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Showing posts from April, 2010

My favourite toys

I work in the toy shop "Toyday" for 2 weeks. It is very cool to work here, because all are very friendly and I have different things to do. Now I have a good overview about the toys and I will tell you my favourite toys. I have seen a lot of toys which I played as a child, for example marbles or bubbles. In Toyday there are a lot of beautiful marbles in different sizes. I also like the smurfs. Last week we got a new smurf collection about the horoscope - very nice. With the fairytale finger puppets you can play a lot of fantastic stories. Since I am here I have bought some finger puppets and "London in bag" for my niece. "London in bag" shows the most famous sites of London, this wooden city is fascinating. Next week I want to buy a flashing rubber duck. The multi coloured lights flash are activated when placed in water. It looks very nice. Furthermore I want to buy some wooden train letters. In Germany I bought some of these trains. But I do not have eno

Marbles Games

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Ceramic marbles began mass production in the 1870, but it wasn’t until the 1890’s that machinery to manufacture glass marbles was introduced. From then on they have been used for a variety of children's games, and are collected by many people, both for nostalgia and for their interesting mix of colours! There are many small glassmakers who make marbles by hand. A po pular glassmake r in the South West is the House of Marbles, who offers a modern range of marbles, sought after by many colle ctors. The manufacturing process is actually quite compl ex. Firstly, glass is melted in a furnace and poured o ut. The chosen coloured glasses are then injected into the flowing glass if inserts are needed in the marble. Shears are cut into small cylinders as the glass descends. These are then placed into moving, mechanical rollers were the final shape an d size is created and the marbles are left to cool. Here are some of the best known marble games: Bounce about A game for two

Work experience

Hello, I am Astrid and I come from Germany. I am a trainee for Industrial Business Management. Me and my class stay in Totnes for 4 weeks because of a school project. Totnes is a small city in Devon in the South of England. Here there is a beautiful landscape. I live with a friend by a hostfamily near the High Street. The first 3 days I went to the Totnes school of English and the other time I work in the toy shop called Toyday. It is a wonderful shop with a lot of traditional and modern toys. I like to working here, because I can improve my language skills. For me it is a cool experience to see another country and another culture. I am sure this 4 weeks will be very funny.

Duck Racing - Which rubber ducks are best?

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Everyone loves a rubber duck race, and duck racing can be a great fund raising event. One of the most common questions we are asked at Toyday, is "what ducks are best for duck racing?". This depends largely on budget, and for many annual duck racing events, the event managers will have invested in special racing rubber ducks, which are weighted so that they float upright. We do supply these ducks designed especially for duck racing, (priced £3 - £10) although these can often be price prohibitive for 1 off duck racing events. The biggest challenge with racing ducks, is the ability for them to stay upright whilst racing, and many duck races have ducks floating down the rivers on their sides or upside down. Having said that, we have supplied many companies with rubber ducks for duck racing. Here's a list of the most popular: - Classic Small Bath Duck 4.5cm. Most likely to turn over but lowest price. This is our most popular duck purchased for 1 - time duck races. L