Teddy Bears' Trail: Teacher Manual

The Teddy Bears' Trail Programme is a half-day experience during which we will take you, your pupils and their teddy bears on a wonderful journey of discovery through the Garden.  During their journey your pupils will learn many new things about the natural world including:

• Respect for the natural world through first hand contact
• Understanding of how living things obtain their needs for life and explore what those needs are 
• How to look after living things

In addition to being a wonderful learning experience and a great day out, the Teddy Bears' Trail Programme is designed to act as a stimulus for further work as part of the CfE curriculum and to enhance the four capacities. 

In this online area, there are additional activities to complete back at school, enabling pupils to transfer their understanding of the key concepts to their own lives.

We are grateful to John Rhymer, the original developer of the programme, and to Earth Education (opens in a new window/tab) who now hold the copyright to the original materials on which ours are based.

The Teddy Bears' Trail Programme begins when your pupils receive a letter from the Chief Teddy, Edward Bear, inviting them and their teddies to the Garden.  Edward’s letter is included in the 'Introduction' section of this online area and should be read to your pupils to set the scene.

If you wish to make a name badge for your children there is a downloadable pack available in the 'Additional Resources' section of this online area which your pupils can cut out and colour in. 

It is useful if you have your children organised into groups with an adult helper who will help them through the day.

If you are planning to stay at the Garden all day, we can provide you with a kit bag of equipment to do some related self-led activities. We recommend that you read through the 3 outdoor activities ahead of time, so that you are familiar with the activities and can select the ones you wish to do. These are available in the 'Outdoor Activities' section of this online area.

Your guided session will begin with a short story about the teddy bears to introduce the children to the secrets of S.W.A.F. (Shelter-Water-Air-Food) which are the 4 main things all living creatures need to survive.

We will go out into the Garden to play some games to reinforce S.W.A.F. and use sensory activities to explore the Garden. The session will end with a Teddy Bear paw print hunt!

If you have time for self-guided activities in the Garden, the outdoor activities section in this online area has 3 suggestions which will involve the children in more sensory activities as well as an opportunity for some team island-building.

Use suggested activities in this online area to link to S.W.A.F. as often as possible to help your pupils remember this important message. 

So, let the adventure begin!