Throughout July 2025, the Kolong Tangga Museum held a holiday programme called “Preinan Ing Kolong Tangga”. The programme was intended as a means of learning culture and tradition through play. Totalling to 11 sessions, the programme was participated by 150 children from Yogyakarta and other cities alike. Through Preinan Ing Kolong Tangga, these children were invited to play, learn Javanese etiquette, explore the surrounding environment, and familiarise themselves with traditional games that were in decline. There were three double-feature events in this programme, namely sobo kebon (garden exploration) and uthak-athik kreatip (creative crafts), museum tour and sinau unggah-ungguh (Javanese etiquette lesson), as well as dolanan tradisional (playing traditional games) and mblusuk pawon (cooking traditional snacks). One of the attractive events was the sobo kebon and dolanan double-feature. A miscellany of natural objects the participants found around the compound was used to create toy ponies (made from banana trunk), leaf and flower crafts, and as items for playing shop. Another similarly interesting event was the double-feature of museum tour and uthak-athik kreatip. Participants went on a guided tour of the museum while listening to interesting talks by the guide regaling stories on popular toys of the past. Afterwards, they were invited to let their creativity loose through creative crafts. Some of the crafts the children made were paper shadow puppets, tie-dye, and fabric scraps collage to decorate tote bags. Last but not least was sinau unggah-ungguh and mblusuk pawon. In the former, children were taught on Javanese etiquette on politeness that children could implement in their daily lives. This was paired with mblusuk pawon that invited participants to make traditional snacks such as lemper (glutinous rice with filling) and gethuk (a sweet snack made from cassava), as well as brewing wedhang (traditional hot spice drinks) to warm up and energise the body. With an affordable fee of Rp 45.000 per session, Preinan Ning Kolong Tangga became a low-cost but meaningful option for families to spend their time on the holiday. It is our hope that this programme can be an alternative way to enjoy the holiday while instilling local cultures to young children. The Kolong Tangga Museum also plans to develop this programme to be organised regularly to make the holiday season affordable, fun, rooted in culture, and memorable.
- a Javanese phrase for “Holidaying at Kolong Tangga