Ancient Egyptians were sometimes putting various models in tombs. There are many examples: https://www.google.rs/search?q=egyptian+tomb+model&tbm=isch . I don't know if they also used models for internal decoration or child play like we do today.

For some reason I always had the impression that models were used to calculate the statics of buildings, but I can't find a source about it, so I'll add that as another question.