Monthly Archives: October 2011

Ghosts and ghouls and things that go ‘bump’ in the night.

Posted on: by Galt Toys

Halloween is traditionally celebrated on the night of October 31. Trick-or-treating, apple bobbing, costume parties, visiting haunted houses and carving pumpkins are many of the things we all associate with Halloween – or what used to be known as All Hallows Eve. 

But the origins of Halloween date back to the ancient Celtic festival known as Samhain (pronounced “sah-win”) to celebration the end of the Celtic year, marking the end of summer and the start of the cold, dark winter. Apparently it was also the day when the druidic priests of the Celts believed the dead could come back to the earth and cause trouble for the living – spooky!

Most children love Halloween, perhaps because it is the only time of the year where they can eat masses of sweets, make a gooey mess, scream to their hearts content, and even cut up a fake eyeball or two!

Disgusting Science

Our truly gross and revolting science kit is perfect for any little one wanting to grow germs, mix up coagulating fake blood and make super gross snot and a smelly intestine – ideal for Halloween madness. They’ll also be able to discover what actually grows on their body and learn the science behind unmentionable bodily functions while doing some disgusting experiments.

Happy Halloweeeeeeeeeeeeeen

National Poetry Day 2011

Posted on: by Galt Toys

National Poetry Day 2011 is fast approaching, Thursday 6th October. This year’s theme is GAMES, so how will you use it? In a themed reading, a poetry marathon, a classroom poetry game or a poetry workshop? The theme doesn’t just include physical sports, but games of all kinds. So it can any game from rounders or football to snakes and ladders and I Spy. Whatever sort of game you and your family love playing you can write a poem about it.

Research has shown time and time again that poetry is important for language development because rhyming words help children to remember new words.  Good rhythm is also important because children will pay attention to the different sounds and syllables that make up the words, which is linked to phonemic awareness, a necessary literacy skill. Once a child has phonemic awareness, they recognise that sounds are like building blocks that can be used to build all the different words.

The official National Poetry website has some fantastic ideas to get you and your family started, such as, Poetry Consequences – which you play as a group starting with a well known line and then go around the group with each person adding a new line! Or Poetry Snakes and Ladders, where you’re children play the game as normal, but when they reach the top of a ladder, the number of the square is the number of the page you will read out from a children’s poetry book.

We have kick started our Poetry Consequences with Robert Frost’s famous poem Stopping By Woods – what line would you add next?

But I have promises to keep,                                                                                                 And miles to go before I sleep….