The Australian Women’s Weekly — August 2017

AUGUST 2017 AWW.COM.AU 161

[ Kids’ birthday ]

PHOTOGRAPHER: © LAUREN BAMFORD.

ADDITIONAL

PARTY IDEAS

● Pin the tail on the

bear; beehive piñata;

musical cushions;

sing the Teddy

Bear song.

Teddy parachute toss

● play parachute (or an old sheet)

● lots of teddies

1 Get the kids to place teddies in the

middle of the parachute, ask them to

stand around the perimeter: all count

“1, 2, 3, lift!” and watch them fly. See how

many bears are safely caught!

Pass the parcel

● lots of wrapping paper

● little packets of Tiny Teddies

● little packets of Gummy Bears

1 Prepare the parcel, wrapping alternate

layers with packets of Tiny Teddies and

packets of Gummy Bears.

2 The children sit in a circle on the floor

and pass the parcel around the circle

while music plays in the background.

3 When the music stops (an adult should

be in charge of the music to ensure it

stops at the right time), the child holding

the parcel gets to open a layer of the

parcel, revealing a small gift.

4 Keep going until every child has had a

turn at opening a layer, leaving the very

last layer for the birthday child.

Party favours

Teddy bear party bags

● blue paper party bags

● white card

● black marker pen

● glue

● small wooden pegs

1 Fold the top quarter of the party bags

over. Cut out bear ears and a muzzle

from white card.

2 Draw bear’s mouth and nose on muzzle,

then glue ears onto top outer edge of

paper bags. Position muzzle in the middle

of bag and glue in place. Draw on eyes, fill

bags and close them with a wooden peg.

3 These bags are perfect for the hang-and-

display treatment – safe from little hands

until they are ready to be handed out.

Teddy bear crayons

● old broken crayons

● silicone teddy bear mould

1 Preheat oven to 100°C (80°C fan-forced);

line a tray with baking paper. Chop crayons

into little pieces ; arrange in mould.

2 Pile the pieces up a little higher than

the top of the mould because when the

crayons melt they will take up less space.

3 Put the mould on the tray and cook for

12–15 minutes. Remove from the oven

and let the bear crayons cool completely

before removing them from the mould.

Sleepy teddy bear

● small tin or box for the bed

● teddy-shaped cookie cutter

● brown felt

● light brown felt

● dark brown embroidery thread

● stuffing

● scraps of felt or pretty material

1 Measure a small tin or box to make sure

your teddy will fit nicely in the bed. Now

use a teddy-shaped cookie cutter to trace

and cut two bear shapes from brown felt.

2 Cut one small oval from the light brown

felt for the muzzle.

3 Use dark brown embroidery thread to

sew a nose and mouth onto muzzle. Sew

muzzle onto face of one bear shape.

4 Sew on eyes using dark brown

embroidery thread in a French knot

(there are excellent tutorials on all types

of embroidery stitches online if you need

to brush up on your needlework).

5 Layer two bear shapes, then, beginning

at one arm, sew the whole way around

teddy using blanket stitch. Remember

to leave a small gap so you can fill teddy

with stuffing before you sew it up. Make a

comfy bed for teddy by creating a sheet

and pillow from pretty fabric scraps. »

Hand-print bear

Sleepy teddy bear

Teddy bear party bags

Teddy parachute toss