Toys for all ages

Jan 06, 2010
By Ella Karapetyan

TARTU’S TOY PARADISE: Toys, whether for children or adults, help to strengthen social bonds as well as offer just good old fun and games.

TALLINN - According to the French proverb, “there are toys for all ages.” Though the origin of the word “toy” is unknown, it is believed that it was first mentioned in the 14th century.
Toys, and play in general, are important when it comes to growing up and learning about the world around us. Children are using them to discover their identity, help their bodies grow strong, learn cause and effect, explore relationships, and practice skills they will need as adults. Adults use toys and play to form and strengthen social bonds, to teach, remember and reinforce lessons from their youth, to discover their identity, exercise their minds and bodies, explore relationships, practice skills and decorate their living spaces.

Actually, toys are more than simple amusement; they and the ways that they are used profoundly influence many aspects of life. Toys enhance cognitive behavior and stimulate creativity. They aid in the development of physical and mental skills which are necessary in life.

Located in an old wooden building in the heart of Tartu’s Old Town, Tartu Toy Museum takes its adult visitors back to their most joyous childhood days and offers children plenty to see and do.
Founded in 1994, the Toy Museum has assembled over 8,000 toys and 3,000 postcards and photos of both contemporary and historic toys. The permanent exhibit displays toys that children in Estonia have played with throughout the ages. Visitors get a wide overview of very different toys, ranging from 19th century farm children’s toy horses and 1970s Soviet-era tin and foam rubber toys, to contemporary theater dolls.

The museum has play and workshop rooms, and the exhibit rooms also offer plenty to keep one busy. Alternating exhibits and children’s activities are also organized at the museum.
The theater and film puppet house, which has been open since late 2005, contains a display of characters from the last half-century of Estonian puppet films and theater, as well as traditional theater puppets from all around the world. Children also have an opportunity to take part in a film-making program.

A Theater House at the Tartu Toy Museum will open its doors from 2010, where children can watch performances, play puppet theater on their own and take part in different toy and theater theme activities.
Artist-made dolls and traditional toys, and souvenir dolls from around the world are also on display.
The playroom is intended to be visited by children and families, where children can play with educational toys, board games, peruse children’s books, perform their own puppet theater, try on costumes, draw and try their hand at different crafts.
The founders of the Tartu Toy Museum chose the teddy-bear “Karu Lillekapp” (Teddy Flower-Paw) to be the museum’s mascot, since the teddy-bear is symbolic of the museum’s joyful atmosphere that is full of childhood nostalgia; the teddy-bear is, after all, one of the favorite childhood toys of all time.

In 1994, university student Kai Maser, who was studying national handicrafts at the time the museum first opened, sewed the smiling teddy bear with its striped skirt in the style of the Estonian folk costume.
A competition was launched in the daily newspaper Postimees to find the bear a name. A 5-year-old, Kabi Stolovitch, came up with the name, “Lillekapp,” meaning “Flower-Paw,” because the bear’s paws were sewn from a flowery material. And she won the competition with that name. Over time, Teddy Flower-Paw became a full-fledged resident of the Toy Museum, appearing on television and at children’s events, books were written and cards were drawn about him. The teddy bear’s symbol was used on the museum’s stamp and on official papers. Later, Kai Maser created some small cousins for Karu Lillekapp – also wearing striped skirts – Musikapa [Kiss-Paw], Mesimoka [Honey-Snout] and Masha. The first was a gift to the Stratford Teddy Bear Museum in England, the second went to the creators of the Riga Doll Museum in Latvia, but Masha was a gift to the Sergiev Posad Toy Museum in Russia.

In the Theater and Animation Puppet Workroom children can also view Estonian animated films, play board games, experiment with simple optical illusions and color pictures for animated films.
There are also sketches on display from Estonian animated films, and one can learn about the process behind puppet-film making.

The museum’s playroom can be rented for birthdays and other events. The museum’s staff suggests to rent the playroom for birthday parties for children under 10, because the activities in the playroom might not be suitable for older children.
Courses, performances, educational programs, workshops, play gatherings and other events are organized in the museum’s playroom and in the Theater and Film Puppets Workroom. These events are suitable for adult guests, children and entire families alike.

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