Choosing toys by age: a simple guide
From the first rattle to the first tricycle, what children actually play with at each stage.
How Channapatna toys are made
Ivory wood, a lathe and a stick of lac: a morning at a workshop an hour from Mysuru.
Channapatna has made toys for more than two hundred years. Most workshops are in the family home: a lathe in the front room, wood drying on the roof, and finished toys packed in the kitchen.
The wood is aale mara, or ivory wood, a pale and soft timber that turns cleanly. Logs are cut, seasoned for several weeks and then shaped on an electric lathe. When the shape is right, the turner presses a stick of coloured lac against the spinning wood. The heat of friction melts the lac into an even coat, and a dry screwpine leaf is used to polish it to a shine.
The colours come from natural sources: turmeric for yellow, indigo for blue and a deep red from the lac itself. That is why a well-made Channapatna toy is safe in a baby’s mouth.
When you buy a toy from us, the tag names the workshop. If you are ever in Channapatna, most will happily show you the lathe.
