International Picnic Day is the 18th June, but instead of the normal generic picnic, why not honor the Teddy Bears' Picnic?
I'm sure you're all aware of what a Teddy Bear's Picnic is, if you don't well then you missed out on something special in Nursery/Pre-School, I remember the day very well actually to say it was such a long time ago!
Now the most important part of a teddy bears picnic is which teddy you are taking to the picnic! Or why not treat each child to their own personalised soft toy (hyperlink soft toy) and the next most impart part for the picnic, well of any picnic is FOOD! However, as it is a Teddy Bear's Picnic it has to be teddy bear themed, for obvious reasons. You don't want to be taking any sort of sloppy and messy food, you'll ideally need items that can be picked up and packed away nicely. Pro tip: you can cut almost any food into a teddy bear shape.
Our top 5 foods for a teddy bears picnic are:
- Cocktail sausages
- Carrot and celery sticks (these make great snacks for the bunnies too) Check out our new bunnies here.
- Bite-sized pieces of fruit
- Gummy bears
- Cake and/or Cupcakes, as well as a great food option these are an easy activity to decorate with teddy themed sprinkles or even cut the cake into a teddy bears' face making them another fantastic option.
- Winnie the Poohs favourite foods are honey cake and honey sandwiches, this would add a great final touch!
These are so easy and little-to-no mess to clean up. Check out our pinterest board for more teddy bears picnic food ideas.
What to do at a teddy bears picnic ?
Time for activities, there are so many activities to do at a Teddy Bear Picnic but I have narrowed it down to a few of my favourites:
Hide and Seek
Hide a stuffed teddy. The children have to find its hiding place, it's also a bonus if there's a bit of woodland near where your picnicking as this makes it a bit more exciting! The winner will get a prize of your choice.
Teddy Treasure Hunt
Hide small teddy bears around the area, and give everyone a bag so they can collect the ones they find. The one who has found the most will win a prize! Be sure to give some teddies away to the children who didn't mange to find any.
Pin the nose on the Teddy
If you've ever heard of the game 'pin the tail on the donkey' it is the same thing, just with a nose and a teddy bear! Make sure to blindfold the children and spin them a few times, the one who gets the closest will win a prize!
Teddy Bear Race
And to finish the day off, why not do a teddy bear race! Get the children lined up at the starting line with their teddies between their knees, and whoever wins will get to take a prize away with them.
Make some teddy bear cut outs and details for them to stick down to create their own teddy bear is a popular one to do.
If the picnic is outside, get them to create their own teddy bear picnic collage. Allow them to tear up some grass, daises, pull leaves off of trees and stick them down to some paper.
One for the messy ones here: create a sandpit (or could swap out the sand for flour) and get some plastic teddy shapes for them to play with. This is a popular activity for the younger ones to help them with their sensory awareness.
Please make sure to do the activities listed above whilst supervising children at all times.
As a Teddy Bears' Picnic is more popular amongst pre-schoolers, it's a great way to add in some sensory activities for them to learn about.
To finish off the fun-filled day, the best way to end it would be to give out teddy bear themed party bags! I'd recommend putting any left over food in there, alongside a small teddy bear themed colouring book, teddy themed stickers and obviously any of the prize winners should put their medals in there for safe keeping. Our personalised teddies make great prizes too as well as keepsakes for the children to take home with them. You can personalise them for the teddys bears picnic like: Teddy bears picnic 2021 OR Olivia’s 3rd Birthday Teddys bears picnic 2021.
If you do try any of these ideas listed above, please don't forget to tag us on instagram! @thecustomisecompany