Visibility of eTwinning Projects Group July 2025 Newsletter
The Toys Book – A Way to Interact by Cătălina Rusu and Ana Suciu
The academic year 2024 / 2025 brought together several enthusiastic teachers who developed and participated in a wonderful project called The Toys Book. A beautiful theme, creative activities, five participating countries, twelve teachers, and over 200 students from five countries: Romania, Republic of Moldavia, Madeira-Portugal and Turkey. The aim of this project was to develop communication, cooperation, and creativity skills among students through interactive activities centred around play and toys, using digital resources and modern learning methods.
The project was closely linked to the curriculum, and the proposed activities took place both during lessons and as extracurricular events, helping students understand the benefits of play and interaction through toys. The activities were selected based on the project ' s themes and objectives. Story writing, drawing, singing, storytelling, games, and dancing were among the activities that successfully integrated the project into the curriculum, facilitating a multidisciplinary approach to The Toys Book. resources. This approach enabled authentic intergenerational dialogue and highlighted the evolution of play over time. Students discovered the educational value of traditional games and were encouraged to create their own toys and games, fostering creativity and craftsmanship. They actively collaborated and studied robots – from Leonardo da Vinci’ s knight robot to today’ s advanced programmable models.
Students also revived traditional games and toys with enthusiasm and creativity. They recreated the traditional " Mill Game " using corn and bean seeds as game pieces. They drew wheeled toys and built various machines from a wide range of materials, including recycled ones. By studying the history of the bow and arrow – from the Huns’ hunting weapons to modern sports equipment – they learned that archery is now an Olympic discipline. Students crafted bows from hazel branches and made arrows, which they tested by shooting at fixed targets.
A special focus was given to dolls. The children compared traditional dolls from the countries involved in the project, then created their own using corn husks, thread, paper, and fabric scraps.
As part of the project, students conducted fascinating research into toys and games of the past by talking with their parents and grandparents, as well as using media
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