful today. Old toys in New England for kids were very simplistic, homemade formations; store-bought and shop-built toys were rare. Today, the average American kid's toy or game would leave even the richest boy or girl in the 1930's.