Sometime when a #Holiday like National Teddy Bear Day Care Bears Day it makes sense to combine them because they fit each other to a T. Not only that both these Holidays brought me back to Charlie and Suzzane and allowed me to share more stories about my family with you.

Buttercup pull up a chair and grab your favorite beverage as I share another story or two with you.

If your wondering what we will be discussing in this story its Tea Parties, Reading, Memories & a Whole Lot of Caring along with Care Bears and even Teddy Bears because they go hand in hand if you ask my family.

Both Holidays fell on September 9th which gives us two pretty special reasons to celebrate: National Teddy Bear Day and Care Bears Share Your Care Day Even though it’s September 21st I couldn’t let the Holiday’s pass by without sharing them with you.

And since we’re talking about teddy bears, stuffed animals, caring, sharing, friendship, and childhood memories, I thought we could put them together and have one big Teddy Bear and Share Your Care Day!

Now, if you ask me whether a Care Bear counts as a teddy bear, I would say we’re inviting them to the party anyway! And if I’m wrong, I suppose I could ask Mr. Know-It-All Charlie in the other room. I’m sure he could tell me in a heartbeat. What do I know? I’m only a mom! So grab your teddy bear, Care Bear, stuffed animal, or favorite childhood friend and let’s get started.

Today’s first activity is easy. Have a Teddy Bear Parade! Gather your favorite teddy bears and stuffed animals and Care Bears and let them join the parade. You can parade through the house, around the backyard, down the sidewalk, or simply march from one room to another.

You can dress your bears up, make little signs, give them names, or even make a special float out of a wagon or toy car. Then turn on a Teddy Bear Song and let the parade begin! 🎵 Teddy Bear Song which could be a #Homeschool Music Lesson.

If you host a Teddy Bear Parade = 1 ticket that’s one ticket toward your family reward system. Of course, today isn’t just about teddy bears. It’s also about sharing your care. Ask your children to think of someone who might need a little kindness today.

Could they:

• Make someone a card?
• Call Grandma or Grandpa?
• Help a neighbor?
• Share a snack?
• Do an extra chore?
• Send someone a text?
• Draw someone a picture?
• Give somebody a hug?
• Simply sit down and listen?

Sometimes sharing your care doesn’t cost anything. Sometimes the smallest act of kindness can mean the most. Find one way to show someone that you care today. Then come back and tell us about it. And if you need help with something, tell us how we may help you.

After our parade, our teddy bears are probably going to be hungry! So let’s have a Teddy Bear Tea Party. And before anyone asks… No cucumber sandwiches. I know that traditional afternoon tea often includes cucumber sandwiches, but we’re skipping them because I don’t like them.

Instead, we’re making peanut butter and jelly tea sandwiches for those who like peanut butter and jelly. And if you’re making mine? Please leave the jelly off. I’m not a PB&J person. Are you? If not we can have a plain Peanut Butter Sandwich or two.

Easy Peanut Butter Tea Sandwiches

Ingredients

• Bread
• Peanut butter
• Jelly or jam, if desired
• Optional: a little powdered sugar for decorating

Directions

1. Spread peanut butter on one slice of bread.
2. Add jelly or jam if you’re making traditional PB&J.
3. Top with another slice of bread.
4. Cut into small triangles, squares, or use a cookie cutter to make teddy-bear shapes.
5. Arrange the little sandwiches on a tea-party plate.

For younger children, an adult can help with cutting the sandwiches into fun shapes. Teaching Moment: Let children help measure, spread, cut, and arrange the sandwiches. That’s math, following directions, fine-motor practice, and kitchen skills all rolled into one.

Easy No-Bake Lemon Squares– Now we need something sweet for our teddy bear guests.

Ingredients

• 1 ½ cups graham cracker crumbs
• ½ cup melted butter
• 1 can sweetened condensed milk
• ¼ cup fresh lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon lemon zest
• Powdered sugar for dusting

Directions

1. Line a small baking dish with parchment paper.
2. Mix the graham cracker crumbs and melted butter.
3. Press the mixture firmly into the bottom of the dish.
4. In another bowl, combine the sweetened condensed milk, lemon juice, and lemon zest.
5. Spread the lemon mixture over the graham cracker crust.
6. Refrigerate for several hours, until firm.
7. Cut into small squares and dust lightly with powdered sugar.

