An old children's toy and its history. The history of the appearance of toys in Russia for children Old Russian toys made of wood

And smart. Sensitively feeling the nature of the child, they gave him that children's toy, which not only entertained, but also taught the baby, preparing him for later life. There were few toys, but each of them accustomed the child to later life.

vintage toys they made everything that nature gave to man: clay, straw, fir cones and wood. How could a child not love such a child's toy? The baby's cradle was decorated with patchwork pendants that swayed and taught the child to focus his eyes, delighted and surprised him. Birch bark rattles were filled with peas and other seeds. They rattled muffledly, rustled, without irritating the baby's hearing. Everything it was made of was so familiar and familiar. It was as if nature itself gave to man from her bounty, in order to encourage creativity and give life to a new creation.

As soon as the baby was born, his faithful companion became a toy or "amusement", as our ancestors called it. The smallest received rattles or "shufflers". It could be a dried poppy seed box, a ratchet, a bright piece of fabric with bells or sewn on pieces of copper. The sound in the toy was treated with great attention. The rhythmic movements of the toy were in complete harmony with its sound repetitions. The most striking example of such an old toy is a wooden tumbler, whose sound reminds children of an affectionate lullaby, and swaying - lulling a baby.

As soon as the baby took the first steps, they made him a wheelchair on a stick, which helped him learn to walk, master the space. Having learned to walk, the baby received a gurney on a string. Usually it was a horse. “He followed on the heels obediently to the will of the little master, and he experienced the first sensations of his strength and superiority. So the gurney developed the child physically and at the same time brought up spiritually. Our ancestors considered horses to be the main animals, so in every family children played with wooden horses on wheels, on a rocking chair, in the form of clay whistles.

Another animal worshiped by our ancestors is the bear. The bear was considered a giver of good power, a good herald of the awakening of nature, and was one of the main fairy-tale characters. Toy bear - a symbol of male strength and kindness
In addition to entertainment, ancient toys served to attract a good spirit to the baby, a protective angel that protects the child from evil spirits and the evil eye. A rattle or a ball, symbolizing, according to the ancestors, the sky and the heavenly world, as it were, connected the child with the world of goodness. The most interesting thing is that in the toys of our people you will not find images of an evil or scary character, because in the old days it was believed that such a toy could bring evil to the baby.

The girls played with rag dolls, straw dolls. Such a doll was carefully kept in the house, passing from daughter to daughter. The face of such a doll was usually not drawn, and this allowed the child to come up with the character and appearance of a rag girlfriend. Our ancestors believed that such games teach the girl to be a good mother and housewife in the future.

When a child lives his childhood by playing, he grows, develops and matures successfully. An emotionally safe, “friendly” play environment is a good help in raising a baby. The very birth of a folk toy is like a sacrament, because no one knows how exactly it appeared for the first time.

Among the old toys there are no worthless trifles. “Each, even completely primitive nursery rhyme, had a specific purpose, existed not just on its own, but was one of the links in the chain where toys alternated, replaced each other at the right time in childhood. Their creators deeply understood the interests and took into account the peculiarities of his physical and spiritual development. They didn’t know so much as they understood! Maybe everything, the manifestation of which did not interfere with anything - neither bright advertisements and shop windows, nor the bustle of the city and a series of worries. Maybe people who lived in constant contact with wildlife understood the world of a child's soul better?

Marina Shevelkova
Russian folk toy.

Goals:- introduce children to Russian folk art;

To acquaint children with the history of folk toys, with the history of the birth of Russian wooden nesting dolls;

To consolidate knowledge about the variety of folk toys;

Give the concept of the Bogorodsk toy;

To acquaint with the work of the Filimonov masters;

Give the concept of a Dymkovo toy.

Guys, today we will talk about Russian folk toys.

Folk art is always understood and loved by everyone. It can be toys made of wood, clay.

Folk toy is figurative, colorful, original in its design. These are fabulous images familiar to children, people and animals, made of wood or clay.

They also made toys from straw, moss, fir cones, and flax. Both clay and wooden toys were made in many places in Russia. It is possible to indicate the most important centers: the wooden toy was most of all made in the Moscow and Nizhny Novgorod provinces, the clay one - in Vyatka, Tula, Kargopol.

