Traditional toy of Vietnamese children - Tò he

Tò he or Toy figurine, a traditional toy for Vietnamese children, is made from glutinous rice powder in shape of edible figurine such as heroes, flowers, animals, etc, 

HistoryThe origin of this traditional toy dated back to the 17th century. When there were not comics or illustrated books, tò he came out to depict characters in folk stories, heroes, animals, flowers, etc. Children were really interested in this tò he. They gathered around stall of to he, watched the heroes in elaborate costumes made by skillful hands of craftsmen and imagined the whole vivid world of fairies and heroes.

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traditional toy

It was first made and sold on some typical occasions such as Tet and Mid-Autumn Festival. You can catch sights of to he in many public places and festivals now.

Xuan La Village in Phu Xuyen District,  visit Hanoi city is famous for its skill in making tò he. One interesting fact is that Tò he craftsman doesn’t pass his secret of making to he to his daughter but to his son.

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MakingTo he craftsmen have a set of tools so that they can move to several common places in one day. They are a tray of glutinous rice powder in different colors, a bunch of sticks, a small comb, and a spongy box to display their products.

The preparation of the dough is the recipe for success in to he making. Rice after being grinded into fine powder will be mixed with water until it becomes a sticky lump. That lump will be put in a pot of water and boil for an hour until it is removed from the pot. The craftsman then dyes with seven different colors including green, red, yellow, white, black, red, and purple. These colors are made from edible and natural ingredients.

traditional toy

Nowadays, they no longer imbue the dough with natural colors but food colorings since they are more fresh and bolder.

The artisans have such an amazing ability to mould these lumps become a beautiful work of art. They use exactly the amount of paste to form separate parts of a toy.

Just place your own orders, watch the craftsman make the toy and get beautiful tò he in minutes.