The SEN Resources Blog

By Georgina Durrant

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Benefits of a Teddy Bear’s Picnic – Imaginative Play activity

Imaginative Play has so many benefits for children (click here to read all about it) and is also great fun!

One of our favourites is a Teddy Bear Picnic. The easiest imaginative play to set up- just get a blanket, teddies and some bowls/plates and watch the kids become absorbed in the world of teddies and tea! Playing at a Teddy Bear’s Picnic can provide opportunities for children to develop a number of skills.

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What can children learn from this activity? 

  • Communication and language skills: this activity gets children talking and communicating-offering food to each teddy, acting out the teddies reactions to the food and getting the teddies to ‘chat’ to each other.

Find out more about communication skills here

  • Manners: by reminding children to make sure the teddies say ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ the importance of being polite can be promoted easily.
  • Turn taking: each teddy taking its turn to ‘eat’ the food helps children to understand why we have to share and take turns. We find it fun to include a ‘naughty’ teddy that doesn’t wait its turn- and see how the other toys react!

If you wanted to make it more of a sensory play Activity and practise those pouring skills, why not use sequins and water as the ‘tea’. Look at our sensory activities and resource recommendations here


(make sure the child is able to understand not to drink it and is supervised!)

Find the resources we included in the post from Amazon by clicking on the images below:

Georgina Durrant
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4 responses to “Benefits of a Teddy Bear’s Picnic – Imaginative Play activity”

  1. Teddy Bear Picnic Preschool Theme | Activities and Recipes

    […] Encourage your daycare kids to bring along their favourite bear and explain that on a special day every year teddy bears have a picnic!  We have provided free teddy bear picnic invitations formatted just for daycares below.  Print them off and send them home with the kids.  We also included regular invitations for birthdays or special friends get-togethers.  Then, set up a blanket on the ground either indoors or outdoors.  And have a picnic, either pretend or real.  Children can acquire several valuable skills through a Teddy Bear’s Picnic, such as communicat… […]

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