WHAT'S GOING ON AND WHAT HAVE WE BEEN UP TO RECENTLY?   December 2011 William’s Fund cards are on sale at Activity Chest again this year.  At £18 for 50 cards and £32 for 100 these quality cards are great value.  All proceeds go to Childhood Cancer Research and over the last 10 years Christmas card sales have raised over £134,000.  We’re pleased to be doing our little bit for the 7th year. Taf Toys for babies and toddlers are now in – go to our Blog for more. October 2011 Christmas is approaching fast so here are some present ideas from our newest stock at Activity Chest!   Jigsaw Puzzles:  Limited edition Fun Santa Christmas 1000 piece puzzle. British Isles jigsaw puzzle for children only 60 pieces, bright and colourful. Puzzleball both the adult 540 piece version and the children’s 180 piece world with display stands. Puzzlestore for 1000 piece puzzles – keep jigsaws absolutely flat and sorted while you are puzzling. Where’s Stig 300 piece jigsaw puzzle AND Rubik’s Cube 4x4 puzzle. Games : Penguin Pile Up, Tiddly Winks, Tell Me Quiz, Tongue Twister Snap, Eyedentity (similar to the Logo Game but with more depth).   Science: Crystal and volcano making kits, Logiblocs Logimen, Wallace and Gromit Liquid Clock.   Creative: Junior Mandala Mosaic for age 4+, 3D Disney Princess Dress Designer Projector, wooden mosaic kit.   Baby and Toddler: Baby Activity Mat, V-Tech Baby Grow and Go Ride On, Wooden Rolling Activity Centre.   May 2011 Our new ecommerce website is up and running!  Nearly all the educational and creative toys and games we have in the shop are listed and the number of product lines is increasing all the time.  Why not take a look here right now!   Feb 2011 Imaginative play is important in children’s development.  Role play helps to develop imagination and also social and emotional skills. To extend our range of imaginative play toys we’ve added Tiny Tears dolls including the well known original drinking, crying and wetting doll with accessories, a baby doll suitable for young children 1+ years and the new electronic feeding set with electronic spoon and cup, bottle warmer, dish and bib. New products also in are a selection of Knex from the 3+ range to 7+, and Rubiks Cubes including 360 and Twister. Don’t forget to use your 20% off vouchers before the end of this month!   December 2010 Fun Night on Friday 3rd was a great success again this year the weather was cold but good and loads of villagers came out.  And our mascot Huggy Bear strolled around meeting and greeting his adoring fans! This is the 6th year we have sold William’s Fund cards and despite the recession and harder times we sold as many cards as previous years.  The money raised goes towards The Child Cancer Research Fund at Oxford Radcliffe Hospital.  www.williamsfund.co.uk. A new product for us was KLOO game, a card game to encourage language learning.  Local games designer Andrew Finan originally designed and produced KLOO for his own family, but now sells direct and through some outlets including Activity Chest. October/November 2010 At the start of the Christmas Fair season we took tables at the Gayhurst, St Josephs and Community College Christmas fairs along with many other local businesses. May 2010 New products now in!  Airfix model planes from the Gazelle and Spitfire starter sets to the Dambusters gift set! Great range of piñatas in our Party Promotion this month.  25% off all party tableware, invitations and party bags throughout May AND spend over £20 on party goods and get a FREE helium balloon.     March 2010 We are 6 years old on 20th of this month!!  Just relaunched our Loyalty Card scheme.  Every time you spend £10 get a stamp on your card. 10 stamps and you get 10% off your next purchase in the shop.  And why not keep up to date with what’s new at Activity Chest by signing up for our newsletter. February 2010       Don’t forget to use your 20% off vouchers before the end of this month! December 2009       By selling the new 2009 Christmas cards in the shop for local childhood cancer charity, William’s Fund, we raised over £560.  We’ve been involved since 2005 and each year William’s grandmother paints a new picture to be made into that year’s card.  For more information go to www.williamsfund.co.uk Friday 4th December was the Christmas Fun Night in Chalfont St Peter and this year the main road was closed to traffic making the Fun Night the biggest, and best, for years.  Despite the rain a huge number of residents came out to support the event.       October 2009 Despite the postal strike we were able to keep our internet deliveries going and received great feedback from our customers! September 2009 We continue to support Hillingdon’s Gifted and Talented children particularly through sponsorship of the Infant Brain Games days providing prizes for teams of children who have to excel in several different games and exercises. June 2009 We sponsored the Chalfont St Giles school Strawberry Fayre Bonnet Parade providing the prizes for a boy and girl in 4 year groups from Nursery upwards.  March 2009       Our 5th birthday!   We ran a competition in the local paper the Bucks Advertiser for readers to win one of five £50 prizes of money to spend in the shop.  On Saturday 28th March there was a Lucky Dip all day in the shop, double Loyalty Card points for a month and then a Games Day on Saturday 25th April. February 2009 Once again the debate about Gollies raged after Carol Thatcher’s unguarded comments.  Gollies are part of our soft toy range and we were quoted in the Bucks Advertiser.