Museum of Folk Toys “Zabavushka. Museum of Folk Toys Fun Museum Fun Museum Preobrazhenskaya Square
The Museum of Folk Toys “Zabavushka” in Moscow is a non-state museum created thanks to the private initiative of the Society of Folk Art Lovers “Tradition”.
For the first time, a game exhibition called “Fun” was held at the All-Russian Museum of Decorative, Applied and Folk Art in Moscow. It aroused great interest among viewers and it was decided to transfer the exhibition to a permanent basis. This is how the Zabavushka Museum of Folk Toys appeared.
The Zabavushka Museum of Folk Toys opened in 1998 on 1st Pugachevskaya Street, not far from the Preobrazhenskaya Ploshchad metro station.
The museum is aimed mainly at working with children of primary and secondary school age, who can here get acquainted with Russian traditional toys in an interactive form.
The museum has a souvenir shop where you can buy authentic traditional toys of Russian folk crafts.
Exposition of the Museum "Fun"
The museum has a collection of 5,000 exhibits from the collection of the Society of Folk Art Lovers “Tradition”: these are authentic toys made from natural materials - wooden, clay, straw, birch bark and handmade patchwork toys.
The exhibits are collected from more than 40 different Russian craft centers - the settlement of Dymkovo, the village of Filimonovo, the cities of Kargopol, Torzhok, Sergiev Posad, Gorodets, the village of Bogorodskoye and many others.
The museum itself exhibits about 2,000 exhibits.
You can not only look at all the toys, but also touch them with your own hands, since they are on open shelves and are available to all museum visitors. In addition, little guests are invited to paint the toy themselves: for this purpose, interactive game tours are held here.
The museum offers a choice of three excursions for children: “clay folk toy”, “toy crafts of Russia” or “patchwork doll”. On all excursions there is an engaging dialogue between the guide and the children, games to create a fairy tale using toys, drawing and, of course, your own creation of toys.
Please note that photography and video shooting during the excursion is prohibited. If you want to leave memorable photographs, then you should additionally order the “photos from excursions” service from the museum.
Ticket prices and schedule
You can visit the museum of folk toys “Zabavushka” only by pre-registration on those days and times when there are requests for excursions.
Excursions are held every 1.5 hours: at 9.30, 11.00, 12.30, 14.00, 15.30 and 17.00. The museum is open every day, seven days a week.
Cost of tickets for game excursions to the Zabavushka Museum of Folk Toys:
- children's ticket (schoolchildren) - 490 rubles
- adult ticket - 100 rubles.
One accompanying person/teacher can go with the group free of charge.
The duration of each excursion is 1 hour - 1 hour 15 minutes.
In addition to play excursions for children, the museum provides an hour-long sightseeing tour for adults. The cost of a ticket for a sightseeing tour is 350 rubles (minimum group - 10 people).
For foreign tourists, an excursion with consecutive translation is provided: 550 rubles per person (minimum group - 10 people). The duration of the excursion is one and a half hours.
Pre-registration is required for all Museum visitors.
Regardless of the weather, children should bring a change of shoes.
How to get to the Zabavushka Museum
The easiest way to get to the Zabavushka Museum of Folk Toys is by metro: the museum is located a 10-minute walk from the Preobrazhenskaya Ploshchad station (Sokolnicheskaya Line).
From the metro you need to exit onto Bolshaya Cherkizovskaya Street and walk along it towards the region until the intersection with 2nd Pugachevskaya Street. Turning right onto 2nd Pugachevskaya Street, you only have to walk 100 meters before turning left. Afterwards you should go straight to the iron fence, which will be the entrance to the museum.
Entrance to the Zabavushka folk toy museum on Google panoramas:
The bus stop closest to the museum is Khalturinskaya Street. The following city public transport routes are suitable for you:
- buses No. 34, 34k, 52, 171, 230, 372, 716
- trolleybuses No. 41 and No. 83
- minibus No. 716.
To order a car, you can use taxi applications: for example, Gett or Yandex. Taxi.
Video about the Zabavushka folk toy museum, report:
On Sunday we took an introductory clay toy tour at the Zabavushka Museum. The museum is very small, pleasant, elegant; You can only get into it with an organized group, and despite the fact that many got sick, in the end there were 28 of us gathered.
In the lobby, everyone was given stickers with names (why don’t all museums do this? It’s so convenient to address children by name!) and were told about the rules of behavior, which are not at all similar to standard museum rules. The most important thing that my children were very happy about and even didn’t believe a little at first is that you can touch all the exhibits here! You can also answer the guide’s questions immediately, without waiting for the end of the question and without raising your hand, if you know the answer :)
The tour takes place in several halls. In the first, the children were told how and what toys are made of, were shown a stove (not a real one), and then were divided into 2 groups and the program continued in parallel in different rooms. We remembered folk tales using the exhibits, played “villages”, studied the differences between Filimonovskaya and Dymkovo toys, and set off to create. To begin with, the children were asked to draw ornaments on paper, and then they were allowed to paint clay whistles. In the end, they could be turned into a talisman - for this you need to make a wish and whistle loudly, and then for 2 hours do not whistle under any circumstances 😂 thanks to this, we drove home in silence 😉
You can buy souvenirs on the way out. By the way, all the toys in the store and in the museum itself are original, ordered from real Dymkovo and Filimonov masters.