I invite you to a small museum, right in our group, where you can look at folk toys and touch them with your hands.

1. The first exposition - Dymkovo toys.

Dymkovo products surprise with an unusual pattern in terms of brightness. Everyone likes the lively, festive, magnificent in stucco decoration and painting dolls of the lady-francihi, goats, horses, roosters with painted tails.

The industry originated in the distant past. At the festivities, "Svistoplyaska", people brought small whistles with them and whistled in them all day. So it happened that "in Vyatka they make toys for whistling."

Masters worked in the village of Dymkovo alone and in families. They dug clay, mixed it with sand, kneaded first with their feet, and then with their hands. Products were fired in Russian ovens, and then painted. Women and children took part in this work.

The process of making a toy can be divided into two stages: modeling the product and painting it.

The molding methods are very simple. Craftswomen do not make sketches.

For example, when depicting a doll, craftswomen first make a skirt from a layer of clay, resulting in a hollow bell-shaped shape;

The head, neck and upper body are made from one piece,

And the details of clothing: ruffles, frills, cuffs, hats, etc. - are molded separately and glued to the main form, calling them moldings.

Dymkovo toy is very specific. There are traditions in the creation of its form and in its design, which are expressed primarily in static, pomp of forms and brightness of color.

2. The second exposition - Filimonov's whistle.

Filimonovo toys were born in the village of Filimonovo, Tula region. The village is located near deposits of good clay.

Mostly women were engaged in toy business. From the age of 7-8, girls began to sculpt "whistles". They worked in the winter, in their free time from rural work. Then the toys were sold at fairs and bazaars.

The figurines are sculpted by hand, then they are dried several times in a heated room for 12 hours at a high temperature (up to 800 C) and painted without prior whitewashing (local clay acquires a bright white color after firing). Toys are painted here not with a brush, but with a goose feather.

The plots of the Filimonovo toy are traditional - these are ladies, peasant women, soldiers, dancing couples, horse riders; from animals - cows, sheep, horses, bears; from birds - chickens, roosters and much more. Unlike Dymkovo toys, all Filimonov toys are whistles, even ladies and gentlemen. The whistle is always in the tail of the beasts and birds they hold.

After firing, they begin to paint the toy. First, yellow stripes and spots are induced, then they are outlined with a red "feather", then green, blue, sometimes purple.

There are also more complex patterns, especially on ladies' skirts: a branched "herringbone", a bright "berry", a radiant "asterisk", or "sun", sparkle, intertwine into joyful patterned inflorescences.

The circle denotes the sun in the painting, the triangle - the earth, Christmas trees and sprouts - a symbol of vegetation and life.

Toys after painting look very bright and festive, expressive and good-natured. The faces of the figurines always remain white, and only small strokes and dots outline the eyes, mouth, and nose.

3. The third exposition - Bogorodsk toys.

Folk craftsmen in the village of Bogorodskoye

The Moscow region creates wooden carved toys.

For more than 300 years, wood carvers have been living here. Families work here. Now there are about a hundred carvers in the village.

Toys are cut from linden. Before becoming a toy, it must dry for two years. Bogorodsk toys are often unpainted and rarely painted.

They cut figures from a whole tree, for which they make blanks of various shapes. If they are going to cut a bear sitting on a stand, then the blank is triangular in shape.

The surface of finished products from the old masters was cleaned with sandpaper.

Now the toys are finished with carvings, which rhythmically lie on the surface and decorate the product. By tradition, some parts of the toy are made movable. This is achieved in various ways. Some toys are mounted on stands, bedside tables, and a spring is inserted inside, and it sets the figure in action.

You can also find such toys, the moving parts of which are attached to threads with a load; the load sways, pulls the thread along, it sets the parts of the figures in action.

4. The fourth exposition - Matryoshka.

Matryoshka is a Russian toy, a wooden, brightly colored doll, hollow inside, in which the same smaller dolls are placed.

The name comes from a diminutive form of the Russian female name Matryona, which was often called girls in peasant families.

