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Showing posts from June, 2013

five top games in the garden

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So it's officially summer (even if the weather disagrees) and it's now time to get the sun cream out and start enjoying the sunshine! So here's a list of 5 fun, messy and exciting things to do in the garden- 1) water pistol - what more fun than soaking your friends, parents or siblings with water! Especially on a really hot day! 2) bubble rocket  - this has to be one of coolest toys in the shop...show off at a barbecue, party or infront of your friends 3)  mega ball - you can use this at the beach or in your back garden. It's soft and light which makes it perfect to throw around! 4) water bombs - these can also be used with your water pistol. A great way to soak each other and cool down in the heat 5- cricket set - a perfect time to play sports and get yourself in to teams. Cricket is time wasting, fun and perfect when the weather is nice and you have lots of space to run around. You can use it on the beach, in a field or just in your garden. I

Butterfly Face Painting Tutorial

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In this tutorial I am going to show you how to paint a realistic and beautiful butterfly with face paints. The material and tools are very important, you'll need to visit a good art shop and invest in a collection of good brushes. You will need 1 medium round sable (about a size 6), 1 small round synthetic water colour brush (size 2) and 1 long haired acrylic Rigger brush (any size, smaller the better). Along with a set of face paints you will also want to have some cosmetic glitter, a couple of water pots, a mirror and some face wipes. The first step is to paint a white background for the butterfly, this helps brighten the overlaying colours, using the large sable brush. Keep your paint  fairly thick and ensure the wings are not touching each other. Then begin to build up the layers of colour, beginning with the palest. Switch to the smaller brush for the final red details. Now use the rigger brush to put on the fine details in black. First the body and a

Marco's experience in Totnes

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Here is Marco, these are my last days in Totnes. Here I have found a lot of friends all from different nations like South Arabia, Spain, Russia ecc... I had a really good time with them, I have improved my English (I think and hope). I have been living with a fantastic hostfamily which is very kind with me and my friend Nicolo', they have 2 young children and I enjoyed a lot with them. The first week I studied in the Totnes language school which I found quite boring :) but after the first week I came here in the Toyshop where I worked for 3 weeks. I could understand how a shop works and I am happy with this job. Emily Adam and Jenny are always smiling so there is a good atmosphere. Sometimes was hard for me to understand something because, in my opinion, English is difficult to understand but I tried and sometimes I understood a wrong thing and people saw me with strange eyes... but never mind I am here for learning. A lot of people especially teenager don't speak a lot o

Creating Art With Rubik's Cubes

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Here at Toyday we love puzzles! The Rubik's Cube is usually seen as being one of the best puzzle games ever.  The Ribik's Cube was invented in 1974 by ErnÅ‘ Rubik. The Rubik's Cube - originally it was called 'Magic Cube' - was put on the toy market in 1980 and went on to win the German Game Of The Year special award for Best Puzzle. By 2009, 350 million Rubik's Cubes had been sold. Many people use Rubik's Cubes for art. Pete Fecteau is an artist who used Rubik's Cubes to create different images. For one of his pieces, 'Dream Big', he used 4,242 Rubik's Cubes which, in total, measured in at 5.8m x 2.6m x 5.7cm and weighing around 1000 pounds. It took him around 40 hours to create and five and a half hours to install it here, even with 6 helpers. His next big idea is for a 8,484 cube image of Albert Einstein as a tribute to him. Pete is currently waiting for a sponsor to make this idea a reality and he already has the design ready

The Very Hungry Caterpillar

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The Very Hungry Caterpillar was written by Eric Carle and published in 1969. The children's book is about caterpillar who eats its way through a wide variety of food before emerging as a butterfly. Amazingly, the book has sold 30 million copies worldwide. The story highlights different life stages where transformations take place, such as- metamorphosis.  I personally as a child just adored the book, especially my older brother. He would recite the story again and again because he knew it so well.  In our Toyday shop we have the loveliest, Very Hungry Caterpillar wooden pull along for babies and toddlers that I wish myself and my siblings had at a young age! It's a perfect toy for children that know the story and the caterpillar's character. Have a look on our website- www.toyday.co.uk Enjoy the rest of your weekend! Alice

Learning the Tin Whistle

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I have just started to learn the Tin Whistle and I am finding it much harder than I expected to! As a child I had ear trouble and consequently never learned to play a musical instrument like the other kids. My singing voice was so bad I was asked to mime at the school concert so as not to let down the other choir members! I had corrective treatment when I was a teenager and I now enjoy almost normal hearing so I thought I'd attempt to master one of the many musical instruments we sell at Toyday. I began with the mini accordion but the noise that I was making was scaring the seagulls outside, let alone the customers, so I decided instead to try the Xylophone . I had a bit more luck with this and after an hour or so I was competently playing the music to Tetris which goes like this: Tetris E B C D C B A A C E D C B C D E C A A D F A G F E C E D C B B C D E C A A I decided to up my game a bit and moved onto the Tin Whistle as I remember my class mates having recorder les

Discover The World With Our New Retro Range

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Just arrived and totally new are some brilliant ideas for the explorer within. Desk Top Globe - £11.99 We already stock a full sized globe but now we also have a desk top sized globe with a diameter of 15 cm. At only £11.99 it is not only a practical size but a practical price as well. A globe is a great gift for anyone with an interest in the world, travel or the planets and this one comes in a lovely vintage school room design box. You can even wrap it up with our world map wrapping paper so that your gift is completely themed. World Map Gift Wrap - £1.25 per sheet We have a brilliant new pair of green binoculars with an integrated compass and neck strap. They are the perfect binoculars for any little explorer take them together with our bug box and magnifying glass for an outside adventure. Nature Trail Binoculars - £3.99

