Christmas came early for a group of schoolchildren when they visited Colchester-based supplier of electrical and industrial products, Rapid, for a day of festive fun and games.

More than 15 youngsters, many related to the staff at Rapid, were invited to test out the latest range of educational Christmas ideas produced by the Severalls Industrial Park-based firm as part of their primary education range.

Sparkling Christmas trees, glowing reindeer and plenty of glitter paint were all on the timetable and if the amount of mess was anything to go by, plenty of fun was had by all.

Paul Baker, managing director at Rapid, said: We take learning through play very seriously and include children in all our market research and new product development.

"The secondary sector has traditionally been our main focus but we are now moving to the primary sector and will be launching our first ever catalogue dedicated to primary education in April next year."

Mr Baker's eight-year-old daughter, Lillie, who joined in the day's fun, said: "I had a really good time and the best bit was getting so messy! It would be great if we could do more of this at school."

Rapid has recently celebrated 25 successful years as a major supplier to the education sector.

The firm offers a comprehensive range of curriculum-based projects and resources with the emphasis on easy to use materials.

Published Thursday December 23, 2004

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