Have you been taking your little ones for their daily walks?
Youngsters might be struggling to understand a global pandemic and why it’s crucial for us to stay inside as much as possible.
The concept of a government-sanctioned daily walk might be even more alien to them.
So to cheer them up and make it into a bit of a game, a global teddy bear hunt has been taking place.
From Scandinavian countries to cities in the United States to Australia and New Zealand to Belgium and the Netherlands.
The scavenger hunts were inspired by the children’s book We’re Going on a Bear Hunt written by Michael Rosen in 1989.
The premise of it is simple – leave out stuffed animals on your window sills so children can count how many they’ve seen on their walks.
It’s just one way to distract them from the true horrors and uncertainty of the virus.
They’re not just for fun either and serve an educational purpose.
Some teddies are placed apart to practise social distancing while others wear masks.
People that have been leaving their stuffed animals on display have also added some hygine rules next to the toys to allow children to learn what they should and shouldn’t do.
Some people have been going above and beyond in the hunt and creating whole safaris with large stuffed animals.
The idea was popularised after residents in Reykjavík started doing it to cheer up Icelandic children.
Now it’s become a global effort and it’s not just for children.
Adults have also taken to social media to say the bear hunt has united families in times of a crisis where it’s easy to feel alone.
One Twitter user wrote: ‘House near us puts these bears out each day, doing a different activity every time. It’s all I live for currently.’
And it’s happening in London too.
Mum and news correspondent Daniele Hamamdjian wrote: ‘To the parent (it’s gotta be a parent) who came up with this idea, THANK YOU. Explaining to a four-year-old why playdates aren’t allowed anymore is heartbreaking, so “going on a bear hunt” during our walks is the distraction we needed’.
It’s certainly heartwarming.
Here are a few more teddies from around the world:
MORE: Is the NHS Nightingale hospital asking for children’s drawings?
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