Cut them into small pieces so they’re just the right size for a little teddy bear tea party.

Tea Party Teaching Moment: Have the children help set the table for their teddy bears. How many bears are attending? How many sandwiches will each bear get? How many lemon squares do you need? What happens if two more bears arrive? That’s a #teachingmoment hiding inside a tea party!

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Of course, no teddy bear celebration at GreatfulMoments.com would be complete without a book.One of our favorites is Corduroy The Bear. Charlie and Suzanne both read the Corduroy books when they were little.

Actually, they’ve been reading Corduroy since they were knee-high to a fly! And I still have some of Charlie’s books. That makes pulling out a Corduroy book today even more special because sometimes a children’s book becomes more than just a book. It becomes a family memory.

Now its time for our Reading Challenge: Remember, any book counts! Read for 10 minutes = 1 ticket. But because we’re celebrating Teddy Bear Day, there’s a special bonus. Read a teddy bear book such as Corduroy for 10 minutes = 2 tickets!

That’s your regular reading ticket plus one extra Teddy Bear Day ticket. So grab your favorite book, grab your teddy bear, and get comfortable. If you don’t want to read Corduroy find any book about a Teddy Bear and earn that extra ticket.

Now it’s time to create your own teddy bear!: Print our Teddy Bear Coloring Sheet and let your imagination take over. Your teddy bear doesn’t have to be brown. It can be pink, blue, purple, green, rainbow-colored, or covered in polka dots.

Maybe your bear needs a bow. Maybe it needs a dress. Maybe it needs a Care Bear-style belly badge. Coloring Ticket: Complete today’s Teddy Bear Coloring Sheet = 1 ticket. Giving you extra tickets today.

Here’s another reason I love celebrations like this. When you’re #homeschooling, you can think outside the box. You don’t always have to open a textbook and say, “Today we’re studying this.” Sometimes you can start with something your child already loves. If your child loves teddy bears, investigate teddy bears!

For eve more learning fun research: Where did teddy bears come from? Why are they called teddy bears? Who was Theodore Roosevelt? What happened during the famous bear hunt associated with the teddy bear’s history? Who created some of the first teddy bears?

Your student could create a teddy bear timeline, write a report, draw a historical teddy bear, or simply tell the family what they discovered. And then there’s another question: How many Care Bears are there? I honestly don’t know!

And I don’t know how many different Care Bear lines or generations there have been. But that’s what makes it a great research question.

Have your student investigate:

• When did the Care Bears begin?
• Who were the original Care Bears?
• How many different Care Bears can they find?
• What does each Care Bear represent?
• How have the characters changed over the years?
• How many different television shows or versions have there been?
• Which Care Bear is their favorite?

And then have them present what they discovered to the family.

That’s homeschooling. You can follow the things that intrigue your children and your family. A teddy bear can become a history lesson. A Care Bear can become a research project. A tea party can become a math lesson.

A recipe can become a lesson in measuring and following directions. And a Corduroy book can become a reading lesson. You just have to be willing to think outside the box. #TeachingMoment Learning doesn’t always look like school.

Sometimes learning looks like a teddy bear sitting at the kitchen table eating a peanut butter sandwich. And that’s perfectly okay. Now I have a question for you. If you could have a teddy bear or a Care Bear, which one would you choose and why?

And if you choose a Care Bear… Which Care Bear is your favorite? Mine, I believe, is Share Bear. She’s the friendship and caring bear, and I think that’s a pretty fitting choice for today’s celebration. But I’d love to know yours!

And before we go, let me tell you about some of the teddy bears and stuffed animals that have become part of my family’s story. I still have Charlie’s very first teddy bear. It’s a brown teddy bear that my brother bought for him when he was little.

And then there’s Annabelle, Suzanne’s teddy bear. Annabelle wears a beautiful red velvet dress and came from Build-A-Bear. Suzanne’s Big Sister, Stevie, took her to make Annabelle. So Annabelle isn’t just a stuffed animal.

She’s a memory. She’s part of Suzanne’s story. And I also have a teddy bear that Charlie gave me when he was little. But my family has even more stuffed animals than that because apparently being an adult doesn’t mean you have to stop loving stuffed animals!

