Make Your Own Bean Bag Bears

Lisa Arsenault is an elementary-school teacher in Ajax, Ontario.

This craft kit includes the instructions and most of the materials to
make four bean bag bears: teddy, koala, polar, and panda. The sample
patterns can be reused, and the brown, black, and white fabric pieces
can be interchanged. Four noses, four pairs of eyes, and the instruction
booklet complete the materials. Dried beans, needle, thread, and
fibrefill must be purchased.

The kit is educational as well as functional. Interesting and
informative facts about bears are interspersed throughout the text. The
instructions are clear and easy to follow, and for first-time sewers
there are guidelines to help with the transfer of pattern markings,
pinning and cutting techniques, and the process of bagging out. The
projects are graded moderate or more challenging to indicate level of
difficulty. Diagrams accompany the various steps, and helpful tips make
sewing simpler.

Children are encouraged to think of these bears as being more than just
cuddly toys. They have names and birth certificates, which can be filled
in with the bear’s statistics and favorite book, food, and sport. Tips
on how to make the bear’s new home special are provided.

This kit is recommended for children 8 and up who are bear fanciers and
who are, or wish to become, handy with a needle and thread. One caveat
is that each pattern piece is singular and must be photocopied or traced
when the instructions call for “cut 2 or 4 pieces.” There is also a
choking hazard warning indicating small parts not for the use of
children under 3.