Each nesting doll is an image of a girl or woman in Russian national clothes: in a sundress, with a scarf on her head. Her clothes are decorated with bright flowers, in her hands she holds a basket, or a bird, or a bouquet of flowers. All the dolls that make up one toy are similar to each other, but differ in some detail. Usually one toy consists of 3 - 24 dolls. Matryoshka is one of the most popular Russian souvenirs.

Matryoshka was admired, admired. What colors does Konstantin Paustovsky use when talking about a matryoshka?

“Matryoshka in a scarlet shawl stood on the desk. It was thickly varnished and shone like glass. In it were hidden five more nesting dolls in multi-colored shawls: green, yellow, blue, purple and, finally, the smallest nesting doll, the size of a thimble, in a shawl of gold leaf.

The village craftsman rewarded the nesting dolls with Russian beauty, sable eyebrows and a blush glowing like coals. He covered his blue eyes with long eyelashes.

Guys, our tour of the museum has ended. I hope you enjoyed it very much.

The history of the appearance of a wooden toy is lost in the mists of time. Since ancient times, various uncomplicated children's toys have been invented for children. As a rule, wood was used as the material - a material that was always in abundance. For the manufacture of toys, such types of trees as: birch, aspen, pine, willow and other types of trees were used.

Archaeologists quite often find children's wooden toys on the site of ancient cities and settlements - mainly various wooden figures. Based precisely on archaeological finds, it is safe to say that wooden toys are the most ancient type of toys that were created everywhere, at different times, by different peoples. Among the ancient wooden toys, small dolls found in Egypt stand out. The age of such dolls is estimated at approximately 4 thousand years. Ancient Egyptian dolls were skillfully carved from planks, which were then engraved with clothing designs. On the heads of such dolls was a wig made of beads, symbolizing hair. By the way, in ancient Greece and the Roman Empire, animal figures, in particular, horses and dolls, were very popular children's toys. A large number of such wooden toys were found by archaeologists at the excavations of ancient Roman cities, for example, Pompeii.

For many centuries, among completely different peoples, a wooden toy was the most popular children's toy. The first mention of the appearance of wooden toys in Russia dates back to the 9th century, they were also called nursery rhymes. Of course, in those days there were no such toys as, for example, wooden constructors, there were simpler toys - in the form of figures of animals and people, dolls, rattles and rattles. It was believed that the sounds made by the rattle scare away evil spirits, which means that the child was protected. In addition to children's wooden toys, household items were also carved from wood - spoons, dishes and furniture.

It is no coincidence that wood was chosen as the raw material for toys. It is convenient and practical for making children's wooden toys, and the processing process was simple even in the 9th century - toys were cut from a single wooden beam. Wood is a pleasant material, it absorbs natural heat and stores energy, it is very plastic and is an environmentally friendly material, which means that wooden toys are safe for health. Finally, wooden toys are just nice to hold in your hands. Today, wooden toys are still often used in the development and upbringing of children.

With the development of mankind and technology, toys have changed little. In Europe, the industrial production of wooden toys was established in the 18th century. Initially, the factories produced dolls and various figures. Over time, other types of wooden toys became popular - in the 19th century, wooden prefabricated models of the most famous buildings, toy houses for dolls became popular, sets of toy soldiers gained popularity.

With the development of mechanical engineering and the railway network, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, wooden cars and trains became the most popular wooden toys.

For a long time, Germany held the lead in the manufacture of wooden toys, but later, with the development of factory production of children's toys, it lost this leadership. In Russia, at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, Russian wooden toys were actively developed and made. It was during this period of time that perhaps the most popular Russian wooden toy, the matryoshka, appeared.

Nowadays, wooden toys are also in great demand. Such toys are considered environmentally friendly, because they are made from natural raw materials. Manufacturers of children's toys offer a wide range of children's wooden toys for children of all ages. For the development of thinking and logic, the youngest children can choose wooden cubes and logic wooden puzzles, as well as wooden puzzles. Older children can be advised building kits and wooden constructors.

