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With the kids now off school for the Easter holidays it may leave you wondering what you're going to do to keep them entertained. Well do not fear, as there are plenty of things to do in and around Totnes this Easter. Here are just some of the things going on: Easter at Crealy Adventure Park Saturday March 31st 2012 - Sunday April 15th 2012 Easter egg hunts and baby bunnies in the animal barn. Chocolate Factory Fortnight at Powderham Castle Sunday April 1st 2012 - Friday April 13th 2012 Meet Willy Wonka and his assistant, Mrs Fudge and follow the Candy trail around the grounds to win a prize. Fun day at Hannahs at Seale-Hayne, Newton Abbot Friday April 6th 2012 Come down to Hannahs Farm, 11am help collect eggs 3pm feed the animals. Easter Trail Sunday April 8th 2012 Berry Head Easter Trail. Totnes and Looe shops will of course be open so pop in to see some of our Easter themed toys!

My name is Joana, I'm 15 and come from Italy, from a beautiful city called Rome. I'm living in Totnes for a week in a host family. They're really nice to me and I really love them! I'm going to school at "Language in Totnes " and I'm working at " Toyday toyshop", a really nice shop with lots of toys! I came here in Totnes with a lot of students of my school in Italy, and we're really enjoying our new experience. My lessons in the afternoon are really interesting and thanks to them I'm improving my English. Also my host family helps me with it and talking to them all the time is really helpful. The first days we used to do lots of trips around Devon and I really enjoyed them a lot! Although I'm not as good as I have to be to talk to English people, I menage it. My main purpose is to learn more about England, about his language, his people, his uses and traditions. When I'll come back home I want to be able to do the most of thi...

With all the schools on holiday from Friday we are expecting it to start getting busy in Looe from this weekend. Easter is now just over a week away as well and it would be great if this unusually warm weather for this time of the year carried on until then. There are plans in the town to hold a new outdoor market which should be ready for the main se ason, but there is going to be a trial run over the four days of the Easter bank holiday weekend. The idea organised by the East Looe Town Trust is to give a boost to the town centre by having a variety of market stalls in the Rose Garden, Wishing Well and the open space beside the Guildhall. Our Looe shop will be open over the Easter Weekend as usual so do pop in and have a browse amongst our traditional and classic toys.

Just a little reminder that Britain's Got Talent returns for it's sixth series tonight on ITV1 at 8pm. A couple of weeks ago I told you we supplied some of our Gym Ribbons for the launch of the show so make sure you tune in to see if you can spot them.

I thought I would do an update on the finishing touches that have been done to the shop following the refurbishment inside and it is all ready now for the coming season. The outside of the shop has been white washed and along with the other three shops in the row they are all now looking really nice and bright. The bunting has been washed and put back up after the winter and it is n ice to see it blowing in the breeze today. There was an old light fitting outside the shop on the ceiling which had got rusty, but we are right beside the harbour with the salt air so that has been taken down and it does look so much better. The last thing to do was to replace the curtain into the storeroom and kitchen and this one just has the cheerful look of a deckchair on a summers day. The shop now looks complete and all ready for the coming Easter Holidays and I am sure everyone in Looe is crossing their fingers and hoping that we will have a lovely summer.

Do you remember back in the 80's when everyone would have little pom pom bugs with googly eyes and sticky feet. They would be stuck to desks, car dash boards, bed's, absolutely everywhere and you could buy one at virtually every tourist attraction. I think they were called Weeples . My Sister and I would have nagged our parents for one whenever we saw one. I remember having one from Dairyland nr . Newquay and the Shirehorse Center which sadly no longer exists . I haven't seen one in years until now.... We love the classic and retro so we have put our name to come colourful little critters. Available in loads of different colours for £1 each. Blake is in love, as it turns out Weeples are just as popular with today's generation. He has chosen two in his favourite colours, blue and pink. I am keeping an eye out for any multi-coloured ones and snapping them up myself to restart my collection at the age of 30.