✅ What I liked: the excursion is active, but the atmosphere is relaxed - children sit on the floor, walk, watch, play and no one bothers them.
✅ In general, the museum is designed for schoolchildren, and at first it seemed to me that the guides overdid it, adapting the information for our children, but on the way back, after asking my sons, I realized that they remembered the most important points: that toys are made by craftsmen and they are not painted, but paint; that the names of the crafts came from the names of villages and the names of craftsmen; how do Dymkovo and Filimonov toys differ, by what features can they be recognized among other similar toys; what kind of clay is used and what stages does clay go through before becoming a whistle :)
⛔️ the guides were friendly, but in the end they still said that they were tired of working with our group, because... they find it difficult with small children, although the children behaved well! Honestly, I would take my youngest son, who is almost 3 years old, on such an excursion. It's a shame it's not possible(
⛔️little time was allocated for painting the whistles; many did not have time to finish their work.
Toys are not just children's fun. The psycho-emotional state and moral development of a person depend not least on what kind of things surrounded him in childhood. All kids, and most adults, love good toys, so almost everyone will be interested in visiting the Zabavushka museum of folk toys.
In every region of Russia there are original crafts, including the production of toys for children. A traditional toy is a product of decorative and national creativity, therefore, by the appearance and design of toys, you can get a first idea about the culture and life of the inhabitants of different regions.
Today, traditional toys are rarely seen in children's rooms. In our creation, these gizmos are more associated with souvenirs. The popular Zabavushka museum in Moscow aims to change the prevailing idea and show that traditional toys are intended specifically for play. That is why most of the exhibits are allowed to be touched and turned in your hands.
Museum excursions here are conducted in a playful, interactive form, because children are unlikely to be interested in the monotonous narration of the guide. While viewing the exhibition, children will be invited to play with the exhibits on display and listen to a truly fascinating story about the history of the origin of the fishery.
Story
The museum is still very young; its foundations were laid in 1998, thanks to the actions of the Society of Connoisseurs of Folk Heritage. The museum collection began with a charity exhibition, which presented samples of traditional toys, held in the halls of the museum of folk and applied arts. The event aroused great interest; during its work, everyone was unable to view the exhibition. Therefore, it was decided to increase the opening hours of the exhibition. And, despite the fact that entrance was paid, the number of visitors did not decrease.
To give people the opportunity to view the exhibition at any time, it was decided to make the work permanent. Every year the collection was replenished with new models of toys, and today the collection includes more than 5 thousand exhibits. The main audience for which the exhibition is aimed are children aged 5 years and older.
Programs
The affectionate name Zabavushka, the museum of Russian folk toys, expresses the people’s attitude towards toys. Visitors can view about 2 thousand exhibits representing examples of 45 different traditional crafts. The materials for making toys are varied - clay, straw, shreds, birch bark. Even the photo shows how bright and varied the exhibits are on display.
Two programs are offered to tourists. The first is dedicated to clay toys, the second to creations made from scraps and wood.
The main principle of the tour dedicated to clay crafts is to teach children through play. Visitors will be shown a master class on making toys from clay, and group games will be held - creative and educational. Children will be introduced to traditional painting patterns. Each visitor will be offered to decorate the toy himself with painting, giving him complete freedom and no restrictions on his flight of imagination.
The excursion is intimate and extremely interesting, in which visitors are introduced to toys made of wood and sewn from scraps. Tourists will be shown what toys village children used to amuse themselves with in past centuries. They will explain what secrets the primitive-looking wooden bears and straw dolls keep, and tell why every peasant family always kept 12 pieces of diaper dolls in the space behind the stove. As well as other useful and interesting information related to folk crafts and customs.
During the excursion, children will not only listen to the guide, but will also be able to play. Launch a top, try how Bogorodsk articulated toys move, etc. Tourists will be offered to make their own patchwork doll-amulet and paint a wooden whistle.
In addition, the Zabavushka clay toy museum regularly conducts a variety of master classes, in which not only children, but also adults take part with pleasure. By visiting such a master class, you can learn how to carve from birch bark, sculpt from clay, and sew from scraps. Classes are held in a warm, friendly atmosphere and are very popular with visitors.
Helpful information
The address of the museum is Moscow, st. 1st Pugachevskaya, building 17. To get to the museum, you can use the metro; you need to get to the Preobrazhenskaya Ploshchad station. Having reached the station, you need to go through the passage, turning right. Go to the end, exit through the exit on the left side. Walk straight along Bolshaya Cherkizovskaya Street, moving towards the region. Get to the intersection, turn onto 2nd Pugachevskaya Street, go to the first turn, turn and cross 1st Pugachevskaya Street. Walk a few meters to the metal fence and go through the gate.
The Museum of Folk Crafts is open daily, seven days a week. There are up to five excursions per day. The duration of each is 1 hour 10 minutes – 1 hour 30 minutes. First, it is recommended to visit the excursion dedicated to the clay toy, since the second excursion program is a continuation of the first. Russian ritual holidays are held on the territory of the museum - Christmastide, Maslenitsa festivities, etc.