Volumetric wooden prefabricated models may be of interest not only to children, but also to adults. Animal figurines, the world's most famous buildings, architectural monuments or simpler buildings - the range of such products is quite wide, so you can find a suitable model for assembly for any age. Today, for children of absolutely different ages, you can find a suitable wooden toy. The practicality of such toys is obvious - wooden toys can be played both at home and outdoors, and after walking they can be washed. The history of the development of children's wooden toys is not over. In the future, as today, there will definitely be a buyer for a wooden toy, the main thing is that, as before, there is enough raw material for the manufacture of such toys - wood.

Children have had toys since time immemorial. True, these toys were very different from those played by modern kids. However, it is possible that even modern children spoiled by gadgets with great pleasure would pick up a shuffler or a rag-picker.

Archaeologists date the earliest toys discovered on the territory of modern Russia to the 2nd century BC. These were rattles, figurines of people, clay axes. Wooden toys - nursery rhymes - appeared in Russia in the 9th century. In ancient times, toys were made for children by the parents themselves from improvised materials. Therefore, ancient toys are characterized by laconism of techniques and ease of manufacture.

Eco-friendly toys for babies

According to pediatricians, newborns definitely need toys, as they help develop sensorimotor coordination. Now you can buy any options, ranging from ordinary rattles to complex hanging structures. Our ancestors did not lag behind in this, and made toys for newborns with their own hands. From the first days, the baby received nursery rhymes - that's what toys were called in ancient times.

For the very young, they made shambles, that is, rattles. They were made from dried poppy seed boxes, from scraps of fabric with sewn on bells. There were also rattles made of birch bark, which were filled with seeds or small pebbles, so they had a pleasant sound for the baby.

Older children played with rattles made from the bladders of cows, sheep and other domestic animals. To do this, the bubble was thoroughly washed, cleaned of fat with the help of ash, then some dried peas were put into it and inflated through an ordinary straw.

All nursery rhymes were made from natural materials - these were fir cones, wood, straw, clay. To hang the cradle in Russia, they used bells, rattles, various rattles, bright rags. All this was called trinkets. By the way, the parents did this not only to teach the baby to concentrate his eyes or touch with his fingers: they believed that the trinkets would protect the baby from damage and an evil spirit.

Toys for the development of the child's abilities

The kid was growing up, he needed toys that could form his motor skills, thinking. Today there are a lot of products of various materials, painted in bright attractive colors. In ancient times, these items were made of wood, but the meaning was exactly the same as today. The pyramid had to be assembled, the cubes had to be arranged in a certain way, the rings had to be put on a stick.

In Soviet times, the Anvil toy was very popular - a bear and a blacksmith sat at the ends of a log and, when moving the base, were a hammer. This amusing fun also came from Ancient Russia.

There were jerks, that is, pupae with body parts connected by threads. They moved in a funny way and were a perfect example of a dynamic toy.

The most popular subject of active children's games was the ball. Historians found mention of it in ancient chronicles of the 10th century. They made balls from rags: the fabric frame was stuffed with patches. Sometimes birch bast was used for making, it could also be linden or willow. These balls were heavier because their insides were generously stuffed with fine sand. There were balls that were made from the remains of sheep's wool. And the boys and girls were happy to shoot from a bow, which was made from an elastic branch of a tree and an ordinary rope or an ox sinew.

Toys for accustoming to work

Peasant children in the old days began to work very early on an equal footing with adults. This was also reflected in toys: for boys, carts and bodies, whips, harnesses for horses, and even toy carpentry tools were made from birch bark. As for the girls, they were given toy wooden utensils, furniture, spinning wheels and spindles. Unlike nursery rhymes for very young children, such "labor" toys were very simple, not smart. Apparently, in order for the child to feel that life is work.

Of course, children's wealth did not consist only of toy objects of labor. There were other fun, for example, dolls. They were often called "blankies", these simple wooden dolls were made by a father or grandfather for their babies. The simplicity of the bobblehead opened up space for the child's imagination, made it possible to endow it with different features and use it for improvisation.

Dolls: toys and amulets at the same time

Many dolls were intended not only for playing - they were symbols, amulets. For example, krupenichki, that is, simple dolls from a rag bag with grain poured into it. Such toys were beautifully decorated and were considered very important. They were kept, put in a prominent place in the house, and the children played with them carefully. The grains were filled with selected grains (buckwheat, oats). Such a doll was a symbol of prosperity, wealth, prosperity and satiety. Today they are classified as souvenirs and are given for a wedding or family celebration.

