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Mid autumn festival is one of the most interesting holidays in the year for children. Over time, all the children were growing up, but childhood memories will never fade. Each occasion of Mid autumn festival, watching the traditional toys are sold everywhere to remind everyone of a memorable childhood.
1. Star lantern
Star lantern is a very popular toy in the Mid autumn festival. When the mid autumn festival comes, parents, whether rich or poor, always buy for their children a star lantern. The star lantern is not complex. It is made by very popular materials: bamboo and color plastic or paper. People put the bamboo stick into star shape and tie them together then glued colored paper or plastic. Nowadays, there are many kind of lantern with electric and music, but star lantern still is an indispensable toy in Mid autumn festival in Vietnam.
2. Keo Quan lantern
Keo Quan lantern is also very popular in Mid autumn festival. This kind of lantern has the origin from China. Before it was played in many holidays, but nowadays, it is just played in Mid autumn festival holiday. The Keo Quan lantern is made by paper with the hexagon or octagon shape. Inside of the lantern has the people shape, while the candle is burning, because of the air flow, the lantern will rotate and the shadow of the people shapes will rotate also. The legend has it that, this lantern is the gift to offer to the king in the pass, and the people shapes inside the lantern show the army are fighting to protect the country. It is the reason why the lantern has the name Keo Quan mean “pull troops”. Nowadays, the shapes inside the lantern are very plentiful, almost are the famous cartoon characters.
3. To he
“To he” is a kind of traditional toys made by colorful flour that was molded. People mold the shape of animals (piglet, dragon, horse, elephant…), cartoon characters (the characters in the film Journey to the west, Sailor Moon…) or flowers (lotus, rose..) on a small bamboo stick. After about 1 hour the flour will be dried and become hard. To have a beautiful To he, the artisans need to be very ingenious to create shape and combine the color. Playing to he is not only because it is very beautiful but admire the ingenuity of the artist. Nowadays, To he is not very popular, but in Mid autumn festival, there are many artisans still make To he for the children as a toy to remind them about the beautiful tradition an culture of the country.
4. The Mask
Mask is an indispensable thing in Mid autumn festival. There are many kinds of mask, but in Vietnam the mask made by paper is the traditional kind that appeared very long time ago. The process to make the paper mask are very complex. The paper is a special kind, after dipping into the glue will be put on the mold, and dry in the sun light, these activities are repeated again and again until the mask become thick and hard. The last step, the artisan draws on the face of the mask. Nowadays, plastic mask are very popular, but the traditional mask is still very popular.
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