R. K. (Ruby Kathleen) Polkinghorne

Ruby Kathleen Polkinghorne was a British educational writer whose work is closely associated with school handcraft and constructive play in the early 1900s. Archive and public-domain records identify her as the co-author of Toy-Making in School and Home (1916), written with Mabel Irene Rutherford Polkinghorne, and list her birth year as 1883.

Toy-Making in School and Home presents toy-making as both enjoyable and educational, offering projects for use in school and at home. The book’s surviving editions connect the authors with the County Secondary School, Streatham, suggesting a strong link between their writing and practical classroom teaching.

Available book records also credit her with other instructional and educational titles, showing a broader interest in children’s learning, manual skills, and everyday knowledge. Although detailed biographical information is limited in the sources I could confirm, her published work reflects a clear belief that making things by hand could be imaginative, useful, and deeply engaging for children.