Traditional New Year's toys from around the world. Games and toys of the peoples of the world when did National toys of different countries of the world appear

Marina Boldyreva
Toys from different countries

2 slide: Matryoshka is a wooden painted doll. The turner carved an unusual wooden doll, the famous artist S.V. Malyutin looked at this miracle and "dressed up" a doll in a Russian sundress with an apron and a bright scarf. Since then they called her Matryona, Matryoshka. The most interesting thing is her secret. The little sisters are hiding in the nesting doll, little by little. You think that you are holding one in your hands, but it turns out that there are as many as three or five of them, and sometimes seven and twelve more.

3 slide: Very popular in Norway troll toys. You need to choose your troll very carefully, he should give you a sign - wink.

4 slide: The elephant is the symbol of India. He represents prudence, wisdom and strength. Elephant figurines made from various materials: made of wood and glass, ceramics and clay, plastic and even ivory, every child has one.

5 slide: And today in any Czech city you can see in children two bug-eyed, eared dolls with movable arms and legs - a bald one and a red-haired crest.

6 slide: Nutcracker - wooden caricature doll

And every family has its own treasured Nutcracker. One of the Nutcrackers was seen by the wonderful storyteller Amadeus Hoffman. Hoffmann's imagination created a magnificent fairy tale, the hero of which was the Nutcracker.

7 slide: It turns out that we all know the fairy-tale characters Pinocchio and Pinocchio. But few people know that Pinocchio has a family. His family name is Krippa. This is what they call wooden dolls made from logs in Italy. And they are made exactly as described in the books about Pinocchio and Pinocchio. A torso is cut out of wood, and arms and legs are attached to it on hinges, which bend at all joints. This is how you get such mobile, dexterous and agile dolls, like fairy-tale wooden men.

8 slide: The Barcelos cockerel has become a popular symbol of Portugal. This motive is very widespread in local handicrafts.

One potter, for fun, sculpted a rooster out of clay - in memory of that very roasted screamer. The figurine turned out so-so, but brightly painted it acquired a certain charm. Fellow villagers wanted to have the same cockerels, then residents of surrounding towns. And it ended with the painted rooster becoming a symbol of Portugal.

Slide 9: Teddy-Bear is the hero of English fairy tales and cartoons, the most famous toy in England, although she was born in another country. The teddy bear even has a specific birthday; in the UK it is celebrated on October 27th.

10 slide: Dolls are made from wood, fabric, paper or clay, and are painted in colorful colors using powdered shells. A Japanese girl doll made of wood that lacks arms and legs is called a kokeshi. Kokeshi usually have a cylindrical body and a round head. The doll's body is painted with bright colors and flower patterns, which symbolizes good luck, happiness and love. The colors must be red, black, crimson and yellow.

11 SLIDE: The Dalecarlian horse is very popular in country and is the national symbol of Sweden. The traditional color of the Dalecarlian horse is a bright orange-red, but they can also be a natural wood color, white, blue or black.

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Toys of the peoples of the world

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As soon as the first master on earth created his first doll, our life for many millennia has been inextricably linked with these mysterious and enigmatic creatures: dolls met a person at birth and accompanied him to the afterlife, dolls lived in palaces and temples, in the halls of noble nobles and in the shacks of poor peasants. Many songs and poems are dedicated to dolls; the most daring outfits were sewn for them and the most intimate secrets were entrusted to them. The doll is created in the image and likeness of a person. Even in ancient Rome, dolls were used in the same way as fashion magazines are used now - they were sent from the capital to the provinces so that ancient fashionistas were aware of the latest trends.

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Now you and I will not be able to answer the question of when, in what century the first doll was created. It is only known that the oldest mammoth bone figure with movable limbs, found in Czechoslovakia, is 30-35 thousand years old. In Egypt, Greece, Italy and other countries, dolls with joints in the joints and real hair were found in excavations of ancient settlements. According to researchers, the very first dolls were directly related to the cult of death. The doll represented a deceased body that was buried after the funeral of the real deceased; it was believed that this would not give him the opportunity to return from the afterlife and harm the living. Later, in many tribes, after the death of a relative, a custom arose of making a wooden doll, which subsequently became a refuge for the soul of the deceased; the doll was presented with gifts, protected and worshiped, cared for as if it were a living person. In some African tribes this tradition has survived to this day. It is in Africa that echoes of the ancient Egyptian funeral cult have survived to this day. Africans firmly believe that dolls made in a special way help the soul in the afterlife.

