Teddy Bear's Picnic Activity Guide

If you and your little loved the immersive experience of Teddy Bear's Picnic, keep the fun rolling with these at home activities and treats.


Read the Book


If you don't already have this classic story as a board book, now is the perfect time to read it while on a picnic of your own!

Bear Potato Stamps

Get out a potato and some butcher paper for this super fun painting activity.  Help your little one create a bear paw potato stamp, and start creating bear tracks!  Where is your bear going?  What will they eat when they get there?

Bear Map

Keep the tempera paint and butcher paper out for this great activity as you work together to draw out your bear-finding map!  Where does your bear hide?  What kind of plants grow in that area?  Do any of those plants grow near your home?

Teddy Bear Toast

If you're not sure what to bring on your bear-hunt picnic, teddy bear toast will be a quick and easy hit with the whole family, and your Instagram followers.  Mix it up with bears on toaster waffles, pancakes, or even rice cakes!  What kinds of bears can you make?

Do you have any other awesome Teddy Bear's Picnic activities or book suggestions?  Tell us about it in the comments our on social media!

Splish Splash: An Actor's Perspective

This guest post comes from actor, Andrew Mondello, about the amazing experiences he has working on Theatre for the Very Young production, Splish Splash.

Splish Splash is one of the best places here in the Bay Area you can be. It will open your mind and heart to explore even the simplest aspects of life that we often overlook and forget to be grateful for. 

My very first thought after I first auditioned for BACT’s theatre for the very young show Splish Splash last August was “This is totally nuts, and I’m not sure I understand what is going on – But I know I have to be a part of it.” And luckily, just a few weeks later I got to be! 

        

 What is it that makes theatre for the very young so different from a normal children’s theatre production? Well the easy answer is BABIES, and as someone who is totally unashamed to go into full Dad mode and guffaw over how unequivocally adorable babies are – it’s a dream. But more than that, it’s the experience within the show. A typical children’s theatre production (not TVY) exists within the same realm as any professional production – there is the show happening on stage and the audience watching with a ‘fourth wall’ in between them - much like my previous show with BACT Goodnight, Goodnight Construction Site. Or from time to time, more often in children’s theatre, there is some level of audience interaction, such as my last-last BACT show Lemony Snicket’s: The Lump of Coal where the audience was often invited to come on stage and be a part of the show. 

  

Everything anyone in the audience says or does in the spur of the moment could instantly become a “main event” in the show.

         

Well Splish Splash takes that to the next level. The audience IS the show, the whole room IS the stage, and ALL of us there are living, breathing, and performing together. It. Is. Incredible. Everything anyone in the audience says or does in the spur of the moment could instantly become a “main event” in the show. Which as a clown trained to be aware of and use all stimuli coming at me at all times, makes this work extremely exciting and fulfilling to do. 

         
 All this comes from the idea that within the room no one can do any wrong. It’s a place for kids (and honestly, parents too) to get the chance to explore, unhinged. Of course, this is an idea that many parents have to ease into. When your child is the first one to stand up and make themselves a part of the show your natural incliniation is to worry and immediately tell them to sit down. But fear not! Because the cast will immediately lay away your fears with a chorus of “its totally fine, we love this! Please let them go ahead and stand up and dance, that’s great!” 

           

It’s a place for kids (and honestly, parents too) to get the chance to explore, unhinged.

 Once we've all agreed on these parameters (or really lack thereof ^.–)) any number of wondrous things can happen. From a little two year old running up and sitting in my lap mid-show while I was telling a story (one of the cutest things I have ever personally experienced to date – and one of my favorite show memories) to one child coming up to hug the giant puppet octoupus. Only to inspire another, only to inspire the entire room to get in a line to hug the octopus. You would never guess that so many different things could happen in the span of a 30 minute show. But they do, and that’s how we know we are doing our job right. It means every child is getting a chance to explore in the way THEY want to. 

         

You would never guess that so many different things could happen in the span of a 30 minute show. But they do, and that’s how we know we are doing our job right.

