Ales, Sardinian traditional toy museum

Located in the small village of Zeppara, the only hamlet of the Municipality of Ales (OR), the museum is set up inside the former primary school building and is spread over six rooms spread over a single floor, for a total of about 600 square meters.
Born from local middle school research on traditional toys, the museum exhibits the toys that parents built for their children or that the children themselves made using materials from the surrounding environment. It is a collection that is widely representative of the entire region, faithfully reconstructing the original toys, displayed on supports made of reeds and other natural materials and organized by thematic sections. There are toys that imitate weapons, toys that imitate means of transport, dolls, toys to be used in motion, toys that require skill in throwing, toys for the production of sounds and noises, toys used for special festive occasions, traps and other pastimes. The exhibition itinerary is supported by short explanatory texts, while a laboratory area allows the direct testing of toys.
The Traditional Toy Museum of Sardinia shares and embraces the definition given by the ICOM (International Council of Museums), according to which: “The museum is a permanent, non-profit institution, at the service of society and its development, open to the public, which carries out research on the material testimonies of man and his environment, acquires, preserves them, communicates them and above all exposes them for the purposes of study, education and pleasure.”

Why is it important to visit it
The Traditional Toy Museum of Sardinia does not want to be a mere passive container but an active mechanism, capable of offering a cultural proposal that meets both the needs of children and those of adults, a museum for everyone, open to dialogue with other institutions and cultural realities, with different artistic and artisanal expressions, a lively and empathetic reality capable of involving the visitor, encouraging reflection and creating circularity.