Some of the Ways to Celebrate
The Teddy Bear's 100th Birthday

The Kids' Place in Owings Mills will be having a teddy bear theme Parents Night Out on Thursday, November 21, 2002 to mark the hundredth anniversary of the teddy bear. More ideas are below.

1. Get a copy of the famous "Drawing the Line in Mississippi" cartoon panel and display it prominently.
2. Throw a teddy bear theme party on Friday, November 15, 2002.
3. Have a teddy bear theme parents night out event in November. Parents drop of their child in PJ's with her/his favorite teddy bear to watch teddy bear movies.
4. Check out some new and classic screen bears: "Bear in the Big Blue House" (Disney); Baloo from "The Jungle Book;" Yogi and Boo Boo; Disney's new flick, "The Country Bears;" and Fozzie from the Muppets.

   

5. Learn more about real bears. Are bears native to your region? If so, find out if bears still live in your region and where. Are their habitats in danger? Check with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources to find out how you can help.
6. Learn more about President Theodore Roosevelt, whom the teddy bear is named after.
7. Research the lives of these key players in the development of the teddy bear: Theodore Roosevelt, Margarete and Richard Steiff, Seymour Eaton, Clifford Berryman, and Rose and Morris Michtom.
8. Visit a farm or petting zoo and meet the angora goats that provide wool for mohair. Learn more about mohair by reading the July/August 2001 issue of Teddy Bear and Friends.
9. Go to the zoo to visit some real bears.
10. Download the teddy bear history from the Teddy Bear and Friends magazine web site, www.teddybearand friends
11. Learn about the ways teddy bears improve our lives, even our health! See the teddybearsandfriends.com web site for more information.
12. Put "Happy 100th Birthday to the Teddy Bear" in your window during November 2002.

    

13. Create a teddy bear promotional/educational exhibit for display.
    • Take photos of both adults and children from the center with their teddy bears.
    • Set up a teddy bear display, featuring local artists and manufacturers. Ask local teddy bear collectors as well as artists to loan their bears for this exhibit. Place expensive teddy bears behind glass.
    • Invite parents to take a picture of their child with a teddy bear in a natural setting for display.
    • Add illustrations of "classic" bears, Paddington, Winnie-the-Pooh, Curduroy, etc.
    • Add teddy bear greeting cards.
    • Create a holiday bear display.
    • If you're lucky enough to still have your childhood bears, put them on display. Let your child display one or more of his/her bears with yours.

    

14. Decorate your Christmas tree with teddy bear ornaments.
15. Set out a little teddy bear wearing a yamaka to decorate your room during Rosh Hashanah, Hanukah, etc.
16. Distribute teddy bear pencils, stickers, cards, and other inexpensive novelties at your school, childcare center, etc.
17. Hand out Gummy Bears and Teddy Grahams at Halloween.
18. Create a teddy bear costume for yourself and/or your child. You'll be ready for your next masquerade party.
19. Make teddy bear shaped cookies.
20. Make a cake in the shape of a teddy bear.
21. Distribute Teddy Grahams to all school staff and children.
22. Learn how to dance the "Teddy Bear Two Step," once a popular dance step.
23. Request a bunch of old copies of Teddy Bear and Friends magazine from their web site for use in pre-school crafting projects.
24. Read--or reread--the Corduroy, Winnie-the-Pooh, and Paddington books. Share them with you kids.
25. Teach someone to sing, "Teddy Bears' Picnic."
26. Help your kids make teddy bear puppets. Then put on a teddy bear puppet show.

    

27. Host a teddy bear picnic to raise money for the Good Bears of the World.
28. If the weather is warm, host a teddy bear ice cream social to raise money for a local charity. If the weather is cool, host a teddy bear tea.
29. Have a teddy bear street party. Drinks are free to all who bring their teddy bears.
30. Have a teddy bear ball to raise money for a favorite charity. Invite the media to such an event.
31. Host a teddy bear family fun night, carnival, or hay ride.
32. Plan a concert of teddy bear theme music.
33. Act out the game, Going on a Bear Hunt.
34. Learn how to make a teddy bear.
35. Ask your friends and relatives to tell you about their childhood teddy bears, then compile their stories in a little book.
36. Take photos of both adults and children with their teddy bears and make a scrapbook to preserve 2002.
37. Have a teddy bear scavenger hunt. The first person to bring all the correct items to a designated volunteer wins a teddy bear.
38. Help your children make holiday crafts for their friends and teachers using ideas you find in Teddy Crafts magazine.
39. Get a videocam and produce a program on teddy bears.
40. Fill a jar with Gummy Bears and invite people to guess the number inside. The winner receives a bear.
41. Make teddy bear flags or banners to fly during November 2002.
42. Hug everyone near and dear to you with a big teddy bear hug everyday, not just in 2002.

--Special thanks to Teddy Bear and Friends magazine (97 Frost Avenue, Frostburg, MD 21532) who provided many of these ideas!

Ms. Lee

Memories of Life