Istanbul Toy Museum was founded on April 23, 2005 by poet/writer Sunay Akın. The museum, where the most popular examples of toy history from the 1700s to the present are exhibited, is located in a historical mansion.

Istanbul Toy Museum, which was established with toys that Sunay Akın bought from antique shops and auctions in more than 40 countries in 20 years, presents world history to its visitors with a more fun and catchy learning method. For example, in the section where space toys are exhibited, the effort to reach the Moon, and in the train toys section, the industrial revolution is described in the language of toys. The decoration of the museum was designed with this in mind by the stage design artist Ayhan Doğan. The museum is a first in the world as it was opened by a poet and designed by a stage design artist.

One of the most important features of the Istanbul Toy Museum is that it embraces the family with all its members. With this feature, the museum is a place where 3 generations can spend time together and share common happiness. Grandparents, father/mother and grandchild enjoy telling each other about their time as they set off to their childhood in a time machine. The corridors of the toy museum resound with sounds that begin with the sentence “I had this one!” and recount childhood memories.

With the Istanbul Toy Museum, the gap in our country regarding toy museums, which have great importance in European countries, has been completed and Istanbul Toy Museum has an important place among the examples in the world. The TOYCO-2012 Istanbul (European Association of Toy and Children's Museums) meeting, which was held by the Istanbul Toy Museum in November 2012 and a first in the world, was held in Turkey for the first time. In this way, the Istanbul Toy Museum became a pioneer in the establishment of the association of children's and toy museums in the world, and gave Istanbul the title of "capital of toy museums".

Istanbul Toy Museum has set an example for the opening of other toy museums in our country. Antalya Toy Museum belonging to Antalya Metropolitan Municipality in 2011, Gaziantep Game and Toy Museum belonging to Gaziantep Metropolitan Municipality in 2013, Dustepe Play Museum belonging to Ataşehir Municipality in 2015, Kartal Fairy Tale Museum belonging to Kartal Municipality in 2017 and Canik Toy Museum, owned by Samsun Canik Municipality, opened its doors under the consultancy and curation of Sunay Akın, the founder of Istanbul Toy Museum.