I still have mine. How about you? Do you still have stuffed animals? Do you have the teddy bear you had when you were little? Did your children give you a stuffed animal that you simply couldn’t part with? Some Things Become Family Treasures

My sister Debbie actually has the Care Bear she bought Suzanne for her birthday one year tucked safely away in her closet. And she has Suzanne’s Pound Puppy, Roger Rabbit, too. Those things are safe.

Because when someone you love is gone, you can’t replace the things that they loved. You can buy another Care Bear. You can find another Pound Puppy. You might even find another teddy bear that looks just like the original. But you can’t replace the one they loved.

That’s why those things become more precious. They become safer. They get tucked away. They become treasures. Sometimes a stuffed animal isn’t really about the stuffed animal anymore. It’s about the little person who loved it.

It’s about a birthday. A childhood. A sister. A son. A daughter. A memory. And that’s something worth holding onto.

So today, let’s have some fun. Grab your teddy bear. Invite your Care Bears. Play the Teddy Bear Song. Have a parade. Make some little tea sandwiches. Enjoy a lemon square. Color a teddy bear. Read for ten minutes.

Research something that interests you. And find one little way to share your care with somebody else. Then come back and tell us: Which bear did you celebrate with? Which Care Bear is your favorite? Do you still have a stuffed animal from childhood?

And if you could choose a teddy bear or Care Bear today, which one would you pick? Most importantly, remember that the best part of days like this isn’t the bear. It’s the Greatful Moments we make with the people we love. Happy National Teddy Bear Day and Care Bears Share Your Care Day!

🧸🫖 Let’s Have a Teddy Bear Tea Party!

What’s a Teddy Bear Tea Party without a few treats for our teddy bears and Care Bears? You don’t need anything fancy. In fact, some of the best tea-party foods are simple enough for the kids to help make.

🥪 Peanut Butter Tea Sandwiches

Traditional tea parties might include cucumber sandwiches, but we’re skipping those at my house! Instead, we’re making little peanut butter tea sandwiches.

Ingredients:

• Bread
• Peanut butter
• Jelly or jam, optional
• Teddy bear or other fun-shaped cookie cutter, optional

Directions:

1. Spread peanut butter on one slice of bread.
2. Add jelly or jam if you like it.
3. Place another slice of bread on top.
4. Cut the sandwich into small triangles, squares, or fun shapes.
5. For extra Teddy Bear Tea Party fun, use a teddy bear-shaped cookie cutter.
6. Arrange the sandwiches on a pretty plate and serve.

Glenda’s way: Peanut butter, no jelly, please! I’m not a PB&J person.

🍋 No-Bake Lemon Squares

We also need something sweet for our tea party, and these easy no-bake lemon squares are perfect for making ahead of time.

Ingredients:

• 1½ cups graham cracker crumbs
• ½ cup melted butter
• 1 can (14 ounces) sweetened condensed milk
• ¼ cup fresh lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon grated lemon zest
• Powdered sugar for dusting

Directions:

1. Line an 8-inch square pan with parchment paper.
2. Mix the graham cracker crumbs and melted butter together.
3. Press the mixture firmly into the bottom of the pan.
4. In another bowl, combine the sweetened condensed milk, lemon juice, and lemon zest.
5. Spread the lemon mixture over the crust.
6. Refrigerate for several hours, until firm.
7. Cut into small squares.
8. Dust with powdered sugar before serving.

Tea Party Tip: Cut everything into small, bite-sized pieces so the teddy bears can have their own little tea-party spread. The children can help count the sandwiches, measure the ingredients, arrange the plates, and set the table.

📚 Another Way to Earn a Ticket

Don’t forget our reading activity! Choose any book and read for 10 minutes to earn 1 ticket.

If you choose a teddy bear book—such as Corduroy—and read for 10 minutes, you can earn 2 tickets: one for reading and one for choosing a teddy bear story.

Then invite your teddy bear or Care Bear to sit beside you while you read. After all, they’ve been waiting for their tea party all day!

#TeachingMoments: A simple tea party can become a lesson in measuring, counting, following directions, reading, kitchen safety, hospitality, and family traditions. When you’re homeschooling, you can think outside the box and study the things that intrigue you and your family.

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Grateful, Thankful, and Blessed.

GreatfulMoments.com

Thank you,

Glenda, Charlie and David Cates