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Bogorodskaya toy

There are several legends about the appearance of the Bogorodsk toy. One says that in a village located near Sergiev Posad, a peasant woman made a doll from wood chips for her children. When the children got bored with the doll, the father took it to the fair, where the merchant liked it. The merchant asked the peasant to make more of these toys. So the residents of the village of Bogorodskoye began making wooden toys. According to another legend, Sergei of Radonezh was the first to make wooden toys in order to give them to children. One way or another, the development of folk crafts in the village of Bogorodskoye was greatly influenced by the Trinity-Sergius Monastery with its developed carving business and established sales of wooden toys.

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In addition to brightly painted static figures of people and animals, the Bogorodians learned to make dynamic figures. These were prancing hussars, dapper officers, chickens pecking grains. The Bogorodians loved to make various horsemen - Cossacks, generals, hunters. Interesting are the figures of ordinary soldiers beating cymbals or merrily beating drums. Ordinary people were usually depicted at work - a spinner was spinning yarn, a shoemaker was making shoes, an old man was weaving bast shoes.

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The favorite animal of the Bogorodians was the bear, which took an active part in various works - it could play musical instruments, bend arcs, and forge metal. The “Blacksmiths” toy, in which a bear and a man are knocking with hammers, has become a symbol of the Bogorodsk toy. Some toys also had practical value - they could be used to crack nuts. Usually it was a figurine of a gentleman or a soldier; it was such a nutcracker that became the prototype of the hero of Hoffmann’s famous fairy tale. Simple devices that made toys move delighted not only children, but also their parents. In addition to springs, toys were made on movable slats held together with nails. As soon as you pull the ends of the bars, you will see how the figures come to life - a fisherman catches fish, bunnies gnaw carrots. This is how the famous “Blacksmiths” are made.

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Nenets dolls

Dolls have long been associated with otherworldly forces; they possessed a certain energy. Among the Nenets peoples, it is not customary to draw eyes, noses, and ears on dolls, since the doll is not alive and cannot be seen, otherwise it could take away the child’s soul. It was believed that, having acquired human features, the doll could come to life and scare the baby. The Nenets peoples considered the bird to be their mother-ancestor, so they took the bird’s beak to make dolls. It was believed that this is how they protect their children from evil and various misfortunes. The Komi-Permyaks made dolls from grass, straw, and various wood chips. Interesting are the dolls made from scraps, without the use of needles and threads. Such toys were also considered a talisman. Poles that were wrapped in a piece of fabric or canvas were also used.

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The northern peoples held dolls in high esteem; they showed remarkable creativity in their manufacture. Nenets girls were married off early. It was considered a good sign when the bride brought many dolls to her husband’s house (up to a hundred of them happened) - this meant that there would be many children in the family. In the fall, dolls were made from bags filled with grain. In winter, children played with such dolls, and in spring, the grain went to sowing. There was a belief that grain filled with positive children's energy would give good shoots and a large harvest. Sick children were given dolls made of combed flax to play with. According to legends, the disease went into the flax, after which the doll had to be burned. Any toy made with your own hands is endowed with the energy of the person making it. A loving mother, when making a doll, puts a piece of her soul into it. Perhaps this is why Nenets dolls were not only considered, but were actually a talisman for children.

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Kites

Kites are an ancient invention. Chinese manuscripts tell of kites made in various forms, painted with bright colors even before the new era. Kites were not only in China, but also in many other eastern countries (Japan, Korea and others). Regardless of these countries, kites appeared in Greece in the 4th century BC. And in 906, Prince Oleg used kites during the capture of Constantinople.

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The Story of the Tin Soldier

It is difficult now to imagine what the steadfast tin soldier, the hero of Andersen’s fairy tale, really looked like, and what is the story of his appearance. But, clearly, this story goes back to ancient times. Figures of warriors were found in the tombs of Chinese emperors and Egyptian pharaohs. On the chessboard and the commander's table one could also see a warrior figurine. In the Middle Ages, when training young men in military affairs, figures of knights with accurate reproductions of weapons were used. From the 14th century, such figurines began to be collected. Most European monarchs were fond of this.

