The search engine Google is celebrating the 150th birthday of visionary toy maker Frank Hornby, whose model railways, Meccano sets and Dinky toys are still being played with by children today.

This survey of YBA Richard Patterson’s career so far is bold, sensuous, and feels fresh rather than old hat recycled from the Freeze/Sensation years.

Daniel Kitson’s new show is a reflection on reality, memory and our sense of self. Hardly wall-to-wall giggles, you might think, but this publicity-shy, TV-shunning, Perrier Award-winning comic’s talent lies in burrowing into the human psyche and dispensing profound nuggets through tales in which, more often than not, he is the hapless protagonist. After The Beginning, Before The End is like a TED talk with added LOLs.

Tesco has defended its decision to label a children’s chemistry set a boys’ toy, despite criticism from gender equality campaigners.

Miniature roast dinner is one of a number of small meals being shown at a Birmingham event for scale-modelling enthusiasts

A macabre new exhibition at University College London looks at the 18th-century “extraordinary eaters” who would gobble up things one should not at sideshows. “They challenged their bodies to cope with swallowed knives, keys or balls of hair,” says curator Sarah Chaney, from UCL's Centre for the History of Psychological Disciplines.

Peppa Pig's conquest of the world took another step forward as the company behind the British children's cartoon character reached a deal to launch the brand in Russia.

Which is which? Who's in it? Whodunnit? Alice Jones sorts the cuddly toys from the shady characters in new television dramas from ITV and BBC

Outlook BAE Systems has been a byword for bad news in recent years but long-suffering investors were finally given something to smile about. The company's results weren't as bad as had been feared and there was a cherry on top of the cake in the form of an unexpected £1bn share buyback.

From making snow globes to casting magical shadows on the bedroom wall, here are toys to keep your little ones amused.

New report reveals surprising shed statistics as 2013 Shed of the Year competition is officially launched

An Australian cousin once gave me a present of a boomerang. There were primitive paintings of snakes and platypuses on one smooth side of it, beautiful to run my hand over. It immediately became the most precious thing I owned.

Board game makers launched online vote for fans to scrap one of its famous playing pieces

The mighty Etch A Sketch. Tell me more...