Marco's favourite summer toys

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hello everybody here is Marco again :) today is a very sunny day and it's unusual because there is always bad weather... with this beautiful day is like to be in Italy where now there are 37 degrees.. is very hot... Today I would like to tell you something about summer games :) Here in Toyshop they sell all different type of games, from wooden to outdoor games. I like especially 3 games which I used to play when I was young in summer holidays. The first one was the comical game of "who?" is for any number of players young and old, a game full of laughter caused by ridiculous questions and answers. We enjoyed a lot and had a good time while all the people all near us were laughing for our "beautiful" performances. The second game is different... I played with a lot of planes, like this one, when I was outside with my friends, everyone had one. I liked the planes because they are easy to build and at the same time they can fly high. They are very cheap so

Global Smurfs Day - 22nd June 2013

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On Saturday 22nd June it's Global Smurf Day, which is held in celebration of the birthday of Peyo the creator of the Smurfs and also the impending new Smurfs movie, which is released later this month. Before reaching us on television and film screens, Smurfs first featured in comic books.  Like many children's cartoon and comic book characters they have inspired collections of figurines and toys that are always introduced to new generations. We also love Smurfs here at Toyday and you can purchase your very own little smurf figure from our website. Last year, people all over the world showed their love for these pesky little blue creatures by dressing up like them.  Venues in various cities were full of people painted blue wearing white floppy hats and white trousers. In 2011, a new record was set in in Andalusia where the famous white town was painted blue and there was the largest gathering of people dressed as Smurfs within a 24 hour period. This year, some of th

All The Instruments A Budding Musician Could Possibly Need

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Here at Toyday we sell a range of musical instruments the any child would love. For the younger children we have a wooden xylophone. It is suitable for children 12months+. It is made up of 4 notes and each note is a different colour therefore helping the child learn its colour also. Xylophone - £12.99 Next we have a small toy guitar. Made from wood, it has 6 strings made with metal and nylon and is 50cm long. The small size makes it perfect for young children 2years+. Guitar - £18.99       The accordion we sell is scaled down so that it is easier for children around 3 years+ to play. Accordion - £22.99 Last we have the traditional harmonica. Made from all metal so that it is hard wearing and makes good sounds. Suitable for both adults and children around 2years+. Harmonica - £4.99

Our Marvelous Mobiles

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Today I've had three customers, all after another, admiring our different selection of wooden mobiles for their children/nieces/grandchildren. I've noticed how popular they are, especially for couples setting up bedrooms before the baby is due. It adds such a sweet quality to a room whether it's for a girl or a boy. They remind me a lot of my childhood in which I would stare for hours at the wooden one above my bed.  Our mobiles are made out of wood and are very multi-coloured, giving them a very vintage and traditional look!  I also love our different mobile themes such as, a princess mobile , farm mobile and my most favourite mobile- the noah's ark mobile. We also have individual birds with flapping wings such as, seagulls and parrots . Check out all of our mobiles on our Toyday website- www.toyday.co.uk

Father's day

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Hi here Marco again :) Saturday 16 of June is the father's day here in England... every father will recive a present from his family.. in toyday toyshop you can find a lot of things for him, a lot of old toys that he would like... I was thinking to make a present to my "new" father here in Totnes. He said to me that he likes playing table tennis so here in Toyday they sell a set for playing everyday to improve your strength, fitness and skill. For me this is a good idea because whenever you want you can take the set and play. It' easy to bring with you and with this he will be a famous table tennis player :) The game of tabletop tennis, like many others was invented by the British. During the 1800s gentleman would regularly retire to the smoking room after dining for a brandy and an impromptu game of tabletop tennis. Using nothing more than a line of hardbacks as a net and cigar boxes as bats they would "crack" champagne corks to and fro across a large

Fun Father's Day GIft Ideas

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One of the best parts of parenthood for my father, was the excuse it gave him to indulge me in the toys he wished he'd had as a child. He thought that his darling daughter deserved a scalextric set for her 3rd birthday,so if I was being fair to him I'd get him a baby doll this fathers day. But I'm not that mean, so I think I'll try and get him something nostalgic from our  traditional range of toys. My dad grew up on rations in post war London and had the kind of toys that his father could make for him out of wood . Throughout my childhood a game of cards or dice was a daily reward for finishing my homework and when I was old enough we moved onto Chess . I grew up thinking I was an excellent Chess player but once I played a game against my friend Alex and realised that Dad had been letting me win just to make me happy. Looking back I wonder how many other games he tactically lost. So how do I  find a game that will bring back his childhood me

Marco's favourite toys

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Hellooo, my name is Marco and I usually live in Italy but I am here for a European project called Leonardo da Vinci. I arrived in Totnes one week ago and I studied in the Totnes language school where I improved my English with excellent teachers. For the next 3 weeks I will work here in the TOYDAY toyshop. I started yesterday and I have found this very exciting because you are in contact with people, you can improve your English and at the same time I am working in a very pretty shop that makes me child again. Here I found a lot of toys which I played while I was young. The yoyo: each boys had one, and if you had not one you would ask to your mum to buy one. With the yoyo you can do a lot of tricks and catch the attention of people. I used to play when I was 5 and I was very good with that.  Extreme Stunt Yo Yo - £3.99 The pinball games: it is maybe my favourite game, it is very small and you can bring with you. When I had only five minutes I used to play with the pin