Titled 2019Wooden
Toy
Master

N° 01 · Hasan Efendi 1565 → today · Eyüp Sultan

Five hundred years,
thirty
toys,
one master.

Eyüp Sultan's five-century toy tradition lives on in Şennur Ülker's workshop — and children are learning to make it.

Wood, earthenware, leather and string. Paints are EN71-certified, natural and water-based. Nothing harmful to children — no MDF, no substitutes for real wood — is ever used in our toys.

We work like one of the hundred toy shops Evliya Çelebi described in his Seyahatnâme: holding workshops, running a museum, introducing Eyüp Toys to new generations. All at the same address: İslambey 55B.

Şennur Ülker · Master of Eyüp Toys

Fig. 01 · WorkshopŞennur Ülker, demonstrating the whistling jug by sound

School groups · workshop seats 80 studentsBook a workshop 43 traditional toys · 2 seriesBrowse the shop

● School groups · workshop seats 80 students/● Karagöz workshop · with Ministry of Culture artists/● Open · Mon–Sat · 09:30–18:00/● Parking available · İslambey 55B/● EN71-certified water-based acrylic paints/● Intangible Cultural Heritage · 2020/● Ministry of Culture Wooden Toy Master · 2019/● Şennur Ülker · Master of Eyüp Toys/● @eyupoyuncakcisi · Instagram/● School groups · workshop seats 80 students/● Karagöz workshop · with Ministry of Culture artists/● Open · Mon–Sat · 09:30–18:00/● Parking available · İslambey 55B/● EN71-certified water-based acrylic paints/● Intangible Cultural Heritage · 2020/● Ministry of Culture Wooden Toy Master · 2019/● Şennur Ülker · Master of Eyüp Toys/● @eyupoyuncakcisi · Instagram/

Nine workshops, by reservation.

N° 02 · Instructor

Şennur Ülker

and the workshop team · two floors, seating 80 students

N° 01Signature

Toy Painting Workshop

— Oyuncak Boyama Atölyesi

After a theatrical tale, children paint the Eyüp toy of their choice in any colours they like; three packages for groups.

Time 60–130 min

Ages 4–14

Call for pricing→

N° 02Assembly

Toy Making Workshop

— Oyuncak Yapım Atölyesi

The toys' history is told to suit the age group; wooden parts are sanded, assembled, then painted and patterned.

Time 120–180 min

Ages Adapted by age

Call for pricing→

N° 03Imagination

Creative Workshop

— Yaratıcı Çalışma Atölyesi

“My Design, My Story”: children build their own games, stories and designs from wooden materials.

Time 60 min

Ages 4–14

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N° 04Shadow play

Shadow Play

— Hacıvat & Karagöz

Wooden shadow-play figures are sanded, assembled and painted alongside Ministry of Culture shadow-play artists.

Time 90–120 min

Ages 9–14

Call for pricing→

N° 05With a show

Theatre Workshop

— Tiyatro Atölyesi

How the puppets are made is demonstrated, the puppets are painted together, and the workshop ends with a little puppet show.

Time By programme

Ages By group

Call for pricing→

N° 06Special day

Birthday Workshop

— Doğum Günü Atölyesi

Celebrate a birthday in a workshop full of toys; Eyüp toys offered as gifts or as a painting activity.

Time 4 hours

Ages All ages

Call for pricing→

N° 07Sister craft

Marbling on Drum Skin

— Ebru Atölyesi

The art of marbling is introduced; marbling is applied to a drum's leather skin, its sides painted in acrylics.

Time 120 min

Ages 4+

Call for pricing→

N° 08Patterns

Drawing & Pattern Workshop

— Resim Atölyesi

Painting techniques are taught on the toys themselves, with pattern studies.

Time 40–60 min

Ages 4–14

Call for pricing→

N° 09Pedagogical

Child & Psychology Workshop

— Çocuk ve Psikoloji Atölyesi

The toy-choosing and story-building session is observed by a sociologist; the findings are shared with the family.

Time 180 min

Ages 3–10

Call for pricing→

See all nine workshops →

Fig. 03 · PortraitŞennur Ülker, in the workshop

N° 03 · Story

Retying a thread that had snapped.

Toy-making in Eyüp Sultan began with Hasan Efendi in the 1500s and ran for centuries — until 1955, when the last master gave up production and the craft fell silent. In 2005 a joint project of the History Foundation, Eyüp Municipality and İşkur trained a new generation of masters.

One of them, Şennur Ülker, founded the Traditional Eyüp Toymaker in 2017 to carry the tradition on. In 2019 she was granted the Ministry of Culture's Wooden Toy Master title. Today the toys are once again made in Eyüp — and made by hand.

1565Hasan Efendi designs more than 30 toys on the road he began for his grandchildren; Eyüp toy-making is bornFirst master

1635Evliya Çelebi records 100 shops and 105 toy masters in his SeyahatnâmeSeyahatnâme

1955The last master, Halit Şengöz, gives up production; the first era ends after 455 yearsLast master

2005The History Foundation, Eyüp Municipality and İşkur project trains new Eyüp Toy MastersRebirth

2017Şennur Ülker founds the Traditional Eyüp ToymakerFounded

2019Şennur Ülker is granted the Wooden Toy Master titleMinistry of Culture

2020Eyüp toy-making is registered as Intangible Cultural HeritageHeritage

Forty-three toys. All by hand.

N° 04 · Orders

+90 543 725 72 44

By phone or WhatsApp · or pick up at the workshop

N° 01Ask for price

N° 05 · Museum · Above the shop

Eyüp Toys Museum

The museum above the shop.

Thirty kinds of traditional Eyüp toys, genuine-leather Hacivat and Karagöz shadow figures with their original screen, the kitre doll honouring the first master, archive photographs and newspaper clippings — all on the floor above the workshop.

Please reserve museum visits by phone.

Address: İslambey Cd. 55B · Eyüp Sultan, Istanbul
Open: Mon — Sat · 09:30–18:00 · closed Sundays
Tel: +90 543 725 72 44
Getting here: Parking available · buses 33ES, 55, 55ET, 55EY, 55T, 99A

Visit the museum →

In the press.

N° 06 · See all →

TRT 1Television · 2025

Our theatrical tale for Children's Day was broadcast live on TRT 1's morning show.

Watch→TRT HaberTelevision · 2024

Eyüp Toys and the workshop on TRT Haber national news.

View→CNN TürkTelevision

Eyüp Toys on CNN Türk, in a report on intangible cultural heritage.

Watch→TRT ÇocukTelevision · 2018

The Eyüp Toymaker on TRT Çocuk, Turkey's children's channel.

Watch→

What visitors say.

★ 4.6 / 5 · 85 Google reviewsN° 07 · Guest book

A wonderful activity space — we were so pleased; it is truly etched into the children's memories. We absolutely recommend it — one of those places every child should see at least once.

Caner & Burcu Ş.School-trip parent · November 2025 · Instagram

A truly magnificent place — Eyüp Sultan's 500-year tradition lives on here. Şennur Hanım is a true master of this craft and does it with love. A must-visit with your children: they make their own toys and have a wonderful time doing it.

Şeref Y.Google Local Guide · 2021 · Google review

Thank you for passing the bond between past and future on to our children with such excitement and joy.

Özel bir anaokuluInstitutional visit · October 2021 · Instagram

Şennur Hanım greeted us at the door, so warm and friendly. I came along as the bus driver — she looked after all 75 children one by one; the welcome and the send-off were wonderful. In my book, a place you simply must visit.

Sadık D.School bus driver · 2025 · Google review