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In the 17th century, two types of figurines began to be produced, as a toy and as a visual aid used in training princes. Famous royal collections were most often made of silver. Thus, Marie de Medici gave her son, who soon became Louis XIII, 300 silver soldiers. Napoleon gave his son 120 figurines of Corsican volunteers, who became famous in 1800 in one of the battles. For mass production, figurines began to be made from tin. One of the founders of tin military miniatures is considered to be Ernst Gottfried Hilpert, who in the 70s of the 18th century established mass production of tin figurines. The figures had realistic poses, the details were carefully worked out. So ordinary people got a new hobby. And the French master Lucote in the second half of the 18th century made three-dimensional soldiers from tin from several parts, thanks to which it was possible to change the poses of the figures. In Paris, at the very beginning of the 19th century, the CBJ company was created, which exists to this day and produces three-dimensional soldiers. The Napoleonic Wars led to a boom in the production of tin soldiers. The figures acquired artistic and historical accuracy. Kings, famous generals, and original uniforms of various armies were copied.

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Ernst Heinrichsen in 1839 took the initiative to give the figures uniform sizes - a foot soldier was 32 mm, and a horse soldier was 44 mm, without headdress. This is exactly what Andersen's famous tin soldier was. In the middle of the last century, a new international standard was approved - to make figures on a scale of 1:32 or 50-60 mm. This size allows you to more accurately reproduce small details of uniforms and weapons, and preserve the portrait features of famous historical figures.

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A porcelain doll

The first porcelain dolls appeared in the 19th century. Moreover, we use fired unglazed porcelain, since it most closely resembles human skin. Porcelain dolls were produced in Germany, Denmark and France. In 1880, a porcelain baby doll, Bebe Jumeau, appeared and drove all the kids crazy. She looked very much like a lovely little girl with huge eyes and plump legs. This was the first baby doll that could be looked after. Before this, all dolls depicted only adults. Even special magazines were published where patterns of dresses for Bebe, boots, hats and handbags and other accessories were printed. And later these dolls even spoke (they had a special sound mechanism built into them).

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German porcelain dolls provided serious competition to French ones. The price of German dolls was much lower. In addition, the Germans found new faces and characters for their charges. And in the 1900s, the German company Kamer and Reinhard began producing so-called realistic dolls. Later, cheaper and more accessible rag and plastic dolls appeared. But they failed to surpass their porcelain rivals in popularity, beauty, or realism. It is porcelain dolls that excite the imagination of all girls: they have big eyes, long fluffy eyelashes, fairy-tale princess dresses...

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Ningyo - Japanese dolls

In Japan there is a special attitude towards dolls. If throughout the world they are considered children's play, then in Japan dolls were never toys as such, but had a special religious and mystical meaning. It is no coincidence that one of the names of Japan is “the land of ten thousand dolls.” For the inhabitants of this island state, dolls have always been talismans that bring good luck, beauty and health. Therefore, a doll is still considered one of the best gifts. Japanese dolls are made from various materials - wood, paper, fabrics, clay, even fresh flowers. Each type of doll is intended for a specific occasion and has its own name. We will tell you about the most popular and common types of dolls.

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Hina-ningyo are dolls that are made for the special holiday of Hinamatsuri, which translates as “girls’ holiday.” These dolls depict representatives of the imperial family. They are made from expensive materials, so they are of great value and are usually passed down from generation to generation. There is an ancient Japanese custom - in houses where there are girls, there are exhibitions of richly dressed dolls that depict the life of the imperial court. This doll is considered one of the best gifts for the birth of a girl. For Children's Day or Boys' Day (in Japanese, Tango no Shoku), they also make special dolls - Musya-ningyo or Gogatsu-ningyo. These dolls depict samurai and various historical heroes in armor. Gosho-ningyo - mascot dolls for a long journey. They are usually made of wood or clay and depict children. Hakata-ningyo are designer, very expensive dolls that I make from bisque ceramics in a single copy. Kiku-ningyo are dolls almost as tall as a person, they are made from fresh chrysanthemums on a bamboo frame. They are used to decorate autumn holidays and festivals. Ball-jointed dolls are modern Japanese dolls made from porcelain-like plastic. They completely copy living people, except that they don’t breathe. Ningyo - these unique creations of masters from Japan can tell a lot about their people, their characteristics, character and history and answer the question why not only children, but also adults in Japan love to play with dolls so much.

