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Teddy Bear's Picnic 2023
Recently at Beststart Napier Central, as part of our holiday program, we held a Teddy Bears' Picnic Day.
We invited tamariki to bring in their most loved, cherished, and favorite teddy bear with them from home. There were bears of all shapes and sizes, big and small and each teddy bear's name was recorded on a certificate that was given to each child at the end of the day. Many stories were shared by tamariki about all the different adventures they had been on with their teddy bears.
Kaiako set up small play areas for tamariki to engage in roleplay with their teddies and peers. Together we sang teddy bear songs, read lots of books involving bears, and played bear games, all before we had a lovely afternoon tea consisting of little wee club sandwiches and platters of fruit and vegetables to choose from.
This special day weaved nicely into our current focus, family, and dramatic play. It enabled tamariki to incorporate their beloved teddies into pretend play which supported the use of their imagination and creativity while exploring open-ended natural resources, practicing 'real life' situations, negotiation, collaboration, problem solving, and of course having fun. There was lots of opportunity for tamariki to build upon their social and language skills and show compassion, empathy, and nurturing towards their bear and each other.
Experiences like this are wonderful opportunities for tamariki to be able to make connections between people, places, and things in the world around them.