The Pride of Toys

       "Oh, I'm so proud," whispered little brown Teddy Bear.

       "You're no more proud than I am," said a little white lamb. "Please pinch me - so - and then I will say: 'Baa-Baa-Baa.' ''Ah, that will make someone happy.''

       The toys were in Santa Claus' toy-shop and they were getting very much excited. There were still some to be finished - in fact, there were many to be finished, but none of them were worried, for they knew perfectly well that Santa Claus never left any toys unfinished.

       That was the wonderful part of Santa Claus. He could be rushed and hurried and he could be so busy that you wondered how it was possible for him to do so much and you might think, if you didn't know, that some of those many, many things wouldn't be done. But the toys knew, for the tools which Santa used to make them with whispered to them many secrets.

       ''He may be busy,'' the tools always told the new toys, ''but he'll finish you and you'll go to the children on Christmas day.''

       "How proud I will be,'' whispered the Teddy Bear once more, ''if I am put on a tree. They say that Santa hangs toys on Christmas trees. But then I would be just as proud if I were put in a stocking. How I would love to peep my head out from the top of a stocking and see the children as they come downstairs early Christmas morning! In fact, I would be proud no matter where Santa put me, or how he gave me. It's a great big and wonderful pride to be a toy made by Santa Claus which is given to a child on Christmas day.''

       ''That is what we all feel,'' said the other toys.

• Visit The Teddy Bear Index
• Teddy Bear Play-Doh Mats for Early Learners

Rigmarole

Rigmarole.

There is a land where bunnies dance

While foxes play the flute,

Where puppy-dogs in polkas prance,

And bear-cubs swiftly shoot

In sledges o'er the slipp'ry ice,

Which isn't safe, though very nice.

There on their hind-legs kittens walk,

And elephants steal jam,

There lions sit at tea and talk,

As gentle as a lamb,

There rats at school long copies write,

While bears are put to bed at night.

And if you don't believe it, look

At all the pages in my book!

Draw Fun Valentine Cartoons!

"A Teddy Bear Mails A Valentine" (four steps)

        Here are two fun little Valentine cartoons or process drawings for teachers to draw on a chalkboard or whiteboard at the front of the classroom. Students can follow the steps at their own tables using a pencil, eraser and coloring supplies. After watching and completing their own drawing give them plenty of time to color their drawings in and encourage them to add their own details.

       This kind of drawing activity teaches students to listen and observe carefully and homeroom teachers can certainly use this method of practice drawing to teach additional lessons about shapes and sizes.

"A Valentine For Miss Hippo" (three steps)

Post at Pooh Corner: Links to Christopher Robin's Friends!

      Winnie-the-Pooh, also called Pooh Bear, is a fictional anthropomorphic bear created by A. A. Milne. The first collection of stories about the character was the book Winnie-the-Pooh (1926), and this was followed by The House at Pooh Corner (1928). Milne also included a poem about the bear in the children’s verse book When We Were Very Young (1924) and many more in Now We Are Six (1927). All four volumes were illustrated by E. H. Shepard. Read more . . .

"House at Pooh Corner"sung by Kenny Loggins
songfacts here

Crafted Friends from Pooh Corner: 

1. Winnie the Pooh: Aesthetic Nest 
2. Mini Pooh Pillows 
3. Pooh and friends origami 
4. Cubee - Eeyore by Cyberdrone on deviantART 
5. Winnie the Pooh Paper Lantern
6. Hundred Acre Wood Party with Winnie the Pooh
7. It's Owl who knows something about something

Pooh and Friends Cakes and Sweets:

1. Inspiration - Winnie the Pooh Party
2. Lovely fall cake of Pooh and his friends from Genevieve Griffin
3. Winnie the Pooh birthday ideas...
4. {Hundred Acre Wood} Winnie the Pooh Birthday Party from Hostess with the Mostess
5. Wow! What a honey cake! (picture only)
6. another beautiful Pooh cake picture

Links Concerning The Hundred Acre Wood:

1. The Adventures of the Real Winnie-the-Pooh
2. Winnie: Heritage Minute Video
3. About The E. H. Shepard Archive
4. The original bear, with A. A. Milne and Christopher Robin, at the National Portrait Gallery, London
5. The real locations, from the Ashdown Forest Conservators
6. Winnie-the-Pooh at the New York Public Library
7. UK Appeal to save Winnie the Pooh's bridge
8. Pooh sequel returns Christopher Robin to Hundred Acre Wood
9. The Pooh Files by Joe Shea
10. Pooh rights belong to Disney, judge rules
11. Winnie the Pooh Website
12. Pooh Corner, sanctioned by the Pooh Properties Trust
13. Disneyclips.com
14. The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
15. The Page at Pooh Corner
16. Disney trailers for Winnie the Pooh