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Amazing netsuke - toys, amulets and works of art

When and where the first netsuke appeared are two questions that have remained the most controversial and discussed among lovers of Japanese antiques for several decades. The most common version is that netsuke was invented in the land of the rising sun in the sixteenth century. Until the end of the Edo period (1615-1868), shells, stones and pieces of wood of suitable size and shape with natural holes, nuts, pieces of bone were used along with netsuke made by professional carvers. There were also netsuke in the form of a gourd. There is an assumption that the first netsuke of Kyoto carvers looked like figures fifteen or more centimeters in length. Their prototype was the Malay ornate knife handles. These netsuke depicted the sennin, the demon lord Shoki, the goddess Kannon, and the legendary heroes of Chinese mythology. Netsuke of this shape eventually went out of fashion; they were remembered only in the second half of the eighteenth century. It was during this period that the second wave of netsuke craze arose. There is a popular belief that netsuke brings happiness and drives away bad luck from home forever. Netsuke began to be used as amulets, and real works of art were created from wood, ivory, or metal. These include figures of gods, fairies, sages, animals and birds. The use of netsuke begins to become more functional: with their help, essential things such as a tobacco pouch, a pipe, and keys are attached to the kimono belt. It is this role that netsuke owes its name - netsuke, counterweight, keychain.

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Over time, netsuke falls into the hands of children and becomes a favorite toy, which parents are happy to give to them for games, in the hope that they will bring happiness to their children and protect them from adversity and illness. Children are specially given various netsuke - images of the Sage Daruma, who bestowed fortitude, perseverance and courage, Daikoku with a bag of magic rice promised wealth, and Ebisu with a magic carp in his hands - good luck (just as it is difficult to catch a carp with your bare hands, it is also difficult to achieve peace of mind ).The double figurine of Daikoku and Ebisu bestowed happiness and good luck, going hand in hand. Shousin, the god of happiness, held ginseng root (health) and a magical peach (longevity). Hotei - another god of happiness, fun and communication - was depicted in different ways, sitting or standing, but always smiling. He fulfilled his cherished wish. To do this, you had to stroke his stomach three hundred times, while thinking about something desired. On the way, the children were given Futen with them - the uncle of the fair wind, who brings good luck along the way. He carried a bag behind his back and smiled serenely... As many people as there are netsuke - and each personifies human dreams of happiness, health, love and wealth... Years go by, but my sages do not change, they still look mockingly and patronizingly at our world, protecting and making it better. Eternal and unchanging, like the ocean washing the shores of their homeland, mysterious and incomprehensible Japan.

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Indian dolls

Man is a divine creation, and he should not forget this when he reproduces his image, even if this image is just a doll. But in India, a doll has never been just a toy - something used, designed only to occupy and entertain a child. Whether it is an ancient figurine from the Indus Valley, or a figurine of a deity that parents make for a child from scraps in order to gradually introduce him to the spiritual tradition - all this is a cross-section of Vedic culture, all this is a living tradition, which is based on the same thought: peace - this is a canvas in which there are no random threads, no unnecessary details. If you break one thread, you will disrupt the harmony of the world.

Maharaja doll. 1930-1940s

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The dolls' costumes, the main semantic element, are particularly detailed. They are not made from scraps, but are woven specifically for each character and are absolutely proportional to the figures. The sari of a woman from Gujarat is made using the knot painting technique; the figurine from Kashmir wears a Muslim outfit made of woolen fabric (not very typical for India), and a miniature Kashmiri shawl. Costumes are traditional clothing of different peoples. The original inhabitants of India are characterized by unstitched clothing - saris, dhoti (men's clothing made from a strip of fabric, draped on the legs in a special way), dupattas (scarf-capes), bedspreads, turbans. People who once came to India are more accustomed to wearing kurtas (jackets), shalwars, cholis (short blouses), and gharas (skirts).

Doll from Rajasthan. 1940s

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We can call Indian dolls little ambassadors, works of art, ethnographic exhibits, representatives of the Vedic tradition of India, but not a single concept can fully characterize them. Like any ambassadors, they represent only a small cross-section of the culture behind them. Like any works of art, they appeal to the hearts of viewers, making them think about the beauty of the world. As representatives of the oldest tradition, they can only hint at the philosophy hidden behind it. And yet they continue to be a mystery. We call them dolls because we can't find another word.

