On Children's Day, Children from 13 Countries Gather at the National Folk Museum

Special Children's Day Event at the National Folk Museum
May 4-5
Collaboration with 13 Foreign Cultural Centers and Embassies in Korea
Featuring 35 Programs

The National Folk Museum announced on April 25 that it will hold the "Play Train to the World" event on May 4 and 5 to celebrate Children's Day. In collaboration with 13 foreign cultural centers and embassies in Korea, the museum has prepared 35 programs under the theme "World Play Festival," including performances, games, and cultural experiences.

Play Train to the World. National Folk Museum

As the event is themed around the Play Train to the World, children visiting the museum on the day will receive a passport and use it to board a 40-meter-long red train that takes them to the event venue. Each train car is decorated with graphics of children in traditional costumes, landmarks, animals, and toy friends, creating a photo zone perfect for taking pictures. Children can dress in traditional costumes from various countries and take photos with backgrounds such as Gyeongbokgung Palace, the Brandenburg Gate in Germany, Chichen Itza in Mexico, Sagrada Familia in Spain, and the Colosseum in Italy.

Special performances will be held three times a day, for a total of six shows. The lineup includes traditional dances from Jalisco, Mexico, musical performances and dances by Chinese children, charango music from Peru, a puppet show from the Czech Republic, K-gugak children's songs and dances, and a Caribbean music trio from Colombia, offering a lively array of music and dance rarely encountered in everyday life.

Jungle Speed game from France. National Folk Museum

A variety of hands-on programs will also be available. Visitors can experience the French Jungle Speed game, Hungarian memory card games, German Easter egg decorating, Italian carnival mask making, Indian henna art, Indonesian batik pattern decorating, and Peruvian Pucara bull decorating, among others.

Programs are also prepared for experiencing traditional games from around the world. There will be five activities, including street games such as ttakji-chigi, made famous globally by the "Squid Game" drama, Chilwon Turtle Tug-of-War (from Haman, Gyeongsangnam-do), "Mugunghwa Flower Has Bloomed" (a traditional Korean game), and the K-snack dalgona. In addition, visitors can discover the similarities among national games by trying Czech-style rubber band jumping, Hungarian hopscotch, Indonesian Dongdaemun game, Chinese tuho (arrow-throwing), and Japanese jegichagi (shuttlecock kicking).

Going forward, the National Folk Museum plans to continue developing children's world culture content. The museum will begin developing a "World Culture Box" for children and will launch the "Window Open to the World" project, which will collect, research, exhibit, and educate about folk items and cultures from around the globe.