by Thu Phuong

"A lion is coming!" A group of children shout as they watch a crowd of people approach, led by a child in a lion costume.

Hidden behind the mask of chu teu (an amusing Vietnamese character from folklore), gently flapping a fan, a small boy makes on-lookers laugh with his big belly and his ridiculous walk.

Following the dancing lion are several children with lanterns, stars and trong com (cylindrical drums).

People of parenting age might think that such an amusing scene is just a figment of their imagination, as modern life eclipses traditional games and toys with which they used to play during the Mid-Autumn Festivals of their childhood.

Fortunately, they are wrong.

The Viet Nam Museum of Ethnology on Nguyen Van Huyen Street in Ha Noi will transport many on a journey to the past with a programme this weekend to teach children how to make traditional toys.

Along with these rare lessons will be folk games, including choi chuyen (playing with sticks and a small ball), o an quan and walking on stilts and skipping.

Traditional toys play an important role in helping to shape children’s personalities and develop their thinking, awareness and creativity. The museum’s director, Nguyen Van Huy, explained why the museum’s programme focuses on traditional toys.

As a special holiday designed for children, the Mid-Autumn Festival is also a chance to strengthen the ties between the different generations of Vietnamese families.

Grandparents and parents often pay more attention to their offspring during the day: taking them out, buying them toys, gifts and cakes.

In the past, family members used to gather on the house’s grounds to celebrate with a big feast under the moonlight, with a tray of five different types of fruits and moon-cakes.

A group of children from the same village or ward would play folk games or with hand-made toys.

"We hope to bring children back to Vietnamese traditional culture, but we also want to help adults explore their kids’ intelligence and creation," Huy said.

At the two-day celebration, artisans from Hung Yen Province’s Van Giang District will teach children to make lanterns from bamboo. Meanwhile, artisans from Hoai Duc in Ha Tay Province will perform skills for making tien si giay (paper-made doctor, the symbol of good studying) and ong danh gay (the man waiting to fight with a stick, the symbol of martial spirit).

Artisans from Phu Xuyen in Ha Tay will teach making to he from coloured sticky rice, dragon-flies from bamboo, and toy animals from sponges and paper.

Students from the Industrial Arts College will instruct on how to fold origami birds.

Volunteer students from different universities will help the craftsmen impart their skills to children.

It’s no longer true that these kinds of folk toys can only be found in rural markets or on some small city street during the festival. They are now available in the capital’s museum, but not for sale.

Nguyen Trung Dung from the museum’s education department said the museum wants to preserve traditional toys and games that still hold value for the national cultural heritage. The toys are in danger of fading away due to the dominance of electronic games.

Dung said the museum received 2,000 children and their parents at a similar ceremony last year. He believes the figure will rise for this year’s event.

Craftsmen are contributing their efforts to help preserve these traditions.

Chu Van Thang, a young artisan from Ha Tay, is very confident that his hand-made toys will win the hearts of small customers.

"I can make lots of different kinds of toys from natural materials, particularly bamboo, which are available in rural areas," Thang said while instructing a group of volunteers to make dragon flies at the museum two days before the ceremony.

His product collection now includes musical instruments, butterflies, dragon-flies, and even aeroplanes.

"I’m always thinking about how to make new toys to attract children. To adapt to their new interests, I make Supermen and Moon Sailors, children’s beloved characters from comics," Thang said.

He believes Vietnamese traditional toy making will develop once again if craftsmen decide to be more creative.

Thang’s extended family members have made traditional toys for all ages. Most of their products are sold at toy stores every day, but the business flourishes during the festivals.

Do toys from simple materials attract children more than the modern ones displayed on many of Ha Noi’s streets?

Even one month before the festival, Hang Ma and Luong Van Can Streets become much more colourful, exciting and crowded with people.

Showing a small drum amid a great pile of Chinese-made toys, Trang Thi Thu, a shop owner on 40 Luong Van Can Street said, "That’s the only domestic good here."

At Thu’s shop, a throng of children and their parents choose between masks, Supermen dolls and musical lanterns. But none of them ask for Vietnamese toys.

Customer Nguyen Lan Van said her five year-old son is only interested in playing with electronic toys, which are eye-catching and can produce sounds.

Moreover, she added, it’s not easy to find a traditional toy at the shops on these streets.

Vu Van Ai, who is among the rare traders selling his hand-made toys on Hang Ma Street, also admitted that Vietnamese toys find it hard to compete with Chinese products, which are well made and colourfully designed.

Meanwhile, mother Vu Hong Nhi says she agrees with the Viet Nam Museum of Ethnology’s new programme. She always tries to direct her children to make and play with traditional games and toys to help them develop their skills and creativity.