Indian couple dolls in folk clothes

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Dolls from Rajasthan, India

Bride doll from Punjab, India

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Corn doll. Native American Corn Doll

The tradition of Indians making dolls from corn leaves goes back almost 1000 years. Such dolls are most famous among the Iroquois tribes. Brittle dried leaves were soaked in water, after which they became soft, and figures of men were woven from them. Such dolls were made for both girls and boys. Making various things for dolls helped children master many crafts needed in adulthood. The girls' dolls were given cradles, hoes, dishes and other things necessary for women's activities. Boys' dolls were given weapons, oars, boats and other equipment of warriors and hunters. All these parts were also made from corn leaves, weaving, twisting and stitching them.

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The very first corn dolls were very simple - a few bunches of corn leaves tied together. Later, when the Indians began to acquire European goods - fabrics, beads, items of European clothing, the clothes of the dolls became more complex and varied, they more and more carefully copied the clothes of real people. A distinctive feature of corn dolls is their lack of faces. At most, a reddish blush on the cheeks, and even then extremely rarely. This fact is explained by a legend.

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Many years ago, one of the Three Sisters, Corn, wanted to do something special for the people who held her and her sisters, Bean and Pumpkin, in such high esteem. The Great Spirit blessed her and she made a small doll from her leaves. This doll was supposed to entertain children and help them. The doll turned out to be very beautiful and performed its duties successfully. People were happy about her and often said how beautiful she was. And one day the doll saw its reflection in the water, and, forgetting about people, admired its beauty for a long time. Then the Great Spirit reminded her of what it was created for, and the doll returned to the children, but not for long. Someone again reminded her how beautiful she was, and the doll again forgot about the children. She became arrogant and arrogant. And again the Great Spirit reminded the beauty of her purpose, but she no longer listened to him, but only admired her reflection in the water. Then the Great Spirit sent a giant Owl, and it snatched the beauty’s reflection from the water and carried it away. Again and again the doll looked into the water, but could no longer see anything. Her beautiful face disappeared. Since then, the doll must fulfill its purpose - to play with children, and perhaps for this the Great Spirit will forgive her and return her face.

The world of toys of peoples of different countries is very diverse. Essentially, people create dolls to express their worldview in them. Initially, they were created only from natural materials - wood, clay, straw, but only in the 18-19th centuries they began to be made from wax, porcelain, and in the 20th century, plastic.

If we turn to the traditions of Japan, we will find out that the first doll was Kokeshi - a wooden toy without legs and arms, somewhat reminiscent of a Russian nesting doll. Kokeshi were made from cherry, maple, dogwood, and hand-painted with plant and floral motifs. It is believed that the dolls were first used by shamans to perform rituals; they were also used as funeral dolls.

Gradually, dolls became ordinary toys - they were given to children to entertain them, and adults began to make much more labor-intensive toys - from wood, rags, Japanese paper; in the 20th century large interior dolls appeared, which were often depictions of geishas. Moreover, the kimono for such dolls was embroidered by hand, it was decorated with precious stones and gold thread, which is why such beauty stood on the upper shelves, where children could not reach.

It was believed that by acquiring human features, the doll could come to life and frighten the baby. There were a lot of dolls in the families of the northern peoples; girls got married early, so their dowry necessarily included their favorite toys. Gradually, the dolls acquired human features, they were dressed in national costumes in order to preserve the culture.

The Slavs made dolls from scrap materials - ash, straw, clay, scraps of rags. It was believed that a toy made from flax would ward off all illnesses from the baby, so they were also considered amulets. They also made the so-called ten-handles - symbols of prosperity and happiness, krupenichek - a symbol of prosperity. The krupenichka was filled with grain, and then it was sown first - it was believed that then the harvest would be good and the family would live in abundance. Each cereal had its own meaning: rice was considered a festive grain, buckwheat - a symbol of wealth, pearl barley - satiety, oats - strength.

Other common dolls - haircuts, were created in haste from a bunch of cut grass, so that the child would not be bored when the mother was working in the field. Patchwork dolls were also used for play; older girls independently sewed outfits for them, painted them, and braided their hair.

Many museums display ethnic exhibitions of dolls from different nations of the world. They can be unmistakably recognized by their characteristic facial features and outfits.

In African countries, dolls were made by hand and passed on from generation to generation. They were woven from grass and carved from wood. Ethnic dolls were used in religious rituals, dressed in colorful fabrics, and decorated with bracelets and beads. A variety of materials were used - fabrics, wool, beads, palm leaves, grass, corn cobs, clay. As a rule, the dolls depicted not children, but adult married women dressed in traditional clothes. There were also dolls made by shamans specifically for the ritual - here they did not particularly find fault with their quality and appearance.

