Outdoor Adventures: Teddy Bear Picnic by Erin Uda

(Brooklyn Hanks on her first Teddy Bear Picnic)

It was my son’s birthday this weekend and in honor of that, I’ve decided to share one of his favorite outside activities when he was younger: a teddy bear picnic.

You can make this as complicated or simple as you like, but basically, it’s just sitting outside on a blanket and reading books together – with a favorite stuffed animal, of course.

My favorite version includes going to the library and picking out a solid stack of picture books to read together. If your library has a park, try going there for your picnic. If not, even your backyard will work. Make a fun lunch to eat – or purchase a special treat from the store – and sit down together in the sun to read, snuggle and eat.

And trust me – even though it’s simple, this may turn out to be your child’s favorite activity, too!

And because it can sometimes be difficult to find a good book, here are some of the best from 2010:

• Oh No! (or how my science project destroyed the world) – Mac Barnett
• The Boys – Jeff Newman
• The Quiet Book – Deborah Underwood
• Art & Max – David Weisner
• City Dog, Country Frog – Mo Willems
• We Are in a Book! – Mo Willems
• Dog Loves Books – Louise Yates
• Chalk – Bill Thomson
• It’s a Book – Lane Smith
• Other Goose: Re-nurseried and Re-rhymed children’s classics – J. Otto Seibold
• Dilweed’s Revenge: A deadly dose of magic – Florence Parry Heide
• Shark vs. Train – Chris Barton
• Seasons – Claudia Bedrick
• Me and You – Anthony Browne
• Clever Jack Takes the Cake – Candace Fleming
• The Boss Baby – Marla Frazee
• Monsters East Whiny Children – Bruce Eric Kaplan
• Animal Crackers Fly the Coop – Kevin O’Malley
• The Chicken Thief – Beatrice Rodriguez
• What If? – Laura Vaccaro Seeger
• Bink & Gollie – Kate DiCamillo and Alison McGhee

Some of our Favorite Authors:

• Mo Willems
• Eric Carle
• Judith Viorst
• David Shannon
• Dr. Seuss
• Laura Numeroff
• Maurice Sendak
• Tomie DePaola