October 27 - Good Bear Day

Good Bear Day was created on the birthday of Theodore Roosevelt, the 26^th 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’s nickname, Teddy.

Since that time in the early 1900s, teddy bear has been synonymous with toy bear or stuffed bear.

So, Good Bear Day was celebrated on Teddy Roosevelt’s birthday—but what was Good Bear Day?

It 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 just a little bit more bearable.

The organization accepted donations of new teddies or of previously loved bears, which were restored before being distributed to kids in need.

Celebrate teddies!

Read or sing “The Teddy Bear Picnic.” If the weather is nice, you could treat your teddies to a picnic!

Refurbish and donate stuffed animals that are mouldering in the corners of your house!

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!

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!

This looks like a teddy bear because of the seam lines
and especially the satiny-looking bow!