Traditional toys that double up as educational tools

There was a time, not too long back, when we spent our summer vacations playing board games with our cousins and friends.

However, with time these games slowly vanished from our shelves as the new generation, raised on a staple of playstation and computer games, never experienced the fun of playing these.

However, a section of parents in the city insist on playing these traditional games, which double up as educational tools, with their kids.

Take the case of Malleswaram resident Nisha Sharma. She has devised a novel method to teach numbers and counting to her six-year-old son. Instead of adopting the monotonous pictorial books, she introduced him to Pallanguli - a popular folk game of the South played with seeds on a foldable board which has two rows of seven cups. Now, not only her son enjoys counting, but also finds the game as gripping as any other gadgetries.

Though curated toys have not really caught the fancy of many, some shops in Bangalore are trying their best to keep these toys alive in the face of gadgets and computer games. “Even today I play these games with my cousins, and to be honest they are far more interesting than the ones played by kids today. So, I decided to bring out these games from my backyard and present it to today’s kids the way they would enjoy it,” said Sreeranjini GS, founder and owner of Kavade Toy Hive.

The shop located at Seshadripuram has classics such as Bagh-Chal or Tiger & Goat Game (where tigers ‘hunt’ the goats while the goats attempt to block the tigers’ movements), Navakankari or Nine Men’s Morris (an alignment game where two players plot racks of nine coins each along a grid to score points by lining them up in threes). Each of these games, says Sreeranjini, has been designed to hone logic and strategy skills among kids. “Most of these games are thought provoking. I do not think toys have to be loud and noisy,” she said.

Parent Musing is another such organisation in the city, which assist parents in finding toys that are educationally beneficial. These toys aim to improve a child’s auditory, visual and social skills as well as enhance their logical and conceptual thinking.

“Kids in the age group of 3-4 years find it tough to share and cooperate. The games they usually play do not need the involvement of multiple players. Hence, it is often found that they lack in team spirit and sharing,” said Gayathri Tirthapura, founder and director, Parent Musing.

The toys do not resemble any television character or movie character so that a child’s imagination is not hampered. For instance, the shop sells variety of puppets which parents or kids can use to narrate stories or enact a play. Even a game like the Kite Lotto helps young children to recognise patterns.

Kamakshi Mopuri, director programme at Sutradhar, a city-based charitable trust, says her organisation showcases resources that add to learning experience of a kid. “We basically focus on creative learning. For instance, when we promote puppets or ghagra dolls instead of plastic Barbie’s, we aim at improving imaginative skills, while promoting eco-friendly materials among children,” said Mopuri.

All these shops source their material from people and artisans who specialise in making such toys. Most of them are situated in Varanasi, Kanyakumari, Jaipur and Channapatna. Sutradhar works with parents and teachers to create toys that will benefit children.

“The market for such toys is still small. Though my venture cannot be called a commercial success, people who have visited my store have gone back 100% satisfied and in fact are repeat customers,” says Sreeranjini.

Also, curated or educational toys are often not the first preference of children and hence even parents do not make much effort to promote such toys among kids, feels Tirthapura. “There is a lot of awareness that needs to be generated.”