"Zabavushka", Museum of Russian Folk Toys: address, opening hours, reviews

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:44

Today there are many small museums with a narrow thematic focus. The initiators of the creation of new cultural spaces are enthusiasts, anxiously collecting cultural historical heritage. One of these centers was the Zabavushka folk toy museum, where adults and children draw joy and knowledge.

History of Appearance

Museum of folk toys "Zabavushka" was founded in 1998. It started with a small exhibition organized by the Tradition Society of Folk Art Lovers. By accepting an offer to participate in a charity event held by the All-Russian Museum of Decorative and Applied Arts, folk toy lovers saw the genuine interest of adults and children in this type of folk craft.

During the action, not everyone had time to visit the booth with toys, closer to the end of the event, the museum administration met the initiative group of toy lovers and the exhibition was extended, but the visit became possible only with purchased tickets. The financial burden isbecame an obstacle to visiting stands, the flow of visitors has not dried up.

Then it was decided to create a separate museum "Zabavushka", where the public can not only view and touch the exhibits, but also show their artistic talent by painting their favorite toy at the master class.

Description

Zabavushka Museum is a non-state local history institution focused on working with schoolchildren. To date, the museum's funds contain more than 5 thousand exhibits collected in 45 centers of traditional crafts. Toys are made from a variety of materials - wooden, clay, patchwork, straw, birch bark. All of them have their own character and reflect that part of Russia where they were created from time immemorial for the amusement of children and the joy of adults.

More than 2,000 exhibits are open to the public. They can study the history of the country. Here, toys from Dymkovo, Gorodets, Filimonov, Kargopol, Bogorodskoye and other ancient or revived centers of folk craft delight the eye. All exhibits are authentic, bear the stamp of the hand of the master and the originality of folk traditions.

Fascinating and educational

Employees of the Zabavushka Museum have created a unique exposition space where almost all rarities can be picked up. There are no closed showcases in the halls; children are offered live communication with historical and modern examples of folk toys. Schoolchildren with genuine interest examine toys they understand and withhappy to participate in the center's interactive programs.

During the tours, visitors are introduced to the features of each type of toy, along the way giving knowledge about the history and culture of the area from which the sculpture, doll or whistle originated. Schoolchildren are shown what toys their peers played in different eras and explain the traditions, customs and rituals associated with the presented exhibits. For example, children will be told why 12 dolls with the funny name “diapers” were kept behind the stove in a peasant family.

The Zabavushka Museum is also interesting in that the kids are given enough to play enough - to start the spinning top, to test and understand how the world-famous articulated Bogorodsk toy works. This craft has more than 350 years of development, and the works of the masters still do not lose popularity.

Tours

Zabavushka Museum invites visitors to the following excursions:

• Folk clay toy. The excursion is based on the principle: "Playing - we learn." The guide actively communicates with children, offering to create their own fairy tale stories, involving them in the educational interactive game “Building Villages”. In the final part of the tour, children are given the opportunity to paint a clay toy, which encourages complete freedom of creativity in choosing a form, ornament, color.
• Toy crafts. On the tour, children get acquainted with Romanovsky, Kargopolsky, Abashevsky clay toys, as well as Torzhok whistles. Children become participants in an interactivegames "Fair", which helps to consolidate the knowledge gained. At the next stage, acquaintance with a wooden toy takes place in the next hall of the Zabavushka Museum, where the first nesting dolls and real Bogorodsk toys are presented. Also, schoolchildren will learn a lot about the technique of making figurines from straw. The tour ends with a master class on painting a whistle from Polokhov-Maidan, which they take with them.
• Patch doll. On the tour, children will learn the traditions of making dolls, rituals associated with textile toys that existed in Russia in different centuries. Schoolchildren create a patchwork amulet under the guidance of a master and take it with them.
• Family tour. Adults and children choose one of the thematic excursions for a joint useful vacation. Parents can accompany the child during the entire time in the museum or join at any convenient time. The museum also offers sightseeing tours for organized groups of adults.

Excursions to the Zabavushka Museum last from 1 hour 10 minutes. An organized group of 20 to 40 people is required to visit, the cost of visiting is 470 rubles per participant. For parents, the ticket price is 100 rubles. A sightseeing tour for adults lasts 1 hour, ticket price is 350 rubles (in a group of 10 or more people).

Reviews

Adults and children found the Zabavushka Museum in Moscow very unusual and interesting. Parents' reviews say that the children were almost immediately carried away by the story.guide and with great interest examined all the presented toys. I also liked the fact that many exhibits can be picked up and viewed from all sides.

It was noted that the work of the animators, they are also guides, is excellent - no one was bored, everyone was involved in several games. In one hour, the children managed not only to learn the history of toys, ask all the questions and get exhaustive understandable answers, but also enjoy the creative process. The topics of the excursions are different, but you can see everything, and new master classes are offered every time - a textile toy, painting a clay figurine or whistles, creating a fairy tale and much more.

Adults noted that the master classes were well organized - there were enough blanks for creativity, paints, brushes, patches and other accessories. There are enough places for everyone, the masters who lead the classes show patience and a pedagogical gift, allowing children to show their talents and directing them in the right direction.

Some parents noted that the museum is difficult to find, the rooms are not too warm in winter, but the children do not pay attention to this. A small part of the visitors felt that the exposition was not very diverse, and the museum itself looked more like a collection of random things. Most of the visitors recommend to attend all the excursions to give children the opportunity to gain basic knowledge about their homeland, folk crafts, and unleash their creative potential at master classes.

Useful information

Address of the Museum "Zabavushka" - street 1st Pugachevskaya, building 17, 2floor (metro station "Preobrazhenskaya Square").

Pre-registration for a group tour is required to visit. Registration is held daily from 09:00 to 18:00. A change of shoes is a mandatory requirement for all visitors (shoe covers are not an alternative).

In the Zabavushka Museum, you can hold a thematic birthday of a child, master classes, excursions are held during the event, animators work.