Magical Fairy Tale Türkiye: A Special App for Children
The Ministry of Family and Social Services has recently announced a new initiative aimed at supporting the psychological, social, emotional, and cognitive development of children. The protocol, signed in January, focuses on carrying out various activities to contribute to the socialization of children.
One of the key components of this initiative is the “Turkish Fairy Tale Collection Project”, which has been ongoing since 2019 under the Atatürk Culture Center Presidency of the Atatürk Culture, Language, and History Supreme Institution. As part of this project, a new mobile application called “Fairy Tale Turkey” has been developed to allow children easy access to Turkish fairy tales. These fairy tales can be both read and listened to, with voices available in Istanbul Turkish and various regional dialects.
Currently, 25 fairy tales have been voiced in Istanbul Turkish and 21 regional dialects. The mobile application will soon be introduced to care personnel working in the Ministry’s institutions, allowing children under state protection to also benefit from these stories.
In addition, efforts are being made to make the fairy tales accessible to children around the world through translations and dubbing in languages such as English, German, French, Arabic, Persian, Russian, Spanish, and Japanese.
Special attention is being given to visually impaired children, with 10 tales already prepared in Braille alphabet. Work is ongoing to make the tales accessible to hearing-impaired children as well.
Furthermore, the project aims to adapt fairy tales into animations to cater to the needs of modern children and to ensure that Turkish fairy tales are preserved and passed on to future generations.
As part of the collaboration, 300 storybook sets containing 1,500 books have been sent to child care institutions. Additionally, a “Storytelling Training Course” is being developed for personnel caring for children aged 0-8 under state protection.
Moreover, various activities, including the “Fairy Tale and Storyteller Festival”, have been organized to promote storytelling and traditional Turkish culture among children. These initiatives aim to support the cognitive development of children and ensure that important cultural elements are passed on to future generations.
