Winnie the Pooh Play Dates, Lesson Plans, or Birthday Party Ideas

Both working and stay at home mothers are constantly looking for play date ideas, so why not base them on some of our children's favorite characters. Winnie the Pooh is a beloved character from books, movies and television, and I admit to still owning the "Tigger" I had as a child. Why not combine your need for play date ideas for home, group or even the use these ideas for the classroom with Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too?

Winnie the Pooh Snacks

Base your snack time on Briar Rabbit's garden patch, serving carrot sticks, celery sticks with peanut butter (if no allergies of course) topped with raisins. Strawberries, apple slices based on the apple orchard and of course Honey flavored Teddy Bear snacks like Teddy Grahams. Another snack idea is to spread crackers with peanut butter or Nutella and then drizzle with of course, honey. Even "Honeycomb" cereal can be a sweet treat.

Winnie the Pooh Printables

This article on Winnie the Pooh Bear Printables and Free Coloring Pages is very helpful for finding games and coloring pages or books. You can also create your own word find puzzle using popular words from the Winnie the Pooh characters using a free online word find puzzle creator.

Use words in your puzzle like Winnie the Pooh, Owl, Tigger, Kanga, Roo, 100 Acre Wood, honey, pot, teddy bear, oh bother, piglet, and this way even older children can enjoy the games.

Winnie the Pooh Games

The best thing about Winnie the Pooh play date ideas are that you can keep it simple. Do a musical chairs game using teddy bears. Have a Teddy Bear (or Winnie the Pooh) parade, indoors if it's wet, cold or damp or outside through the neighborhood or in the park. Have a dress up contest where the children come dressed as their favorite Winnie the Pooh character.

The winner gets ... you got it a pot of honey! Actually it can be a small dollar store "pot" filled with honey bites like "Bit of Honey" or other candies, sweet treats or individual packets of Teddy Grahams, Honey Nut Cheerio's or Honeycomb cereal.

Winnie the Pooh Crafts

Create a honeycomb crafts. Use either: yellow construction paper, yellow poster board cut down to smaller 8 ½ x 11 sizes or card stock. Cover the paper with your choice of Honeycomb or Honey Nut Cheerio's cereals or with bottle caps. If using bottle caps, the children can paint them yellow before applying and be sure to use a heavier stock paper like the poster board.

Next, use black and yellow poms to create the busy bees that make honey. Use pipe cleaners (chenille stems) for antennae and textured card stock for wings.

You can either create this as a large bulletin board for the classroom or house, or individual pictures for the children to take home after a playdate or party.

Winnie the Pooh Books and Movies

There are several "Winnie the Pooh" story books to choose from. I suggest surfing the card catalog at the library to find one that suits the season or a special event like birthdays. You may also want to include "Love is a Handful of Honey," "Honey Bunny Funnybunny" and "Show Me the Honey (Seuss/Cat in the Hat). "How Do Bees Make Honey" "The Magic School Bus Inside a Bee Hive" and "Honey Bees Live from the Hive" can be helpful, fun and educational too.

Homeschoolers and teachers may even want to incorporate these ideas into "B," "Bee," or "Bear" themed lesson plans.

Whatever the opportunity, be it play date, party, or classroom, these ideas can help you make the most of this beloved characters special spirit of community and friendship. Look for the upcoming Disney movie "Winnie the Pooh" (2011) to include in your Winnie the Pooh planning whether it is a field trip, movie date or on DVD.

Note: Remember that honey and products containing honey should never be given to children under the age of 1.

Need more lesson plan, playdate or party ideas? Visit
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Make it and Take it Birthday Party Plans : Prince and Princess based crafts and activities
PJ Party/Birthday Party Plans for Preschoolers

Sources:

Personal experience

IMDB.com

Amazon.com or Local Library Card Catalog for book titles