Beautiful Toy Museums in Spain

Indeed, most of us cherish sweet memories of playing with colorful toys in carefree days of our childhood. Toys were the only worldly possession, so sacred and dear to us that sharing these became a source of argument or fight at many times. While playing with toys, we learnt many useful things, sought happiness and received accolades from our parents for not disturbing them.

As we grew, curiosity about how our ancestors entertained themselves at the tender age must have occupied many of us. If such questions still linger on in your mind, visit Spanish toy museums, housing an array of toys from societies and cultures of different ages, with your children. The toy museum visits would also be equally educative and fun-filled for toy enthusiasts and professionals to trace evolution of toys and games; and improvement in designs and technology. These museums reflect toy traditions of Spain, a leading European toy manufacturer. Dolls are one of the favorite toys of children, especially girl child. Spain also boasts some of the world-class doll museums, specialized sections on dolls and occasionally toy exhibitions in popular museums.

The Toy Museum of Catalonia

The Toy Museum of Catalonia in Figueres (Girona), awarded National Prize for Popular Culture 1999, is a repository of more than 4,000 toys, including tricycles, teddy bears, scooters, steam engines, robots, soldiers, barrel organs, games for the blind, dolls, kitchens, puppets, horses, balls and so on. Favorite toys of well-known personalities like Joan Miró – a sculptor and painter; Quim Monzó – a modern writer; Federico García Lorca- a dramatist and poet; Josep Palau i Fabre- a poet and writer; and Salvador Dalí – a surrealist painter are also on the display. The on site Documentation and Research Center on games and toys provides a good opportunity to learn about toys in detail.

The Museum of Traditional Games

The Museum of Traditional Games in Campo (Huesca), a reconstruction of rural society, has about 200 game pieces and photographs featuring kids enjoying the games. The highlights of the collection include games from Aragon, a Spanish region, England, Belgium and France. The museum, housed in three traditional farm buildings, also has a documentation center, library and playground besides four main rooms. Room 1 is devoted to children games, Room 2 to games played by rural women, and Room 3 and 4 to games played by men like variants of ball games and bowling.

The Toy Museum of Sant Feliú de Guíxols

The Toy Museum of Sant Feliú de Guíxols, a brainchild and creation of Tomàs Pla- a great admirer of toys, has more than 3,500 toys covering almost a century 1875-1975. The treasure trove, arranged pursuant to the material used like plastic, tin and wood, consists of toys manufactured by Spanish companies- Rico and Paya; board games of Borrás from Mataró (Maresme); “Pepas”; and tin plate toys of Bling, Märklin and Lehmann- German toy companies.

The Valencian Toys Museum

Ibi, the largest toy manufacturing center in Spain, has the Valencian Toys Museum at the first floor of the rectangular “Casa Gran” building. The collection of 444 toys is divided into different themes: speed, rural world, trains, planes and ships.

The Dolls’ House Museum

The Dolls’ House Museum (Malaga), a private museum housed in the XVIII century Baroque building, has a collection of miniature doll houses, mainly designed in the 19th century and reflects housing practices of that period. The collection represents Germany, France, England and different Spanish regions, including Valencia, Jaen, Palma de Mallorca, Cordoba, Malaga and Granada. The freight train model, Andalusian well and Tudor House, which has been featured several times in magazines for its size and characteristics, deserve special mention.

The Dolls Museum in Castell d’Aro

The Dolls Museum in Castell d’Aro (Girona), a National Cultural Interest, has a private doll collection comprising dolls from varied nations, related accessories and furniture. The exhibits are divided according to the country of origin. Dolls are made of coconut shell, animal horn, ivory, leather, clothing, plastic, wood, cardboard-stone, straw and ceramic.

The Museum of Antique Dolls

The Museum of Antique Dolls in Palma, the island of Majorca has a rich collection of antique dolls including popular Nancy and religious dolls of bygone eras. Many of displayed pieces focus on the Ladybug Perez and 1840-1930, golden century of the wrist.

More toys collections in Spain

The Museum of Toys Albarracin (Teruel) has a tin-toy-collection representing first half of 20th century. The Denia Toy Museumin, known for high-quality wooden toys manufacturing, has both wooden and metal toys- wooden kitchens, cowboys, carriages, games and lorries- used in the beginning of twentieth century. The museum also traces toy production history of Denia. The Art Nouveau and Art Deco Museum in Salamanca features over 300 porcelain dolls, the largest collection of this type of dolls in the globe. The collection includes finest pieces from Bru, Jumeau, Kestner, Simon & Halbig and Steiner, popular German and French toy makers. The Costume Museum in Madrid conducts theme-specific exhibitions and many times display its 17,000-toy collection.

Photo of colorful toys in Madrid originally posted by kozumel

Topic:  Travel with kids | 6 Comments
Tags:  family, Spain

About the author

Abha, a freelance researcher cum writer, loves traveling and her dream job involves adventure and writing. Trekking is one of her favorite pastimes.