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nGood Bear Day
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nand Teddy Roosevelt’s Birthday
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nGood Bear Day was created especially on the birthday of Theodore Roosevelt, the 26th U.S. president, because teddy bears are named for him! Apparently a toy manufacturer heard about an incident in which Roosevelt treated a bear humanely (kindly, with consideration of suffering), and the manufacturer asked permission to name its new stuffed bear after the president.
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nSince that time in the early 1900s, teddy bear has been synonymous with toy bear or stuffed bear.
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So, Good Bear Day was on Teddy R’s birthday—but what was Good Bear Day?
So, Good Bear Day was on Teddy R’s birthday—but what was Good Bear Day?n
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nIt was a holiday created by a group who collected teddy bears and other stuffed animals to be distributed to sick, needy, or traumatized children and others “in need of bear hugs to make life a little more bearable.”
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nThe organization accepted donations of new teddies or of previously loved bears, which were restored before being distributed to kids in need.
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nCelebrate teddies!
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- Read or sing “The Teddy Bear Picnic.” If the weather is nice, you could treat your teddies to a picnic!
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- Refurbish and donate stuffed animals that are mouldering in the corners of your house!
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- Or spiff up your teddy bears and proudly display them as a collection. Another way to decorate with teddy bears is to dress them according to season. Right now your teddies need some quickie Halloween costumes!
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- Draw or color some cuddly teddy bears. Instead of using real bear colors such as black or brown, try coloring a bear in colorful plaids or prints. You can make a bear drawing look like a teddy bear by showing some stitching or drawing buttons for eyes, too. Cute!
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nHere are some simple coloring pages.
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nHere is a much more complicated picture to color in. It’s by Jan Brett, so you know it’s great!
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nHere is a step-by-step lesson on drawing a bear.
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nAnd here is a more complicated step-by-step on drawing teddy bears.
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