Category Archives: Paper Mache

FESTIVE PETS – WINNER ANNOUNCED

Posted on: by Galt Toys

Congratulations to Clare Andtribe Leahy on winning our Festive Pets competition with the hopping Christmas bunny image – it’s so cute and caused lots of ‘oooing’ and ‘aarring’ in the office. 

We’d also like to thank everyone who entered the competition; we had some super entries – a snake, a bearded dragon, horses and budgies in hats and some festive fish! Couldn’t really get any more Christmassy than that.

Although 23% of UK households own at least one dog or cat, many of us aren’t allowed to have a pet… sob sob! But help is at hand…… our Art & Craft experts have created a Designer Doggie for you and your kids to make. Simply download the pattern for FREE via our Activity Zone and follow the instructions.

If our regal Corgi isn’t for you, we have a super cool Sock Dog that will undoubtedly become a loveable friend with its cute rainbow ears and purple eye patch, or a sock cat with red nose and spotted jumper!

Alternatively you could grow an animal with our Grow-A-Head range. You’ll be able to grow a pig, monkey, cat or dog! Each head contains grass seed and coconut fibre in a colourful nylon cover with fun plastic and foam features. Just add water and watch them grow! After a few days, green hair will start to appear. Keep watering and your Grow-A-Head will soon be ready for a trim! Create your own cool hair styles.

Or if it’s ‘piggy-mess’  you are after, have a go at creating your  own Pet Pig out of Papier Mache.  Download the free template via our website for the pig’s legs, ears, snout and tail, and use an inflated balloon for his body. Add layers of Paper Mache from pieces of newspaper dipped in glue.When dry, you’ll have a hard but lightweight pig to decorate with paint. This activity is suitable for children aged 7 years and up and it’s a great way to recycle newspapers! When finished, why not upload your Make & Do photos to our Facebook page….we’d love to see how you get on. 

Pens at the READY….

Posted on: by Galt Toys

If your child likes drawing they will LOVE this….. THE BIG DRAW, a month-long festival celebrating the art of drawing is taking place right across the UK with events up and down the country. This campaign aims to get us all believing we can draw! So, if your child wants to illustrate like the Quentin Blake, create characters such as the award winning Gruffalo or colourful masterpieces like Picasso, then check out the BIG DRAW website for details.

We are massive fans of art and craft at Galt and have an amazing selection of art materials to power the imagination for a whole range of ways for little people to get arty. From basic paints and pencils to our popular Squeeze ‘n’ Brush and Paintastics ranges where the paint is IN the brush, there’s something for everyone!

Triangular Pencils

Drawing is one of the first ways for a child to express themselves. From their first scribble on the wall to a colourful piece of art work for the fridge, the value of this creative outlet is huge. The way they draw can tell you a lot about their imagination, thoughts, engagement and emotions, providing incredible insight into their young minds.

Children need a variety of items to draw with and draw on. These could be pens, chalk, crayons, paint and brushes, paper, cardboard, boxes and even concrete – variety is key! Eric Carle, author and illustrator of the hugely popular ‘The Very Hungry Caterpillar’ took his illustrations to the next level with a collage technique. By using lots of pieces of coloured and hand painted paper, he built up his images to make them come alive!

Why not try this technique at home and make your own collage to hang on the wall – get masses of paper, newspaper, tissue paper and magazines and tear them up into all sorts of random shapes and sizes. Then glue the torn up paper onto a large piece of cardboard using PVA glue. When dry, keep on building up the layers of your picture with more colours and textures until you have the desired effect! You’ll end up with a multi-coloured ‘picasso-esque’ picture.

If you want to pass on TV artist Tony Hart’s passion for art, show them that even the most uninspiring household objects such as, toilet roll inners, old newspaper, empty cereal packets and yoghurt pots are great for homemade Make and Dos!

You never know, your child’s creations could become valuable.  Autumn de Forest, an 8 year old from Las Vegas is the world’s youngest conceptual artist and has earnt $200,000 already, with her work being compared to Salvador Dali and Picasso – wow!

If you want to share your little ones creative drawings, please upload them to our Facebook page or tweet us @GaltToys

Art & Craft – great for the imagination!

Posted on: by Galt Toys

We love Art & Craft, and our toy development team can’t resist a bit of creative mess and by the looks of things neither can most of our twitter friends!

We were greeted this morning by a tweet from @moolboots who had been busy over the weekend with Paper Plate Art using our Paintastics. We thought this easy art & craft needed a shout out.  @moolboots, whose real name Kel is now displaying these plates Paper Plate Art on her wall, and if my children are anything to go by, they really do appreciate having their art work shown off, even if it’s just for a little while!

@multiplemummy has also been busy this weekend with a Pirate Telescope made from a toilet and kitchen roll painted black. Fantastic idea and doesn’t it look fab? If you want to have a go at making this, please visit her blog Multiple Mummy.

 

Staying with the Pirate theme @mummymummymum made a giant pirate castle out of a cardboard box – great for creative play!

So next time your children say they are bored, grab the paints and some everyday household items and get creative – we are massive fans of sponge painting. Why not try it on a old white bed sheet which can be used to make a den afterwards, this looks especially good if you use glow in the dark paints! But if you are stuck for ideas, check out our Activity Zone, it is full of free make & dos. We have everything from a Papier-mâché pig to making your own Easter cards.

If you have any art & craft ideas to share please email them to: customerservices@jamesgalt.com or upload them onto our Facebook page.