One of our most popular selling items in Looe was the train vehicle puzzle which unfortunately is no longer available. It was on display in the window and all day long would trundle around on its never ending track and would always draw attention. Originally there was a train puzzle, racing car, tractor, police car and spaceship but they have all slowly been discontinued. Looking for a replacement for the vehicle puzzle we are now selling this brightly coloured little battery operated train which will run on all the wooden railway tracks such as Brio, Thomas and other leading makes. At the front it has a little headlight and on the top is a button which can be moved to make the train either go forwards or backwards. Very clever ly there is a magnet on the rear which will allow it to be connected to other train carriages which it will pull along behind, and it will make a lovely addition to our First Wooden Train Set right up our 40 Piece Wooden T rain Set . We also now have a range...

A couple of weeks ago I posted the instructions for the card game Pairs on Wheels . Another popular traditional family card game is Farmyard Donkey. Again, this game is fairly straight forward but a great way to keep children occupied and get them thinking. The card game consists of 17 pairs and the "Donkey Card". Firstly, shuffle the cards then deal them in a clockwise direction to each player. All players then look at their cards and take out all their pairs, the player to the left of the dealer arranges their remaining cards in their hand like a fan. The back of the cards are shown to the player on the left who then picks a card. If this card makes a pair then the cards are put in the middle of the table with the other pairs. If the player isn't able to make a pair then they keep the card and continue the game by offering their cards to the next player. When a player eventually loses all their cards they are 'saved' and stop playing. At the end of the gam...

To celebrate 75 years of The Dandy comic the Royal Mail have immortalised 10 of Britain's best loved comics in stamps. Not only can you purchase these in a first day cover for the avid stamp collector but you buy other items as well such as pin badges and greetings cards. Take a look at the Royal Mail Website to buy any of these. The price of stamps will go up next month so that's as good a reason as any to get some. Usually only the Beano gets celebrated but the Royal Mail have even done Twinkle which I used to buy as a little girl. I remember cutting out the paper doll and outfits to make a dress up doll, who would have through I would go on to sell a version of the dress up doll in later life. They have also done stamps for the Beano , Dandy, Eagle, Topper, Tiger, Bunty , Buster, Valliant and 2000 AD.

The RNLI is a charity service that saves lives at sea providing 24 hours a day search and rescue missions around the UK and the republic of Ireland. Also they provide seasonal lifeguard service on many of the beaches around the UK. As with most harbours and ports around the country Looe has its own Lifeboat station and volunteer crew. The first Lifeboat was established here in 1866 after several lives were lost at sea on a fishing boat. A total of three lifeboats served Looe until 1930 when th e station closed. In 1992 the station was re opened again and a more modern D class lifeboat was again here to help those in distress. All this time the Lifeboat had been housed in a shed on the seafront but in 199 8 when it had to leave that building it was re housed in 'Middletons Corner' a former house across from our Looe shop. A lot of work was done to convert the house into a Lifeboat station but there was always the problem of getting the boat to the beach for launching, especially...

This set contains 24 brightly coloured pieces that can be built into a wide variety of elaborate constructions. Marbles race through a maze of cylinders spinning wheels, chutes and bridges, roll out at the bottom ready to start over again. Marble Run Summary The Marble Run is a really enjoyable activity and kept my 4 year old nephew entertained for a good couple of hours. Although it is recommended for 5 year olds, with some help it was easy enough to put together and as he gets older we can buy more pieces to add to this set for him to make more complex runs. The pieces are well made and fit together well to give you a stable structure. It also has a couple of examples for Marble runs on the box. I would highly recommend this kit, as it's a good way to get your child thinking, but having fun at the same time. Younger children will love building runs with your help, and then will be fascinated watching the balls whizz down whereas slightly older children will enjoy making new sl...

Last week was definately the time for a spring clean and a freshen up of our Looe shop. The window display has been painted cream with all the wood having been stripped and waxed. We couldn't get rid of our old fashioned desk being a traditional toy shop so this too has been given a new lease of life with a coat of paint and the wooden top sanded and waxed. If the carpet is still squelching today, don't worry we haven't been flooded, it's just had a shampo. You won't notice the changes behind the scenes with a new sink and new till system. The main change you'll notice is that everything has been moved. We have lots of new stock to try and squeeze in this year with the Games workshop range, Djeco, Bigjigs rail and Melissa and Doug Toy's to name but a few. Come and have a look at the changes.