Cin Ali Museum

Cin Ali Museum is located in Ankara, at Bülten Street No:32 Kavaklıdere.

It is an institution where the design process of the Cin Ali cartoon character and the teaching materials developed by Rasim Kaygusuz are exhibited. It was founded by the Cin Ali Education and Culture Foundation in 2019.

About

The building’s exterior façade is represented by the yellow color, which is the corporate visual identity of Cin Ali Museum, while the text Cin Ali Museum appears in black. These colors have been carried into the museum’s interior to provide cohesion. Educational tools designed by Rasim Kaygusuz are displayed in the museum, and possibilities for transmitting the Cin Ali character and stories to future generations are being explored.

Cin Ali Museum aims to offer visitors an interactive experience, therefore visitors can touch and play. On the ground floor there is a ticket sales area and souvenir shop, a café opening to the garden, and a relaxation area. The exhibition area is on the first floor, and the Cin Ali Library is on the second floor.

The museum is built on a settlement plan consisting of different stations and offers visitors a chronological tour. This tour starts with the formation of the Cin Ali character and continues with a section that narrates the life story of Rasim Kaygusuz and his family chronologically. Then it includes the Cin Ali Classroom, the Cin Ali 6 Points section, the Letter Wall to Cin Ali, the “Write a Card or Letter to Cin Ali!” Desk, the Postbox Room, the Reading with Play Room, the Books that Read Aloud Room, the Children’s Garden, Cin Ali’s Ankara, the Barber Fil Video and the sections where Cin Ali says goodbye. At the end of the museum there is a wall inscription with social media accounts and a VR Room containing the cartoon titled “Cin Ali’s Colorful World”.

Visiting Hours and Holidays

As of 2025, Cin Ali Museum is open for visits every day of the week except Mondays, from 10:00 to 18:00. The last admission is at 17:30. The museum is closed on January 1 and on the first days of religious holidays.

Background

The first book of the Cin Ali book series was prepared by author Rasim Kaygusuz in 1968 to teach children to read easily and to make them love reading. Cin Ali was very loved and liked, and was used as a bedside book for first‑grade elementary students who were newly learning to read and write to reinforce their reading. The series, which was part of the elementary school curriculum until 2005, was published by Cin Ali Publications after 2005.

Rasim Kaygusuz’s daughters Nevin Kaygusuz Apaydın and Nesrin Kalaycıoğlu, believing that Cin Ali had become a cultural heritage that should be preserved, founded the Cin Ali Education and Culture Foundation in 2016.

Establishment and content

On 1 November 2019 it opened in Ankara at 32 Bülten Street, Tunalı Hilmi Avenue, in a three‑storey building that had previously been used as a student dormitory. The ground floor contains a souvenir and ticket sales area, a relaxation area and a café. The first floor is the exhibition area, the second floor is the library.

The exhibition area consists of 11 sections. In these sections Rasim Kaygusuz’s life, personal items and toys he developed for reading techniques are displayed; in addition, spaces such as the “Reading with Play Room”, the “Write a Card or Letter to Cin Ali!” Table, and the Cin Ali Letter Wall have been created where visitors can touch and play with objects.

The section called the Reading with Play Room is where original examples of the educational tools designed by Rasim Kaygusuz and renewed versions in different sizes are located. The materials in this section are: Bingo Cards, Solved Alphabet, Reading Instruction with Play, Colorful‑Animated Syllable Cards, Reading Instruction with String, Multiplication‑Counting Instruction, Illustrated and Mathematical Cards, Non‑Writing Pen, Rotating Stories.

At the Cin Ali Museum, one of the stations contains a representative classroom with old school desks and tables, a blackboard, and black aprons. There is also an exhibition section with photographs of Ankara from earlier periods.

The first editions of the Cin Ali series and the only Cin Ali book signed by Rasim Kaygusuz are also in the museum.

Museum Sections

Learning to Read Through Play

The Play Reading Room at the Cin Ali Museum displays original teaching materials and renewed versions in various sizes. These materials aim to facilitate learning to read and write through games. The Play Reading Room seeks to make learning lasting by encouraging the participation of students or visitors.

The teaching materials used in this room aim to create a learning environment based on curiosity, research, and discovery by gamifying learning. Play is considered an effective tool for developing sensory and cognitive skills. It helps acquire important skills such as decision‑making, observation, problem‑solving and creativity.

The play reading‑writing method increases children's enjoyment of reading books and encourages them to learn new things. This method involves using picture cards to teach students new words. Teachers organize various games and activities to attract students' interest and to facilitate learning.

Among the materials in the Play Reading Teaching section at the Cin Ali Museum are Bingo Cards, Solved Alphabet, Colorful‑Animated Spelling Slips, String Reading Teaching, Multiplication‑Counting Teaching, Illustrated and Mathematical Slips, Non‑Writing Pen and Rotating Stories.

Bingo Cards

Cin Ali's Bingo Cards were developed inspired by the bingo game. These cards facilitate the learning and repetition of words. In the museum, a large bingo card is displayed and the game of reading and matching words is played.

Solved Alphabet