A few days ago I was talking about an interesting project that shows us photographs of the favorite toys of children in the world, and today we return to explore other cultures through games. We stop in Mexico and in "Time to play", an exhibition on traditional toys from this country.
It is in the National Museum of Anthropology of Mexico City where you can see, until June of this year, toys from the broad cultural melting pot of Mexico when visiting different contexts. Thus we will discover how the rarámuris children of Chihuahua play, the playful activities that the girls of Oaxaca do ...
With the games and toys seen as a tool of knowledge of the environment and personal development, it is intended to extol these traditional games that in most of the world have been unbanked by more modern ones.
In the sample you can see more than 70 toys representative of the forms of play in various ethnicities of the country. Wooden toys and instruments, made with pumpkins, with fabrics ... Surely children will be tempted to try them ... can you play with any of them? These are the sections of the sample:
“Roles y Oficios”, where toys for girls and boys are exhibited.
"Natural environment", which shows the pieces created from local elements, such as the wooden canoes in Chiapas or the cañuelas used by the Yuman children.
“Street, public space to learn” that reflects how children learn rules, values and goals in the game.
“Cosmovision and ritual”, in which pieces linked to indigenous rituals are exhibited, such as masks and clothing that children use in these activities where they learn the roles they will play in their community in adult life.
The exhibition consists of toys from the ethnographic collection of the National Museum of Anthropology and some pieces of private individuals, it is complemented by a video and a documentation center where visitors can consult more information on the subject.
Also, stay tuned because as a complementary activity the museum will organize workshops in which an artisan will teach children to create wooden toys. And every child will take his toy.
The schedule to visit the exhibition "Time to play", about traditional toys in Mexico, is from Tuesday to Sunday, from 9:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., until next June. Admission is 57 pesos (3.5 euros) and is free for children under 13 years of age. On Sundays, admission is free for Mexicans and foreign residents.
Official Site | National Museum of Anthropology More information | El Universal In Babies and more | East 9: toys of other times, Technology vs. traditional games: what do children lose in front of the screens?
