Neither manuscripts nor archaeology tell us much about British and Saxon children, but we can work a few things out. Some old drawings show that Saxon children wore short tunics (a bit like a very long t-shirt), tied at the waist. They did not wear cloaks like grown-ups and had bob hair-cuts. Some documents indicate that they often didn't wear many clothes at all. They must have got very cold! Times were hard and many children died of diseases, disabilities and accidents. Their graves sometimes tell us a bit about their lives. Girls sometimes wore simple necklaces or small brooches. A few children's graves have contained toys: like a rattle, a fossil, some shiny 'fools' gold' or a worn & discarded brooch. Archaeologists have also found leather balls and wooden spinning tops. Children made their toys from whatever was available to them. They were probably mostly made from things that have all rotted away. Later Medieval documents tell us of hobby-horses and swords made of sticks, boats made of bread and dolls made of cloth. There is one Saxon drawing of a child playing with a hoop and stick. This game was still popular in the early 20th century. A few documents tell of other ways in which children liked to play back then: playing in gangs, wrestling, acrobatics, playing musical instruments, singing, doing animal impressions, playing on the beach. Not much has changed. Some documents mention children riding on sticks and copying grown-ups in other ways. Like playing house or doctors & nurses today. Children often helped grown-ups do daily chores, like plucking chickens or spinning wool. Girls' graves sometimes contain weaving battens or spindlewhorls which they used in their chores. Boys' graves might contain knives or small spears. These were dangerous tools and weapons but, in those days, boys had to learn to use them from a young age. Only very rich children went to school. By the time you were 11, you were thought of as a grown-up. At 14, you were expected to leave home!