Motankas, pupae made of thread, were extremely popular. They were made by both adults and children, they were used to calm, amuse or lull the baby. They were also considered amulets that protect against illness, the evil eye and damage. The Slavs believed that in every motanka doll there is the spirit of an ancestor. Often it was passed down from generation to generation so that the threads connecting the clan would not break.

Another doll, a haircut, was made from dry straw, bast, and twigs. Representatives of these dolls are even in the Russian Museum in St. Petersburg. Sometimes healing and fragrant herbs were woven into them, it was a kind of aromatherapy. The doll dressed in a beautiful sarafan, a scarf, a blouse. The bottom was not braided, but unraveled, representing a kind of skirt. If you put a haircut on a flat surface and hit it with your fist next to it, then it will dance - it will spin and spin, which is why they are often called dancing dolls.

Rag girl - a doll with female forms

One of the most common dolls was the rag-picker. She did not have a face, but the female breast was emphasized, which personified the cult of fertility. For beauty, the rag-maker was dressed in clothes that were worn in the region where they were made. The dress for the doll was sewn once, and she wore it without taking it off, all her doll life. Girls decorated clothes with beads, braid, embroidery, thereby honing their skills.

These toys were so common that even the poor could see a dozen funny rag-makers in their huts. Later, when dolls began to be made in factories, and expensive porcelain was used for heads, rag-pickers gradually began to fade into the background. But even in those families where they could afford to buy an expensive doll lady, traditional folk dolls were used, and more expensive toys were given to children on holidays.

Rattles, that is, rattles, were made from various materials: from wood in the form of a chiseled ball; on a wooden leg, and peas or small pebbles were placed inside. From birch bark in the form of 6- or 8-coal boxes; horn from a goat or a cow, tightened with a bubble with peas inside. The bubbles of pets were washed, a few peas were put in, inflated, tied and dried - the rattle is ready.

NIGHTINGALE. This is a clay pot, the size of an apple. It has a spout, like a teapot, and several holes, it is filled with water and, when blown, forms a melody that distracts and amuses the child.

HOWROOMERS. Obtained from the fruits of acacia and straws. By tightly pulling a wheatgrass leaf, ribbon, birch bark leaf, bark, stems, you can make a piercing sound of squeaking.

KUBAR. A small wooden ball or cylinder on a short leg, similar to a spinning top, was let through floor, ground or ice. When playing, the children whipped him with a whip and this forced him to spin endlessly. Sometimes the children argued about who would drive him head over heels next or drive him over the sand, puddle or mud.

DZYK. They take an ordinary button, insert a thin stick into the hole, one end of which is sharpened, and the other is taken with fingers and set in motion - there is a slight buzzing.

FURCHALKA. A thin circle or plate is taken from wood, lead, bone; two holes are made in the middle and two threads are pulled through. Having twisted the threads, they begin to quickly pull them with their hands, then pulling, then loosening. This results in rapid rotation and a special rumbling noise.

RATCHETS. There are two types: a wooden roller with a handle and a ratchet of 10-15 planks.
Ratchet, in addition to fun, was widely used in the protection of orchards from birds, and later as a noise instrument when singing songs.

SAW. This is a rather witty toy, reminiscent of the swing of a pendulum. Was popular in Tula, Nizhny Novgorod. ^ The sawyer is placed on the edge of the table, and the thread with the stone is lowered down. They give a slight push on his head, and he swings for a long time, pulling the thread against the edge of the table.

SOLDIER WITH SABER. A roller was inserted into the shoulder of a wooden soldier. A wooden saber or chicken feather was attached to the roller. They put it somewhere in the wind, and when it blows, the soldier makes a movement with a saber. Distributed in the Vyatka province.

DANCERS. Two men are cut out of wood, whose arms and legs are loosely tied with threads. Dancers are strung on horsehair, which is barely noticeable. When twitching, the dancers move funny, it seems, for no apparent reason.
whistles

SMITH. Two wooden blocks are placed one on top of the other, two figures are seated on them with hammers in their hands, and in the middle is an anvil. Then the bars begin to spread in different directions, and the dolls move, creating the effect of working in a forge.

