GAMES AND FUN FOR THE LITTLE ONE

Exhibition author

Sanja Nekić

Project author and exhibition curator

dr. sc. Iris Biškupić Bašić

Exhibiton design

Nikolina Jelavić Mitrović

Photography

Fredy Fijačko

English translation

Dunja Horvat Weitner

Multimedia and web design

Matija Dronjić

Technical realisation

Adrijana Gašparić, Marko Gašparić, Domagoj Kačan, Darijen Paša, Jasminka Vujičić

Marketing and PR

Ivana Lušić, Marijana Bračić

Educational program

Željka Jelavić, Silvia Vrsalović, Ivana Dumbović Žužić

The project was made possible by the Ministry of Culture and Media of the Republic

of Croatia and by the City of Zagreb – City Office for Culture, Zagreb Tourist Board

From October 7 to 31, 2021

The Croatian School Museum, the only specialized pedagogical museum in Croatia, has in its 120 years collected and preserved museum material on the history of schooling, education, and the development of pedagogy in Croatia.

Valuable heritage is gathered in ten extensive and complex museum collections, in the Archives, and in the Pedagogical Library. The first permanent exhibition of the Croatian School Museum, which officially opened in 1901, also contained educational toys – sets of stacking stones from the Viennese factory T. A. Richter & Comp.

The Toy Collection of the Croatian School Museum was created as a result of collection and necessary protection of this type of cultural heritage, in accordance with modern historical paradigms of studying the history of everyday life, including the history of children’s everyday life, growing up, and childhood. The world of play is an interesting area of  interdisciplinary research that acknowledges the importance of games and toys for a child’s cognitive, emotional, psychological, and social development.

The collection contains various traditional and modern toys and games dating from the end of the 19th century to the present day. According to their type and use they can be subdivided into plush and soft toys, dolls, costumes and clothing, furniture and play accessories, constructive and didactic toys, social toys, mechanical, optical and paper toys, vehicles, figures, and musical instruments. Separate groups, depending on the type of record, are formed by audiovisual games / records and electronic games, which have become an in separable part of the everyday life of children and adults since the second half of the 20th century. The question is how we can preserve countless electronic games, but it is definitely necessary to store representative examples and copies of the most popular ones. Most of the toys come from Croatian manufacturers, such as Biserka from Zagreb, Jugoplastika from Split, and Tila – 25. maj from Labin, but some of them were produced in factories from neighbouring countries, such as Mehanotehnika from Izola in Slovenija, while some were made by foreign manufacturers.

The Toy Collection of the Croatian School Museum is growing and developing through new acquisitions. There is a noticeable public interest and willingness to donate dear and important personal items – toys from childhood and adolescence.