Teddy Bear Picnic Day

What the day is

Teddy Bear Picnic Day is observed on July 10. Children bring a bear, the bear is given a place at the blanket, and the picnic proceeds on those terms.

It is one of the few observances aimed squarely at very young children, and libraries, nurseries and parks tend to be where it actually happens.

Origin and background

The day takes its name from The Teddy Bears' Picnic, a song whose tune was written early in the twentieth century and which acquired its familiar lyrics in the 1930s. It has been a nursery standard ever since, and the day grew from the song rather than the other way round.

The toy's name has a documented origin. In 1902, on a hunting trip in Mississippi, President Theodore Roosevelt declined to shoot a bear that had been captured and tied up for him, considering it unsporting. A newspaper cartoon of the incident circulated widely, and toy makers began selling stuffed bears with his nickname attached. German manufacturers were producing similar bears independently at around the same time, so the object and the name arrived from two directions at once.

The attachment children form to such objects is a documented phenomenon rather than sentiment. Transitional objects, as they are known in developmental psychology, help young children manage separation and self-soothe, which is why a specific worn bear cannot be swapped for an identical new one without the child noticing immediately.

How to take part

• Let the child set the rules: who sits where, who eats what, and which bear is in charge.
• Keep the food simple and handheld. This is not an occasion that rewards ambition.
• Check with the local library or park. Many run teddy bear picnics and story sessions on or near the date.
• Repair a bear rather than replacing it. A washed and restitched bear is still the same bear; a new one is not.
• Take a photograph of the child with the bear. They will not keep the bear forever and will want the picture.
• If the weather turns, hold it indoors on the living room floor. The blanket is the entire requirement.