Varanasi's GI-tagged wooden lacquer toys are turned on a lathe and coloured with lac. The same skill can make stacking rings, counting frames and shape puzzles for play-schools and parents who want safe, plastic-free toys.
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This workshop makes wooden learning toys for young children: stacking rings, counting frames, spinning tops, pull-along animals and shape puzzles. The wood is turned on a lathe and finished in bright lac colour, the way Varanasi's toy makers have long worked.
Wooden lacquer toys are a GI (Geographical Indication) craft and one of Varanasi's One District One Product items, made by a skilled base of turners and painters. NABARD's 2023-24 credit plan for Varanasi names wooden lacquerware among the district's craft clusters. Today most of this work is sold to dealers as small decorative pieces, so toys made for learning open up new buyers.
You need a small shed with lathes, a drying and painting area, a steady supply of dry, seasoned wood and a few skilled artisans. Toys sold in India need a BIS safety mark. Registered craft artisans and GI authorised users have had an exemption, so confirm the current rules before you sell. The hard part is safety and price. Paints must be free of lead, small parts must be too big to swallow, and schools will compare you with cheap plastic toys and other wooden toy makers.
Sell to play-schools, toy shops, museum and airport shops and online stores, and offer gift sets to visitors at the ghats.
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