 The wonder of it is, that as actors we learn to explore just as much as the audience does, while keeping a show fresh every time, 5 shows a week. The saying is “you get what you give”. Well, with toddlers that is tenfold, because if you are not giving 110% then you will quickly find the audience is not exploring with you on the journey. As a professional actor – both these lessons are invaluable. Any actor who doesn’t admit that staying in the moment and reacting genuinely to every stimulus coming at them or keeping a show fresh and new every time after 60 performances isn’t a challenge, or wasn’t at some point, is lying. In school you are taught tools to tackle both these challenges but rarely ever given the opportunity to. Simply because school shows rarely run for longer than a week or two. With this show I’ve been able to put those skills to work and actually been able to have those muscles working to keep the show spontaneous and fresh every time. It’s truly been an invaluable experience and has made me feel better about all the work I do as a performer.

        

 So, whether you are an actor performing in it, a parent nervous about bringing your child to their first show, a seasoned children’s theatre-goer, a wily-coyote kid, or the shy and quiet type – Splish Splash is one of the best places here in the Bay Area you can be. It will open your mind and heart to explore even the simplest aspects of life that we often overlook and forget to be grateful for. 

From the sound of chime, 

and your favorite lullaby rhyme. 

To the gleeful squeel and smile of a child 

Exploring the seas and the ocean wild.

From a simple rub a dub

With your kid in the tub.

To a very rainy day 

While Mom and Dad are away.

From finding pictures in a cloudy sky

Making up stories as the time flies by

Down to the the simpliest little

Teeniest Tiniest

Wittle Bittle.

Water Drop.

Thanks for sharing, Andrew! Splish Splash is now playing in SF. Tickets at bactheatre.org

Wheels on the Bus: An Actor's Perspective

Here's a post from Salim Razawi a familiar face from BACT shows like Five Little Monkeys, Rickshaw Girl, and our school tour on safety, Rock the Block.  Salim is an East Bay TYA educator and director, but Wheels on the Bus is his first production for the very young. Here he is to help us understand the value of theatre for the very young. 

When I was asked to be a part of Wheels on the Bus I can honestly say I was a bit hesitant. Although I do a lot of TYA, I had no prior experience in theatre for the very young and it was a nerve-wracking gig, but it has been an absolute pleasure. 

Wheels on the Bus takes the audience on an imaginary bus for an interactive journey that examines all manners of things that go around.

 As the bus driver, I invite the kids to patriciate in the show in whatever way they seem fit and they truly take this to heart. One pivotal point in the show is when the bus breaks down, as the driver I look inside and see giant gears that have stopped working, so we bring mini versions of the gears to the kids and ask them if they could help us make them go around. There are many interactive points in the show and sometimes we invite the kids to join us on stage to be an airplane with us, or help us put some round toppings on the pizza we are making. 

During one of my favorite performances, we invited all the kids to come up and dance like airplanes with us. 

In a sold-out house of 45 patrons only one little girl came up, but she took center stage and owned her airplane. 

Having this kind of interaction does come with its challenges, sometime a child or two may wander backstage or take the prop that we are about to use, but rather than reprimanding or saying no to them we invite them and ask them questions about said props. One time a child saw our sound system with volume control knobs, so, during a very loud bus traveling sound cue, he decided he wanted to see how those knobs worked and turned the volume on blast!  Luckily, I was able to adjust the sound quickly on my handy-dandy iPod that I keep on my arm throughout the show. 

This kind of kinetic learning is a huge part of why TVYA matter. 

I believe this work is so important, has great cognitive benefits for the developing and curious minds, and is so engaging and mesmerizing for the very young. I am one happy bus driver!

Thanks Salim, for sharing your thoughts, and for driving that school bus--forty toddlers can't be easy!

There are still some seats available for our season of Theatre for the Very Young, get them before they are gone! 

Here are some other great articles on the importance of Theatre for the Very Young:

SF Chronicle: Toddler Stage: The Very Little Get in on the Improv Act

Children's Fairyland: Theatre for the Very Young