KOZULKA. In a wooden box the size of a cigarette case, a spirally cut part is strengthened, a needle-sting is attached to it and a thread is attached. The thread is located in the box along a labyrinth of a spiral, and when the player pulls the end that sticks out of the box, a "goat" with a needle-like sting protrudes.

MELENKI. Make two or four wings like mill wings. These wings are put on a roller, and the roller is put on a stick and put up against the wind. They spin freely in the wind and bring great pleasure to children.

TSYKALKA. It looks like a modern syringe, only children made it from the hard stem of a wild carrot, wrestler and the like.
They took water into it and rushed quite far.

CLAY TOYS IN THE FORM OF BREAD. In old Ryazan, children's toys in the form of bread were found. From these toys you can imagine what bread was like at that time. The children playing with the clay rendered the Well Risen Bread with great realism. The top of the bread is covered with chess slices. Such cuts must have been used to cover “pure breads” for the best taste of the crust and for beauty.

DOLLS. Dolls quickly improved, from wooden to wax, clay and porcelain. They always tried to bring the doll closer to a real female image and even came up with moving arms, legs, eyes.

Among the Slavs, the doll had a deep meaning - it protected and looked like an idol - Bereginya - a magnificent doll and was placed above the porch, on the windows. Later, fever dolls were popular in Russia. The hostess sewed necessarily 12 pieces - for 12 months a year from 12 terrible diseases. Sheila, to please Likhomankam, shaking, that is, appeasing the spirits of various diseases. Each had its own name
Shaking, Ledeya, Puff, Yellow, Korkusha, Breast, Fire, Looking, Nivea.

The spinning doll was popular among the peasants. Some kind of rag was rolled up into a rolling pin, the head was tied with a thread and covered with a shred on top, replacing the dress. Sometimes they were called "ryasochki".

Each girl knew how to make a shearing doll out of straw. A bundle of straw was twisted and this is how the head turned out. Between the two bundles, a smaller bundle was pushed through - and hands were obtained. They decorated the doll in different ways: they attached a braid, and knitted a scarf, and even made dresses from unusable rags.

Very poor children were forced to make dolls, even just from logs, wrapping them with something.

In the Moscow province, dolls were made from clay and chalk. Children from wealthy families used dolls with porcelain heads. The doll has always helped to develop good, family and moral concepts and rules.

There is such a sign: when children play dolls a lot and diligently, there will be profit in the family; if carelessly treated with toys - to be in trouble at home. They believed that the doll protects children's sleep and protects the child, so she is always next to him - both in games and in a dream. Playing with dolls for girls was especially encouraged among the people, since the doll was also considered a symbol of procreation. For example, the peoples of Central Asia believed that a doll brings a good harvest if a girl plays with it until marriage.

In the Russian village, a rag doll is the most common toy. She was in every peasant house, and in some families there were up to a hundred dolls. Children began to “twirl” rag dolls from the age of five.

TWIST DOLL. They rolled a piece of colored fabric into a rolling pin, covered the face with a white rag and pulled it together at the level of the neck. Then the side remnants of the fabric were rolled up, hands were obtained - that's the doll ready. Dress up! I must say that the doll was made with great diligence, as it was used to judge the taste and skill of the hostess.

The doll was dressed up, but the face was not painted. Such dolls were called "faceless". According to popular beliefs, a doll with a face, as it were, acquired a soul and could harm a child. Therefore, a faceless doll was also a talisman.

There used to be a custom: as soon as a woman feels that she will have a child, she began to make a rag doll-twist: “At first she tied the body, then attached the handles along with the head, and dressed up the clothes simply. She worked without a needle: no need for hands to touch metal. And now the mother will build such a doll and put it in the cradle two weeks before the birth, and both of them are already waiting for the baby to appear. And the chrysalis protects the cradle from the evil eye. A child will grow up, play with his doll-amulet, in which the warmth of his mother's hands has been preserved. Having become an adult, the girl herself, two weeks before the birth of her baby, makes such a doll-amulet.

It is easy to make such a twist doll. The peculiarity of the work is that we make a doll without a needle, only twisting, only rags and tying with cotton thread.

