The event, organized by the Russian Society “Znanie,” brought together participants, experts, mentors, contest winners, and friends of the project to reflect on the year, draw inspiration from the creators’ stories, and see how ideas are turned into real toys for Russian children.

The event program featured an open discussion on the topic “A Toy of Our Own: From Idea to Reality.” Contest participants and winners shared personal stories about creating their projects, while TV host and social activist Tutta Larsen discussed with guests how to fulfill one’s parental mission, understand a child, and help them succeed. Visitors learned how a simple idea can give rise to a toy capable not only of entertaining, but also of educating, enlightening, and inspiring. Guests were also treated to a themed quiz and the opportunity to participate in the All-Russian “Wishing Tree” campaign.

In addition, a year-end review was held. The organizers highlighted the contest’s key achievements: over 28,000 entries from 89 regions of Russia; participation by children and adults, professionals and beginners; support from 322 experts; the creation of 59 prototypes; and the launch of 24 winning projects into mass production. These toys will soon be available in stores across the country.

The “Rodnaya Igrushka” competition, initiated by the Russian Society “Znanie” and the Movement of the First with the support of the Organizing Committee chaired by Elena Yampolskaya, Advisor to the President of the Russian Federation, has become an important educational project. Its goal is to stimulate the creation of domestic games and toys based on spiritual and moral values, Russian history, technological breakthroughs, and 21st-century heroes, as well as to foster in children from an early age a sense of belonging to their country and family.

“An Evening with Knowledge” is not just a year-end event. It is a reminder that every toy can carry light, knowledge, and love within it. And it is precisely this—this sense of “belonging”—that makes them so special.

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The “Rodnaya Igrushka” All-Russian Competition for creators of domestic games and toys has been organized by the ‘Znanie’ Society in collaboration with the “Dvizhenie Pervykh” Movement since 2024. The goal of the competition is to encourage the development and production of original Russian games and toys based on traditional values, which will help children learn more about their country’s history and develop creative and scientific-technical thinking from an early age. Nominees will receive support from mentors during the prototype development stages, and winners will have the opportunity to bring their idea to life and produce an original Russian toy, the first batch of which will be sold in stores belonging to the competition’s partner networks across Russia. In total, more than 28,000 applications were submitted to the competition from all 89 regions of Russia. Among the most active regions were the Nizhny Novgorod Region (623 applications), Moscow (466 applications), and the Moscow Region (380 applications), as well as the Penza Region (360 applications) and the Kirov Region (359 applications). The most popular category was “Story-Based Toy” (4,104 entries), followed by “Board Game” (3,015 entries), “Construction and Technical Toy” (589 entries), “Multimedia Project” (332 entries), and “Technical and Technological Toy” (195 entries).

“Znanie” is the country's largest modern educational organization, which holds hundreds of events for young people across Russia every year: It organizes thousands of presentations by prominent figures from the fields of culture, art, science, and history; holds academic competitions, contests, and quizzes; produces films; and helps lecturers in our country be heard and find their audience. Since its relaunch, the “Znanie” Society’s community of lecturers has brought together more than 30,000 people. They have delivered over 180,000 lectures in 89 regions of the Russian Federation. A total of 8,100 hours of educational content has been created on a wide variety of topics: science, technology, space, culture and art, history, medicine, sports, and others. Live streams of Znanie’s educational events, as well as educational video content, have garnered over 2.3 billion views.

For more information about the organization’s activities, visit the website and follow us on social media: VKontakte, Telegram.

MEDIA CONTACTS:

Alena Katkova, Project Manager at the Russian Society “Znanie”, +7 (922) 932-01-17, a.katkova@znanierussia.ru