JULY 10th IS NATIONAL TEDDY BEAR PICNIC DAY

As a child, I didn't play with dolls, but my best friend was my teddy bear, Albert. He protected me while I slept, kept all of my secrets, comforted me when I was sick and didn't care that I dragged him around by one foot. He was my constant companion and spent countless hours on a blanket under a huge oak tree in my backyard reading books and enjoying tea parties with me. 

I'm thrilled to find out that July 10th is National Teddy Bear Picnic Day! All across the country, children and their teddies will be getting together for snacks, stories, and activities. Visit our Teddy Bear Picnic Pinterest Board for some ideas.

One of the largest celebrations is held each year at the Theodore Roosevelt National Park in Medora, North Dakota.  The name teddy bear comes from former United States President Theodore Roosevelt, who was commonly known as "Teddy".  He was a hunter, but while hunting in Mississippi in 1902, he refused to shoot a small bear. The Washington Post picked up on this story and made a cartoon of the event. Toy store owners, Morris and Rose Michtom, wrote to President Roosevelt for permission to call their stuffed animals "Teddy Bears". Their company went on to become the Ideal Toy Company, one of the largest toy companies in the world. Today, teddy bears are among the most popular gifts for children and are often given to adults to signify love, congratulations or sympathy.

If your children have teddy bears, you might want to plan something to celebrate this endearing holiday. Your celebration could be as simple as a blanket, your child, their teddy and some sweet items that bears might enjoy such as animal cookies, berries, jelly and honey under a tree in your backyard. Or you could arrange a full on outdoor picnic complete with a basket full of goodies and your children's friends with their teddy bears at a local park.  Young children can crawl on the ground and pretend that they are bears.  Maybe even go fishing and catch fish like a bear. Climb a tree. Draw pictures of bears. Take a trip to your local zoo to visit some bears and help celebrate our furry friends!

Don't forget to read a bear related story. Some of my children's favorites were:

Corduroy by Don Freeman.  In this classic story, Corduroy the bear explores a department store at night and then gets to go home with Lisa, a little girl who buys him the next day.

Winnie-the-Pooh by A.A. Milne. Most of us grew up with this lovable bear, Winnie the Pooh and all of his lovable friends in the 100 acre wood. Although this is a chapter book, many preschool children can listen and enjoy the Winnie the Pooh books. 

Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? My First Reader is a classic book with a repetitive text. While it only features one bear, there are several other bear themed books by Carle such as Panda Bear, Panda Bear, What Do You See? and Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You See?

My kids loved The Berenstain Bears! This is one lovable family you'll want attending your next teddy bear picnic. Some of our favorites are: The Berenstain Bears: In The Dark, Count Their Blessings and Forget Their Manners.

Blueberries for Sal  by Robert McCloskey is a classic story of a girl and her mother who encounter a bear and her cub while picking blueberries.

The Teddy Bears' Picnic by Jimmy Kennedy. There's even a song about teddy bears that you could teach the kids. The lyrics are below and you can watch this video if you don't know the tune:
 Video

The Teddy Bear's Picnic Song