Tag Archives: Galt Toys

May Day Mayhem

Posted on: by Galt Toys

May Day – the traditional celebration of the coming of Summer, has for most of us brought with it a day of glorious sunshine. For those yet to see their first taster of Summer, we hope lashings of sunniness will be with you soon! One thing is for certain, May Day sees the coldest April in 24 years finally come to an end!

                

For over 2,000 years we have been celebrating May Day with customs ranging from May Pole dancing, crowning of May Queens, and druids gathering at ancient monuments.

Oxford residents wake to the sound of Hymnus Eucharisticus being sung from Magdalen College tower, a tradition which dates back to the 17th Century. Morris dancers have danced the sun up all over the country, which is just as well because tradition states that if Morris men do not complete this ritual then the summer won’t come. And that wouldn’t be good at all! The crowning of  a May Queen relates back to the Romans celebrating Flora, the goddess of fruit and flowers. The May Queen symbolises Flora in the human form.

 

So what are these ancient customs and rituals all about? Well it used to be a major annual festival, especially in rural areas with celebrations designed to mark the turn from cold fruitless winter, to warm and bountiful summer, bringing good harvests.

May Day has always been an early riser. Households used to get up before dawn to decorate their houses with flowers and greenery in the belief that it would bring good fortune. Girls would wash their faces in the early morning dew, believing it would make them very beautiful.

May Day, and May in general, is significant for us today in no small part due to the two Bank Holidays we get to enjoy this month. The extra days off give us valuable extra playing time to spend with friends, family and the new found sunshine.

 

 

Why not try making your own origami paper boats for an upgraded game of Pooh Sticks, or organise a nature treasure hunt to see what the new season is bringing in?

Whatever you’re doing, let us know, and have a great time doing it!

 

 

AWESOMELY HORRIBLE ART

Posted on: by Galt Toys

We have launched the first ever Horrible Histories Art Set. The new Awesome Art Set is based on Scholastics’s bestselling Horrible Histories books written by Terry Deary.

Suitable for children aged six and above, the cool art set contains over 100 pieces to help create some really awesome artwork. With stencils created by Horrible Histories illustrator Martin Brown, children will soon be able to paint and draw their favourite fiendish characters featured in the books.

We are massive fans of the Horrible Histories series, so we’re delighted to add this product to our ever growing creative art range.  All children have to do is - have a stab at it (excuse the pun!)- this awesome art set will power the imagination.

If your children love the Horrible Histories range we also have a selection of puzzles – Putrid Pirates, Rotten Romans and Terrible Tudors. Each jigsaw puzzle contains 300-pieces and an eight page loathsome leaflet stuffed with foul facts - history with the nasty bits and pieces left in!!

It has been 20 years since the first Horrible Histories books, Awesome Egyptians and Terrible Tudors, were published.  Over the last two decades there have been more than 100 titles published, which have sold 20 million copies to 31 countries - Wow! So it was sad to hear Terry Deary report, earlier this month, that Horrible Histories had naturally come to an end.  He expects his next book, Deadly Days in History, to be his last for children – boohoo!  But apparently he’ll be back with another four-part Horrible Histories series for adults focusing on the Roman Empire, the Vikings, the Elizabethans and the Victorians….which we can’t wait to read!

That’s your rotten lot this week!

Hand Painted Eggshells – How To!

Posted on: by Galt Toys

It is almost Easter - schools are breaking up and yesterday was the first day of Spring – although it still feels like Winter!  So we recommend filling your house with daffodils and snowdrops to liven things up.  Plus an Easter tree with handmade Easter decorations hung on branches of Pussy Willow is a lovely tradition that can become part of family life every Easter.

To make beautiful hand painted egg shells you’ll need to blow a raw egg…so here’s how:

Place the egg upright in an egg cup, or an egg box,  and by using a large sewing needle (children will need adult supervision for this bit) make a small hole in the top. Then turn the egg carefully upside down and make a larger hole in the bottom. Make sure you break up the yolk by poking the needle about inside. Once broken, very gently over a bowl, blow into the smaller hole to force out the yoke and egg white. Make sure you save all the egg innards for pancakes or cupcake making later on!

Once all the yoke and egg white is removed, submerge the shell in water with a little vinegar, then blow out the shell again and leave to dry.

Now you are ready to decorate, you can paint eggshell with poster paints, felt pens, glitter, stickers - any embellishment you want! To attach the eggs to the tree, cut a length of ribbon (approx 11 cm), and thread both ends of the ribbon through a bead (the bead needs to be small enough to fit though the larger hole in the egg shell). Then tie a knot joining both ends of the ribbon together – creating a loop. With the bead at the bottom, thread the ribbon though the larger hole and out through the smaller  so the bead will then act as an anchor holding the ribbon in place, ready to be placed on the tree.

If you have any Easter decorating tips, or make you own Easter tree we’d love you to share them with us. Please upload images to our Facebook page or tweet us @GaltToys

Happy Easter egg painting….