Dolls are also found on the American continent; they can also tell a lot about how the indigenous peoples lived. The Indians held this craft in high esteem, each tribe had special dolls, the techniques and materials also differed significantly, because people lived in different natural environments. To make dolls, they used fibers from marsh plants, fur, leather, corn cobs, feathers, wood, and linen. It was possible to determine from the doll which tribe it was made: for example, the Navajo Indians were considered excellent hunters, so the dolls were decorated with leather and fur, the Holi Indian dolls were made of wood, the Inuit - from corn cobs.

If you look closely, you will see traditional national features in each doll. Recently, more and more manufacturers have been producing ethnic collections of toys dressed in the costumes of different peoples of the world. The most popular is Barbie. Here is a Mexican Barbie, here is a Kenyan Barbie, and here is a Polynesian Barbie.

Older toys are mostly kept in museums or private collections. These are truly objects of art, you want to admire them, because they carry the imprint of ancient culture.

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When did toys appear? We can safely assume that the age of the toy coincides with the age of humanity. Children play everywhere and always. In the culture of every nation, a toy has its own and very important place. And in all historical eras, the toy was associated with the process of play - the leading activity in which the typical appearance of a child is formed: intelligence, physical and moral qualities.

There are several points of view about the emergence of toys, the game gave birth to labor; in ancient times, work itself carried elements of play; toys were a reflection of the life surrounding the child and allowed children to imitate adults through play; a toy - an object abstracted from the game - is the origin of art; Initially, toys had cult significance or were embodiments of mythological characters or personified the forces of nature.

toys were originally multi-valued and carried a number of different aspects. Just as diverse are the versions of the origin of toys, so are the types of toys distributed throughout the world. Moreover, most of them are found in one form or another in various parts of the world: rattles, whistles, dolls, figurines of animals or people, tops, hoops, sticks, bones... The first mentions of toys are in ancient books and written monuments of the Ancient World. Images of toys are found on ancient vessels and frescoes. But the best evidence is the toys themselves, found at different times by archaeologists. Making a horse was one of the most favorite toys of children of Ancient Greece.

What they played in Ancient Egypt A wide variety of toys were discovered during excavations in Ancient Egypt. Not only simple figurines were found there, but also toys with simple movement mechanisms. Relatively later, the image of a horse appeared in the toy. The Egyptians learned about the existence of chariots and horses from the nomadic tribes that conquered Egypt in the beginning. 1st millennium BC e. There are known konikatalki made in the 5th century. BC e.

Archeology about toys Archaeological work around the world has brought many amazing discoveries into the history of toys. Unfortunately, toys were often made from materials that are subject to rapid destruction and are poorly preserved. But even those finds that fell into the hands of scientists indicate that in all historical eras the toy was associated with play - the leading activity in which the typical appearance of a child is formed: intelligence, physical and moral qualities. The ancient slave societies of Egypt, Greece and Rome left priceless treasures of material and spiritual culture to subsequent generations. We will encounter a lot of interesting things while studying the toy - an integral part of the ancient world, serving as a kind of illustration of the era.

Who invented the toy? “Perhaps the first toys were given to our distant ancestors by nature itself: shells, stones, leaves and flowers, animal bones or fancy tree branches. However, one can only guess about this. By analogy with modern times, we can assume that any item of the most serious purpose in the everyday life of adults, falling into the hands of a child, became a toy. Or perhaps the first “real” toys were made by children themselves, and then adults, watching the children, realized the need for toys and began making them specially. Archaeologists found only those toys that did not succumb to the ravages of time. Moreover, there are very few such finds to build a completely reliable version. There were changes of civilizations, some died and new ones were born. Children changed, and adults changed. The toys changed. But among them there are common ones for the entire history of mankind.

Rattle, ball, top and doll These toys originated during human childhood. Having passed through a multifaceted kaleidoscope of morals, ways of life, habits, tastes, religions, they still live today. However, with all their amazing similarities, there is an equally amazing deep difference in the content of play with these toys among different peoples,” wrote Galina Dain, a researcher at the Zagorsk Toy Museum. Magazine "Around the World", November, 1971.

The nursery of a modern preschooler...is filled with toys that could not exist in a primitive society and the playful use of which is inaccessible to a child of an ancient society. Can you imagine among the toys of a child of this society cars, trains, airplanes, lunar rovers, satellites, building materials, pistols, sets of parts for construction? The nature of a child’s toys throughout the human history of the toy in its causal conditioning by the history of the development of society, the history of the development of the child in society.

