Monthly Archives: May 2011

Half-Term Mayhem

Posted on: by GaltToys

With the Bank Holiday weather putting the dampeners on the start of the half-term we thought we could help you out with some free ’make and do’ ideas from our fab Activity Zone.

Grow your own Stalactites and Stalagmites! With our fun geology experiment your kids can watch these grow almost before their very eyes! To get started, just download the easy to follow instructions and find the simple household items needed.  Do you know the difference between a Stalactite and Stalagmite…?  

The stalactite is above and hangs downward like an icicle; the stalagmite is below and sticks up.  Tip to remember the difference – stalactites hold tight! 

Lava love: With this great experiment your children can make their own gloopy lava lamp at home.  Once again simply download the easy to follow instructions via our Activity Zone and have Lava-ly fun! 

Slimy Slime: This is a must for budding scientists who want to make their own slippery slime. Just download the easy to follow instructions via our Activity Zone.  All the ingredients are common household items, but remember it can be MESSY so it’s a good idea to do it over a bath or sink…. the slime is definitely NOT to be eaten!

Remember – do upload your Make & Do photos to our Facebook page….we’d love to see how you get on! 

Actress Denise Richards has teamed up with a group of fellow celebrity mums to trade parenting tips in a Mothers-Only Club….so we thought we’d for the same! With many of you off on holiday this week, perhaps taking longer trips in the car to see relatives or visit attractions, we’ve been asking some of you for your traveling tips to keep the kids entertained in the car: 

@blackbirdgames tweeted – each person chooses a colour, then looks out the window to identify objects that are their chosen colour – first to ten wins

@karawalesguppy tweeted – Yellow car: first one to spot a yellow car wins

@katiePybus tweeted – Audio books

@danielleGparker tweeted – CD full of kids’ songs, great traffic jam saviour!

As Sir Elton John and David Furnish have made the shortlist for Celebrity Dad of the Year, perhaps the Lion King Motion Picture Soundtrack is a fitting buy as is it contains songs composed by Elton John, such as, “I Just Can’t Wait to Be King” and “Can You Feel the Love Tonight” – oooh! I can feel a sing-along coming over me now!

But if you are looking for something to keep the kids quiet in the back of the car, we have the perfect toy for you – Water Magic. It is a super duper colouring-in book with a twist! The book is full of pictures waiting to be painted with our magic pen which you fill with water and the pictures appear. No paint – no mess!

Don’t just take our word for it….here’s what the parents think:

Writings, Ramblings and Reviews – a blog review from Kelly Brett

 

YouTube review from Kate Pollard.[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=cgaSpKu2UJU]

Hope you have a fantastic half-term, and whatever you are up to, we would love to hear about it…..

Bend n’ Build – A New Wax Work

Posted on: by GaltToys

When it comes to clay-model characters, Morph and Chas often spring to mind; the animated duo came to life with the late Tony Hart at the beginning in 1977. Since then we have had Wallace & Gromit, the adorable Pingu and Mel Gibson taking on the voice of Rocky in Chicken Run.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-zRH0dLJFs&feature=relmfu]

If you are keen create your own models, our new Bend n’ Build Stick range is perfect. The sticks are made from clear wax over coloured string and stick together with no glue required. They come in 10 brilliant colours and hold their shape so you can model as many characters as you like and then reshape and reuse to make something new!

Kids learn about the world around them through imitation and creative play and a great way to combine the two, is with a puppet show. Help your kids create with their very own  puppet stage using a cardboard box so the characters they have created can act  out their very own story – let their imaginations go wild!

Creative tip – Stand a large cardboard box on end, cut a big hole in the back for puppeteers to crouch in and a smaller one high up in the front for the stage. Decorate the box with paint, glitter, sequins and glue on pieces of fabric for curtains. Once this is all complete, help your children compose a story to act out – you never know you might have the next Nick Park on your hands.

Better still they could create their very own miniature Madame Tussauds… .If you have any top puppets tips, or wax work instructions, please do share them with us.

Fabulous folding fun

Posted on: by GaltToys

With our paper planes flying off the shelves (see what we did there?!) we’ve come up with another paper-tastic idea to keep kids amused. The colourful new Galt Origami set harks back to ancient times when only the rich could amuse themselves with making elaborate art out of folding pieces of paper. Thankfully paper isn’t scare anymore and we can all
try our hand at this paper folding art-form.

“Ori” is the Japanese word for folding and “kami” is the Japanese word for paper which is how origami got its name. Contrary to popular belief origami did not start in Japan. It began in China in the first or second century and then spread to Japan sometime during the sixth century. And now it has come to the world of Galt!

Another interesting thing for you fact-fans is that the original origami creature was the crane, a sacred bird in Japan. Amazingly the Guinness World Record for the largest origami crane has a wingspan of 268 ft 10 in!

We were also astonished to discover a tiny paper square 1 mm by 1 mm was used to fold a crane using a microscope and sewing needle! Now we’re not recommending going this far but we’re sure that little fingers will be able to fold things of beauty with the help of our great kit.  Perhaps you could come up with your own paper creations and share them with us? We’d love to know if there’s a pattern we could add in the future.

We’ve created 10 fabulous designs of both beautiful and useful things – from birds to baskets. Don’t stop at the folding, each creation can be jazzed up with stickers for a unique look.

Happy Folding!