Teddy bears picnic

In September we celebrated our very first teddy bears picnic 

For our Teddy bear's picnic, we had several different play and sensory experiences that fostered exploration, imagination, creativity and curiosity.

These experiences included:

A Honey shop

In our little honey shop, Children were invited to take turns playing the shop keeper and the customer. 

As the shop keeper, the children would set up the shop to their liking, add labels to their products, care for the bees, and collect and jar the honey from the beehive. As the customer, the children would select their items and pay the shop keeper before heading off to their "home". This experience fostered positive interactions between children and encouraged collaboration and cooperation, aiding in the development of pro-social skills. Pretend play experiences provide opportunities for countless types of problem solving and is great practice for real life-skills. 

 Bee sensory and investigation 

In this area, children were invited to use all of their senses to investigate bees and beeswax, as well as the bee lifecycle and honeycomb. 

This experience encouraged exploration and curiosity while introducing the children to the life of bees. Sensory experiences provide a hands-on approach to learning and encourage the use of all five senses to explore.  

'We're going on a bear hunt' story telling 

This experience was a favorite and kept the children engaged for long periods of time. It provided the children with opportunities to get their hands dirty and explore different textures. It contained several different trays that held jelly, and faux snow and mud. Along with the sensory activities, the children were invited to retell the story using the story-telling cards and labels. 

Teddy bear tea party 

A favorite for the toddlers. This activity encouraged the children to use their sense of smell, touch and sight to explore while they focused on scooping, pouring and serving this coffee bean filler. how cute are the little plates?!

Bear playdough 

In the playdough area, the children were encouraged to use their hands to roll, squish, cut, stamp and press the Playdough. Playdough encourages sensory exploration while strengthening finger and hand muscles and encouraging the development of dexterity and control. 

Bear hibernation small world 

In our bear hibernation area, we welcomed the children to explore the life of bears. We provided an open grassed area along with natural materials and small parts for the children to create their own bear habitat. Small world play encourages the use of language and communication skills through storytelling. It gives children the opportunity to explore and make meaning of the world around them.

Three bears porridge 

Inspired by the Goldilocks and the three bears story, this activity invited children to explore early literacy and numeracy through open-ended and engaging play. While scooping, and pouring, the children were encouraged to use the measurement cards to determine how much oats to add to their bowls. 

 

Craft station 

And finally, our craft station. Each of our create and play workshops includes a craft station where children are welcome to explore, experiment and create as they wish. With all of the supplies that you can think of, our craft stations are completely open-ended and invite children to use their imagination and innovative thinking to generate ideas, problem solve and explore their own creativity. 

Hope you can join us at our next create and play workshop 

Jami x