Are modern toys diverse? The colorful variety of modern toys comes down to only one and a half dozen toy types. The origins of most of them are in the deep layers of human culture. These are rolling toys, tumblers, spinning tops, sound toys (whistles, squeakers, rattles, squeakers), surprise toys, puzzles, toys with primitive mechanical movement, dexterity toys and, of course, the most ancient figurative toys in the form of people, animals and birds . They have long accompanied man, protected, entertained and taught him, helping him to understand the world around him. And it is not surprising that toys have evolved along with humans, not only improving their forms, but also changing their functions. Since the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, experts have rethought the creative potential of children's play not only as entertainment, but also as a way of understanding the world. And the toy, as a means (or goal?) of the game, began to be given a very important place.

Traditional toy The simplicity of form, brilliant in its expressiveness, inherent in a traditional toy - a product of folk crafts, attracted the attention of professionals who were involved in the design of a children's play world at the turn of the 20th century. This was a period of cultural crisis. At this time, a reformist art-pedagogical movement was born, which with its ideas intensified interest in folk roots. Since the end of the 19th century, it has been dying in overwhelming competition with cheap industrial products. From the last third of the 19th century, toy museums opened throughout Europe. At the beginning of the 20th century in London, Paris, St. St. Petersburg, Nuremberg and other large European cities hosted one after another international competitions and exhibitions for artists and craftsmen involved in the manufacture of toys.

Craftsmen throughout Europe worked on the images of toys in search of modern forms through a return to “nationality.” A new aesthetics was created through the rejection of the naturalistic design of toys. The artists strove to create a toy that was distinguished by emphasized imagery, stylization and simplification of natural forms to a characteristic precisely found silhouette, believing the principles of a successful combination of modern aesthetics and rational manufacturing methods to be especially effective. This was also facilitated by the influence of new pedagogical theories, proving that a toy for young children cannot be complex and too realistic.

The 20th century toy combined elements of artistic crafts, decorative arts and emerging design. The reform movement of the early 20th century left behind new pedagogical ideas, primarily about toys, which in their main theses are still relevant today. It was thanks to the movement of artistic education that the world of toys, for the first time in its history, attracted so many craftsmen and specialists from all fields of science and art, striving to improve and decorate the children's world, to resist "industrial cheapness", to make a modern toy correspond to the most important functions for which it is intended play in the life of a little person, in his upbringing and exploration of the world around him. The original toy remains unchanged only in appearance. In reality, like all other toys, it arises and changes historically; its history is organically connected with the history of the child’s changing place in society and cannot be understood outside of this history.

The life of a toy these days Currently, all the identified questions regarding the “toy world” still remain relevant. Specialists and craftsmen all over the world pay a lot of attention to studying the history of the toy, its influence on the child, and its aesthetic and cognitive properties. However, despite the renewed interest and great attention to traditional toys in our time, many folk crafts in Russia specializing in toys are going through difficult times or are in decline.

Whistles The history of the clay whistle began more than five thousand years ago. In ancient times, they had a sacred meaning and contained the four elements of Creation. The potter mixed two elements - Earth and Water - to obtain material for making a whistle. Then he burned the finished product with Fire, and in order to extract a melodic sound from it, he needed another element - air. Initially, whistles were objects of worship and a means of communication, emitting one or more sounds; later they turned into toys and entertainment, but many people still believe that whistling scares away evil forces. Whistles are so popular that whistle festivals are still held in Europe. In Italy and Spain this is a whole tradition. In Russia, such festivals unfortunately disappeared at the end of the 19th century. From the point of view of the usefulness of whistles for a child, in addition to the fact that they give a cheerful mood, they “have the goal of developing lung tension to some extent,” wrote pediatrician and teacher E. A. Pokrovsky in his work “Physical education of children in different peoples" in 1895.

