Toys sent to the Toy Workshop come back in great shape. The Workshop not only gives the retiree "doctors" a chance to put to use a lifetime of experience, it also teaches children the environmental message of taking good care of one's things. Pictured is the team at the Toy Workshop at Chungli Elementary. (Jimmy Lin)

When a toy breaks, what can you do? This is a question many parents and kids alike have faced. In most cases, there's no choice but to simply throw it out and buy a new one. But that's not good for the environment or the pocketbook. In recent years, under the direction of the Ministry of Education, elementary schools throughout Taiwan have been opening "Toy Workshops." Just bring in your "injured" toys, and the "toy doctors" will do their best to bring them back to health!

The head of the Toy Workshop initiative, National Taiwan Normal University professor of industrial education Hong Jon-chao, says the idea came during a visit by a friend, a professor from Japan who studies the development of creativity. The friend mentioned he was working with a Japanese toy manufacturer on a project to have children bring their toys along with them on visits to retirement homes. The toys serve as a way for young and old to come together and interact with one another.

When Hong heard this, he thought it was an excellent idea and that it should be extended to Taiwan as well, as Taiwan too has an aging society. But when he considered the relative rarity of retirement homes in Taiwan and the amount of empty space in Taiwan's elementary schools due to the low birth rate, he thought it would be better to turn the program around and bring it to the schools. He then proposed the Toy Workshop idea to the Ministry of Education's Department of Social Education, and in 2006 it was officially begun. As of now, six elementary schools around Taiwan (Wu-gong Elementary in Tai-pei City, Xin-tai Elementary in New Tai-pei City, Chungli Elementary in Tao-yuan County, Yue-ming Elementary in Yi-lan County, Mei-zhen Elementary in Chiayi County, and Jinxue Elementary in Tai-nan City) have applied on their own initiative to take part and set up experimental community toy workshops.

And the "toy doctors" accepting "patients" are for the most part retiree volunteers from the local communities. After taking classes in woodworking, sewing, creative thinking, and traditional toys for children, a trainee can receive a certificate and officially become a toy doctor. Not only do the elderly of the community get a chance to show off their own skills, they get to learn some new ones as well.