Take a small piece of any fabric, approximately 20x20 cm in size. The bottom edge should be folded back by 2-3 cm and not twisted very tightly. We also bend the free edge of the side cut inside out and get only one open cut - at the top. In two places (conditionally on the neck and waist lines) we tie the twist with threads. So we got the so-called "body". It must be stable, for this you need a hem at the bottom. You can insert a thin cotton rod into the twist of the “body”.

Next, we make the head together with the hands. Let's take the same square of fabric, put a piece of cotton wool for the neck, cover it with a shred in the center, blind the ball - the head and tightly tighten the thread along the neckline. Now let's make the hands. We will adjust the cut and take the excess fabric inside the sleeve, and we will drag the hands with a thread. After we make the arms, we will tighten the remaining fabric at the waist line, while the arms can be given any direction. By the way, at the same time with the hands a blouse is obtained. The base is ready.

Now the doll can be dressed up. Hair and braids can be made from elastic stockings. We stretch a thin strip over the doll’s head, cut its end into three ribbons and braid it. So that the hairstyle does not fall apart, we will tie the head with a ribbon. A skirt (one or more) can be cut out in the form of a circle - this is a sun skirt; make a small hole in the middle of it and put it on the doll. To prevent the skirt from standing like a bell, wrap it with a ribbon-belt at the waist. It turned out the image of a girl. If you cover the doll with a scarf, you get the image of an older woman.

The beauty of such a doll is that it is made quickly, from the most affordable materials and right during the game. Images and their number can be invented right during the game. And if the twist doll is done carefully, it can also serve as a wonderful souvenir.

PIE. Simple in appearance, the chrysalis is a grain, but made with great love, it has a deep symbolic meaning. It was usually given for Kolyada, Christmas, and sometimes for holidays associated with the harvest. The doll was necessarily filled with grain, preferably wheat or grain of all varieties at the same time, so that the harvest was rich in all types of crops. In Russia, porridge has long been the main type of food, since grain has a powerful vitality, is easily digestible, and is available for cultivation on the territory of the Slavs. If it is the earth that gives a harvest, then it will give birth, then the image that gives this harvest is female.

The doll was made from burlap. A small bag was filled with grain, while women always sang a song or read a prayer. A head without a face was attached to the body-pouch, tied with a scarf and a ribbon-belt (with a magical ornament: water, earth, grain, sun). A grain doll helps a person to believe in a good year, and faith helps a person to create everything necessary for a miracle life.


RUSSIAN NESTING DOLL. The Russian toy, christened matryoshka, born in Sergiev Posad near Moscow, got special fame and love. For residents of many countries, she has become a truly "Russian girl", a symbol of everything Russian. And it is quite deserved, because with an enviable generalization and with folk humor, cheerful fiction and colorful brevity, the character of the doll, its clothes and forms were solved by the master.

It happened in the way that often happens in folk art, where a new painting is superimposed on an ancient form and tradition, then a new form is invented, and sometimes a new function. Figures of this form existed in Russia for a long time. And a detachable wooden toy has existed since ancient times. But nesting dolls did not exist a hundred years ago.

At the end of the last century, craftsman Vasily Zvezdochkin carved a doll to perfection, dressed her in an apron and sundress, dressed her in a scarf with flowers, and gave her a rooster or a handkerchief in her hands. And he gave her the most common name - Matryona. Success came to the girl Matryona in 1900 at the World Exhibition in Paris.

The oldest detachable toy - the prototype of the Matryoshka, which existed in Ancient Russia - carried a deeper meaning. Some researchers suggest that such a female doll with large offspring is the very goddess of life, procreation. Others believe that a multi-opening doll indicates that a person, like the earth, has seven spheres - seven bodies.
And our ancestors saw these subtle bodies before. And yet, the ancient sages said that seven generations preserve the memory and genetic codes. Seven generations from a clan to a clan depend on each other, which is why they treated all the traditions and laws of the clan so carefully.

DOLLS-CHAPDLES were made from everything that is at hand. Swaddled and a log, and a wooden spoon, and a bunch of straw.

DOLLS-STRIGUNKI were made of straw.

DOLLS made of clean rags so that the child can hug and even kiss her before going to bed