Types of whistles: vessel-shaped (common on all continents) figures with a whistle, which is not in the vessel itself, but in its stand (Portugal, Spain, Mallorca, Mexico) water whistles - “nightingales”, the design of which remains unchanged despite the variety of forms throughout world (Bulgaria, Romania, Czech Republic, Finland, Latvia, etc.) clay musical instruments - ocarinas (common on all continents)

Ocarinas in the form of birds. Peru The picture shows a geometric pattern traditional for the Inca culture. Religion did not forbid the Incas from depicting people. Often see insects, animals, especially images of birds, to which Peruvians clearly have a partial attitude. Many names and names of cities include the word Huaman, which means falcon - a swift bird, an object of admiration. Photo from the site http: //www. rustoys. ru

Ocarina in the form of a pipe. Peru Simple geometric shapes in patterns could be the beginnings of writing that never appeared among the ancient Incas (by the time the Spaniards arrived, all records were kept in the form of knots on threads). On the other hand, all researchers note the logical simplicity and harmony of the Quechua language - the desire to streamline and simplify the inexplicable chaos of a world full of hostile spirits found satisfaction in the correctness of the pattern. Unlike ordinary pipes, it has holes not only on the top, but also on the unpainted belly. Photo from the site http: //www. rustoys. ru

Ocarina in the form of a pipe. Peru The designs on these ocarinas are very ancient. The round ocarina has designs of the Nazca people. Nazca used eleven different colors, each Nazca design is a challenge, a curious puzzle. More oval ocarinas have Inca designs. Ocarina size 8 cm, six holes on top, three on bottom. Halftones are extracted, partially covering the playing holes. Photo from the site http: //www. rustoys. ru

Multi-barreled reed flute (Pan flute) Such pipes were found in many cultures. This is the Greek Syrinx, and the European Panflet, and the Ukrainian pipe. In Rus', such a flute was called kugikly (kuvikly, tsevnitsa). Tubes of different lengths were cut out of reeds, angelica, branches of trees and bushes with a core, they were held in the hands and whistled into each one in turn.

Festive Filimonovo whistle In the village of Filimonovo, Tula province, they were engaged in the production of pottery. And the whistle is a holiday toy, and they were made in the spring, before Easter, when the spring holiday was celebrated, and they were painted very brightly. Most of the Filimonov whistles have a comic plot, for example, the rider can ride not only a horse, but also a bird or even a pig. And, of course, our favorite cats, goats, bunnies, lambs, conics, and cockerels. . .

Vologda birch bark buzzer The sound of the buzzer is reminiscent of the cry of a young bull in the spring. And this is just birch bark rolled into a tube and tied with colored thread. It used to thunder like that, hang like that high - in the villages the turnips wither and the milk turns sour. And if in an open field it whistles until dawn, the heroes will fall down with a whistle from their horses! Andrey Usachev

Let's check ourselves? When did the first toys appear? Who supposedly invented them? What are toys for (scientists’ opinion)? What toys were played in Ancient Greece? Where were gaming dice invented? What musical instruments are also toys? Name two Russian folk crafts where toys are made from natural materials

If we turn to the traditions of Japan, we learn that the first doll was Kokeshi - a wooden toy without legs and arms, somewhat reminiscent of a Russian nesting doll. Kokeshi were made from cherry, maple, dogwood, and hand-painted with plant and floral motifs. It is believed that the dolls were first used by shamans to perform rituals; they were also used as funeral dolls.

For a long time, dolls among the Eskimos and Nenets symbolized connections with otherworldly forces; they were attributed their own energy, so for a long time folk craftsmen made them without drawing the nose, eyes, ears, and mouth. It was believed that by acquiring human features, the doll could come to life and frighten the baby. There were a lot of dolls in the families of the northern peoples; girls got married early, so their dowry necessarily included their favorite toys. Gradually, the dolls acquired human features, they were dressed in national costumes in order to preserve the culture.

The Slavs made dolls from scrap materials - ash, straw, clay, scraps of rags. It was believed that a toy made from flax would ward off all illnesses from the baby, so they were also considered amulets. They also made the so-called ten-handles - symbols of prosperity and happiness, krupenichek - a symbol of prosperity. The krupenichka was filled with grain, and then it was sown first - it was believed that then the harvest would be good and the family would live in abundance. Each grain had its own meaning: rice was considered a festive grain, buckwheat was a symbol of wealth, pearl barley was considered a symbol of satiety, and oats were a symbol of strength.

Other common dolls, haircuts, were created hastily from a bunch of cut grass, so that the child would not be bored when the mother was working in the field. Patchwork dolls were also used for play; older girls independently sewed outfits for them, painted them, and braided their hair.

Many museums display ethnic exhibitions of dolls from different nations of the world. They can be unmistakably recognized by their characteristic facial features and outfits.