The approximate composition of the excursion group is from 20 to 40 people. The minimum age for children to attend the clay toy excursion is 5 years old, and for the Patchwork Toy excursion - 7 years old. It is advisable that the excursion group include children of the same age.
A child ticket costs 480 rubles, an adult ticket costs 50 rubles, and a teacher accompanying a group of children gets in for free. Single visitors can view the exhibition only during group excursions, so you should call in advance and check the time when you can arrive.
The settlement of Dymkovo, the villages of Filimonovo and Bogorodskoye, the village of Gorodets, the city of Sergiev Posad will reveal their secrets to children.
Games, drawing, creating fairy-tale cities, painting authentic toys
will give children the joy of independently discovering a new world of folk toys that is close to the child’s soul.
Adults! Give children the joy of discovery and creativity!
By exploring the world of toys, children learn about the world around them.
By exploring the world of toys, children get to know themselves.
EXCURSIONS IN THE MUSEUM:
CLAY FOLK TOY
“By playing, we’ll find out!” - this is the main principle of this excursion.
An active dialogue between the guide and the children, a meditation game “Making a Toy!”, a creative group game “Creating a Fairy Tale!”, an educational game “Building Villages!”, a fun introduction to folk patterns during a five-minute drawing session and, finally, “Painting a Toy!” - Complete freedom of creativity. New sensations: “I am a MASTER! I CREATE!”
Paint an authentic folk toy yourself - and your child will never “paint” a toy like a fence!
Duration – 1 hour 15 minutes.
Ticket prices:
Child – 500 rubles
Adult – 150 rubles
Teacher - free
TOY INDUSTRIES OF RUSSIA
On this excursion, children will learn details about four folk crafts of clay toys: Romanovskaya, Kargopolskaya, Abashevskaya toys and whistles from Torzhok. Experienced guides conduct an interactive game “Fair” with children, which makes it possible to consolidate the knowledge acquired on this excursion.
Then the guys go to the hall with a wooden toy. Here children have a unique opportunity to see the first Russian nesting dolls, learn the history of their creation, and play with authentic Bogorodsk “coming to life” toys. The children get acquainted with the technique of making straw toys. In this room they also take part in both interactive games and games with modern wooden toys.
In the final part of the excursion, children have the opportunity to independently paint an authentic toy whistle, made by the hands of craftsmen from Polokhov-Maidan. Children take this toy with them.
Duration - 1 hour 15 minutes.
Ticket prices:
Child – 500 rubles
Adult – 150 rubles
Teacher - free
Important!
- in one group - children of approximately the same school age,
- number of children in one group – from 20 to 40 people,
- age – any school age.
PATCHY DOLL : EXCURSION WITH MASTER CLASS
What toys did village children play with long ago, why were twelve dolls kept behind the stove, why did a girl-bride take care of her children's dolls, what toys were never sold at the fair, and children will learn a lot of interesting things during the excursion. At the end, each child, under the guidance of a museum teacher, will make his own, perhaps the first real traditional play doll in his life, which he will take with him.
Duration – 1 hour 20 minutes.
Number of children in the group – 20-25 people
Ticket prices:
Child – 550 rubles
Adult – 150 rubles
Teacher - free
TEACH US TOYS!
An interactive excursion during which children will learn
what toys can teach and tell, play folk games,
get acquainted with toys and traditions of different nations and with their own hands make a horse out of bast
Duration – 1 hour 30 minutes
Number of children in the group – from 20 to 35 children
Ticket prices:
Child – 650 rubles
Adult – 150 rubles
Teacher - free
Important: Before visiting the Museum, be sure to call the administrator! The museum is open only on those days and hours when there are requests for excursions!
INTERACTIVE TOUR FOR CHILDREN AND PARENTS
You can choose from one of the excursions (see the first three). Parents take part in the play excursion along with their children throughout the entire time, or at a certain stage of the excursion the group is divided into children and parents (agreed in advance with the organizer). At the end of the excursion, everyone paints a toy (or makes a patchwork doll).
Duration of the excursion – 1 hour 15 minutes
Minimum group, including children and adults – 20 people
The cost of one ticket is 500 rubles
Accompanying (guide) - free
SIGHTSEEING TOUR FOR ADULTS
Acquaintance with the folk toy crafts of Russia, the mysteries of the patchwork doll and the folk toys of other countries.
Duration of the excursion – 1 hour
Minimum group – 10 people
The cost of one ticket is 350 rubles
For foreign tourists:
Minimum group – 10 people
Duration, including translation, - 1 hour 30 minutes
The cost of one ticket is 550 rubles
Accompanying (guide) – free
MASTER CLASSES ON PATCHY DOLL
A family event aimed at introducing the world of Russian traditional dolls and making a patchwork doll that has a certain meaning and is dedicated to a national holiday or time of year.
Detailed information about master classes
- Start time of excursions: 9.30; 11.00; 12.30; 14.00; 15.30; 17.00
- Museum opening hours: every day
Important: You can visit the museum only on those days and times when there are requests for excursions!
