The most hotly-tipped ‘dream toys’ for this Christmas were unveiled recently.

Film and TV shows have made their mark on this year’s wish-lists for both boys and girls.

And hi-tech gadgets rub shoulders with more traditional board games and dolls in the Toy Retailer Association’s predicted top toys for Christmas.

A Dr Who Cyberman Mask and the interactive toy car Fast Talkin’ McQueen, inspired by the hit movie Cars, will be hot favourites with boys this year.

Hollywood movies Pirates Of The Caribbean and Star Wars have also made their mark, inspiring the Isla Cruces playset and a Transformer toy set.

The girls’ top 12 list includes a Disney Princess chair, and a Let’s Dance Barbie, based on the sixth Barbie movie, will add a new twist to the long-standing favourite doll.

Pre-schools will prefer toys inspired by Bob The Builder and Thomas The Tank Engine.

Their top 12 also includes the V Smile Baby game, an interactive toy for children as young as nine months.

For older children, the list includes Hasbro’s Trivial Pursuits 90s and the electronic board game of Deal Or No Deal.

Toy Retailers Association (TRA) chairman Gary Sadler said: ‘We are currently seeing a resurgence in licensed toys, which combine fun and playability with the familiarity of popular characters.’

The TRA’s independent predictions are based on retailers’ opinions, items requested by shoppers and the latest trends in new products.

Czech Republic > A woman decorates Easter eggs with traditional designs. Easter eggs are famed for their geometrical designs applied with the use of wax.

The first Faberge egg was made by Peter Carl Faberge in 1885. Only 50 original Faberge eggs were ever completed, constructed by the House of Faberge for the Russian Czars between 1885 and 1917 to commemorate Easter.

The company was closed down by the Bolsheviks in 1917 after the October Revolution. No further eggs were made until 1989 when a licence to design and market them was awarded to jeweller Victor Mayer, of Pforzheim, Germany, in 1989.

The immaculate detail and quality of the original eggs led to them achieving worldwide fame, and a reputation as a byword for luxury. The appearance of the eggs varied wildly, and are all based around an individual theme.

Arguably the most famous is the Coronation Egg, manufactured in 1893 to mark the coronation of Czar Nicholas II the following year. It was sold at auction in 2004 for an estimated $24m. It has featured in two films, the Bond movie Octopussy saw a fake version mysteriously appear at a party at the British Embassy in Berlin, while Oceans Twelve revolves around a plot to steal the egg from a museum and replace it with a holographic image of itself.

Pippa, a 17-year-old Cockatoo, has spent two weeks trying to hatch a bowl of chocolate Easter eggs intended for visitors to an English wildlife center, the owner said Wednesday.

“It is very comical. She is not usually maternal so it has come as a bit of a surprise,” said Geoff Grewcock, of the Nuneaton and Warwickshire Wildlife Sanctuary in central England. “We had a lot of cream eggs so we put them in a dish on a table for people to take. When we got Pippa out, she went straight to them and began nesting on them,” he said.

“She is so protective over them and if anyone goes near them she will attack,” Grewcock added. “They are going to melt if we don’t take them away. We are taking them away gradually so she should be OK. I think she thinks they should be hatching now and has starting pecking at them. It is very strange.”

We eat them, paint them, arrange them next to the Easter bunny, and give them as tokens of friendship. The Easter egg season is here.

An egg is dormant but contains a new life sealed within, and is therefore the perfect symbol for fertility and the beginning of spring. Easter egg stories abound in many cultures. It seems that eggs have always been trendy. For example, eggs as a symbol of new life are found in early Roman Spring feasts, in Jewish traditions, and in stories about ancient gods and goddesses. The ancient Persians painted eggs for their New Year, which falls in the spring. Mary Magdalene is said to have greeted the Emperor of Rome with “Christ is risen” and given him a red egg.

Despite Easter’s association with Christianity, most scholars believe that it was originally a pagan fertility rite that celebrated the rebirth of life. The Easter egg may also have celebrated the end of the privations of fasting, when traditionally all meat and dairy products were prohibited. Whoever started the egg business, it has certainly been a successful one, provoking admiration and interest that has lasted for centuries.

Eggs are also a central feature of spring culture in Finland. All those who want to know more should visit the Easter egg exhibition on the fortress island of Suomenlinna in Helsinki, featuring different egg decoration techniques, eggs painted by local artists, as well as delicious traditions that simply cannot be missed!

Pääsiäismunanäyttely (Easter egg exhibition) 1 – 11 April, Church of Suomenlinna, Helsinki. Opening times Wed-Thu 12-4pm.

Related Links > www.suomenlinna.fi