After lockdown, there were a lot of discussions around teddy bears in windows and so it seemed like the perfect time for our little ones to bring in their special teddies in and show them to all their friends. We decided to have a special teddy bear picnic and our little ones were excited all week for this special event.

In preparation for the picnic, we had different teddy themed experiences planned, as well as some food technology. In our art area we had a teddy creation station, where our little ones were invited to draw and design any teddy they imagined. With unlimited opportunities, rainbow teddies, unicorn teddies and monster teddies were created.  

With playdough and teddy shaped cutters, our tamariki were also able to mould and sculpt teddies using match sticks, sequins and other loose parts to add additional features such as a nose, eyes, etc.  

Using different resources such as our wooden cupcakes and our tiny teddies, some pretend play scenarios were created where our little ones role-played a teddy bear picnic. This made us think about what sort of food we eat when we go for a picnic. Very soon our teddy bear picnic menu evolved.  

Our little ones decided that they would like to have fairy bread, some biscuits, some fruit and one of our tamariki even mentioned jelly.  

Our wonderful kaiako Tracey had a fun idea to make orange jelly slices and so the day before our teddy bear picnic, our little ones began the process. With a whole bag of oranges in front of them, they had turns scooping out the orange flesh from the orange skins into a bowl. Once the flesh had been removed, all that was left were empty orange skin halves. Next, we had to prep the jelly and this was a fun process.

As the jelly box opened, our little ones could immediately smell the aroma of the different flavoured jelly crystals. They had to carefully measure the right amount of warm water and add these to the crystals so that the crystals dissolved in the water. Once the jelly mixture was ready, it was poured into the orange skins and put into the fridge to set overnight.

The next morning when our little ones arrived, they were excited to show each other their special teddy friend. To ensure that no teddy got lost from its owner, we spent time writing our teddy’s names on a tag and lovingly tied these around their hands.

There were so many varieties of bears and other teddies and we couldn’t wait to welcome our special friends at our special teddy themed mat time.

After doing some teddy songs and reading a special story about a teddy, our pukus were grumbling. So we headed outside to have our teddy bear picnic! Enjoying the special kai we had prepared, we sat together and shared stories about where our teddy bears had been and special things about them with one another.

Te Whariki the New Zealand Curriculum talks about the importance of having links to the wider world and for children to have opportunities to share stories and communicate their experiences with others.

Our teddy bear picnic was so much fun and we hope all our teddy friends enjoyed themselves too. 😊