Winners of the "Game and Toy Ideas" category of the "Native Toy" contest selected at the National Centre RUSSIA

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The winners of the All-Russian Contest "Native Toy" in the "Game and Toy Ideas" category were selected at the second meeting of the Organising Committee on 11 September at the National Centre RUSSIA. The second season of the contest received 14,392 applications from all 89 regions of the country. The project is organised by the Russian society Znanie and the Movement of the First on the instructions of the President of the Russian Federation.

Yelena Yampolskaya, Adviser to the President of the Russian Federation and Chair of the Organising Committee of the "Native Toy" contest, noted that the second season is dedicated to creating games and toys for preschool children and emphasised that the winning designs in this and other categories should be introduced into Russian kindergartens gradually and systematically. 

"This database should be available to game and toy manufacturers so that they can contact the author, use the idea and preserve the author's rights. At the same time, they will gain a new native toy that they can enter in the next season. Because the 'Finished Games and Toys' category is not going anywhere," Yelena Yampolskaya emphasised.

At the meeting, 15 winners in the "Game and Toy Ideas" category were selected from 29 finalists representing 12 regions of Russia. Three of them came from the Krasnoyarsk Territory: the board game "Big Friendship Khorovod", the construction set "Painted Window Frames" and the technical toy "City of Fireflies". Two projects from Moscow made the list: the construction set "RUBRIK: The Largest Country" and the friendship board game "Our Motherland". The winners also included the board game "Star Atlas" from the Chuvash Republic, the construction set "Native Expanses" from the Samara Region, the technical toy "Smart Fairy-Tale House: Hut of the Future" from the Murmansk Region, the board game "In Search of the Firebird" from the Pskov Region, the construction set "Dymkovo Toy Workshop" from the Moscow Region, the imaginative play toy "Road Stories" from the Chelyabinsk Region, the board game "Letters of the Motherland" from the Tyumen Region, the imaginative play toy "Chudesye" from the Arkhangelsk Region, the construction set "Architectural Legacy of Russia" from the Republic of Tatarstan and the imaginative play toy "Folk Craft Animals" from the Ivanovo Region.

"We strengthened and deepened the assessment process. Each idea was evaluated by 18 experts. Applications were submitted by a wide range of authors — children themselves, families, educators, representatives of different professions and, of course, industry professionals. The geography remains broad, as before: we covered all regions of our country. We see a great many ideas with distinctive regional features reflecting the culture, traditions and characteristics of different peoples, the specific character of the regions, various landmarks and natural wealth," said Maxim Dreval. 

An important element of the project remains the involvement of a children's jury in evaluating entries. Vadim Polyansky, Deputy Chairman of the Board of the Movement of the First, noted that this should become not merely an additional opinion, but an independent element of the contest assessment process. Children focus on how a toy reflects traditional culture and values, and this kind of emotional response aligns with the thematic areas of the contest.

During the second meeting, members of the Organising Committee also discussed support for the contest and its participants. Alexander Bugayev, First Deputy Minister of Education of the Russian Federation, said that the experience of holding the "Native Toy" contest is very important, as active work is currently under way to create a unified system of psychological and pedagogical assessment of toys, while products created by the winners should be made available to kindergartens and educational organisations.

At the next stage of the contest, 40 finalists and 15 winners will be selected in each of the two remaining categories, "Game and Toy Prototypes" and "Finished Games and Toys". The jury will also recommend the best products for the "Native Toy" badge of distinction. The final of the second season will take place on 19 October at the National Centre RUSSIA in the form of a large exposition and festival of children's games and toys. It will also feature a business programme including expert and strategic sessions and workshops. The venue will give industry representatives an opportunity to exchange experience and best practices.