Decorating a picnic lunch box

Get a box which can be decorated with stickers, glitter, felt tips etc. Use the boxes to serve the children their picnic lunch, or fill them with goodies to have at your picnic

Colouring in

Print off our colouring sheets here

Costume ideas

Make teddy masks or bear ears from paper plates, card, headbands and felt. Or, if you can rope in an artistically-inclined adult, do face painting! 

Best-dressed Teddy Bear competition

• Give children some time to create costumes for their bears with scraps of fabric, newspaper, their clothes whatever they can find! 
• Take pictures & send them in to AUK!

Cake decorating

One of the best (and tastiest) ways to inject some serious fun into your teddy bears' picnic is with biscuit and cake decorating.

• Buy a teddy bear biscuit cutter or draw & cut out your own stencil
• Bake a batch of bear biscuits in advance
• Mix up some icing and have bowls of sprinkles, sweets etc. to decorate them with
• Let your kids decorate them! 

Cupcakes (homemade or shop bought) can be simply decorated with icing and milk/white chocolate buttons to look like bears' faces and paws.

Watch our video tutorial for a step-by-step guide on how to make your own teddy bear cupcakes. (Mumsnet) https://youtu.be/FmeAk9ZUYNY

The best picnics are held outside (weather permitting) – so choose a local park, woodland area or a garden as a setting, if you can. But, if you need somewhere guaranteed to stay dry, you can still transform your house into a picnic area with some nifty accessories! 

Here's what you'll need

• Dig out as many old teddy bears as you can find and scatter them around – maybe hiding in different places to watch the party
• Borrow or buy some plastic tea sets and arrange them alongside the teddy bears
• Lay out different coloured blankets 
• Keep toys or anything needed for activities in picnic baskets
• Hang bunting (you can even make your own - see our templates), balloons and streamers from fence posts, trees or ceilings (if inside)
• Buy or borrow a bubble machine to leave running if outside – not only will this create a great atmosphere, but your children will love chasing the bubbles!
• If you're at home, use chalk to draw large paw prints on the path leading to your front door

Picnic party food suggestions

Treat guests and their furry companions to:

• Miniature meals for teddy-sized mouths – mini sausage rolls, pasties or quiches and veggie stick
• Winnie the Pooh's favourites: honey sandwiches and honey cake
• Teddy-shaped EVERYTHING – go wild with a biscuit cutter for bear-shaped sandwiches, cheese slices or individual pizzas – and don't forget plenty of Pom bears!
• Fruit - apples, strawberries, banana, melon slices
• Teddy Bear shaped biscuits and cup cakes

Children's party games and activities

No teddy bears' picnic would be complete without a rendition of Michael Rosen's We're Going On a Bear Hunt. Have a big story time outdoors and get everyone up on their feet joining in and doing the actions. 

Teddy bear hunt

If you have a number of teddies in the family or within your picnic 'bubble' arrange a bear hunt 

Add a teddy theme to other well-loved party games

• What's the Time Mr Bear?
• Hide and seek, where the teddy bears must hide with their owners
• Use the Teddy Bears' Picnic music for pass the parcel or musical statues – and make the teddies join in too, of course!
• Calm children down at the end of the day (or throughout, if necessary!) with a game of sleeping bears –  the same as sleeping bunnies (refer to our song sheet attachment)