The plastic toys that children are playing with starting very early in life can sometimes threaten their lives - especially when the origins of the toys are unknown. To enable children to play with healthier and organic toys, the Ministry of National Education in Turkey has initiated a new project to increase wooden toy production in the country. During a meeting with the toy producers, Education Minister Ziya Selçuk said that the ministry will offer partnerships with the toy production sector in order to make wooden toys more readily available for children and parents.
In order to produce organic toys for children, especially for kindergarten-aged children, the ministry will soon establish a research and development (R&D) department to design toys that support mental development and the cognitive abilities of children. As the first step of the project, the ministry has chosen four pilot vocational schools in four different provinces that have expertise in producing wooden furniture to produce wooden toys in accordance with the curriculum of the ministry.
Currently, wooden toy production in Turkey is not meeting the growing demand. As most of these organic toys are imported from other countries, the ministry has rolled up its sleeves to encourage local toy makers to place more emphasis on the type of wooden toy production that is suitable for most Turkish children's abilities and education system.
