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How to Use Stuffed Animals in the Classroom

teddy bear teddy reading book in the library

Stuffed animals aren’t just for home—they can also work wonders in the classroom. These cuddly companions make excellent educational tools, helping to teach important skills and enhance the learning environment for children.

If you’re a teacher or tutor, here are some creative ways to incorporate stuffed animals into your classroom!

Class Mascot

A unique and cuddly stuffed animal can make the perfect class mascot. Mascots foster a sense of belonging, uniting everyone in the class and representing the diverse group as a cohesive unit. Having a class mascot gives students something fun to look forward to and can significantly boost classroom morale. These special class heroes can make children excited to come to school every day with minimal effort.

Reading Partner

Stuffed animals can serve as the perfect audience for reading practice. Allowing students to read books out loud to stuffed animals helps them practice reading comprehension and fluency while minimizing nerves. The non-judgmental presence of a stuffed animal boosts confidence and makes reading practice more enjoyable for young learners.

Recognition and Reward

Children thrive on positive recognition and rewards for good behavior and achievements. Stuffed animals can be a very effective tool for rewarding students. For instance, a student who demonstrates good manners might get to keep a stuffed animal on their desk during class. Similarly, a student who excels in reading or mastering other course content can be given the privilege of carrying a stuffed animal for the day. This method not only motivates students but also creates a more positive and engaging classroom environment.

Imaginative Play and Social Skills

Stuffed animals can also be used to encourage imaginative play and social skills. Create scenarios where students use the stuffed animals to act out stories or solve problems together. This helps children develop their creativity, teamwork, and communication skills in a fun and interactive way.

Incorporating stuffed animals into the classroom offers many benefits, making learning more engaging and enjoyable for students. There is no shortage of fun and creative ways to use stuffed animals in educational settings.

At The Zoo Factory, we have dozens of adorable animal options—from teddy bears to unicorns and sea creatures to farm animals. You can even create a custom t-shirt for your furry friends!

Browse our animal options online today and fill out our contact form for any questions on our stuffable animal kits.

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How Stuffed Animals Help Kids with Autism

young girl sitting on bed with stuffed animals

If you have a child with autism, then you know how difficult some days can be. Naturally, you want to find ways to make things easier on your child. As it turns out, stuffed animals can be one of these ways. While a stuffed animal is never a replacement for therapy or other doctor-prescribed treatments, they can help alleviate the typical symptoms associated with autism. Here’s how:

Stuffed animals are great comfort objects

Whether they’re four years old or forty, many people with autism are easily overwhelmed by the noise and chaos of everyday life. That’s why they often turn to comfort objects that can provide security and some sensory regulation. Stuffed animals can fulfill this role particularly well as they can be held, cuddled, and even weighted to provide children with a sense of calm.

They can teach play skills

Studies have shown that autistic children play differently than non-autistic children. They often lack specific play skills such as imitation skills or symbolic play (or pretend play) skills. Instead, they’ll engage in more solitary, repetitive play. Stuffed animals can be useful tools when teaching these valuable play skills through various therapeutic approaches.

They can help children practice social skills

Children with autism often struggle with social and communication skills. While they have the desire to interact with others, they usually don’t know how or get overwhelmed when they’re around new people. A stuffed animal, however, can help your child practice those much-needed social skills so that they’re more confident when dealing with other children.

A stuffed animal may not be the silver bullet, but it can certainly help your child get through each day a little easier. Here at The Zoo Factory we have plenty of stuffable animals that will be perfect for your child. Look through our inventory or contact us today.

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Are Tweens Too Old for Stuffed Animals?

Teen girl with teddy bear

Your child’s stuffed animals have been at their side for years. Everywhere they go, their stuffed animals go, too.  Now, suddenly, your child is on the cusp of their teenage years. Those once coveted animals seem like kid-stuff now, but does that mean your tween is too old for stuffed animals? Not necessarily.

Stuffed animals are a source for comfort at any age

No matter what age you are, sometimes you need something to cuddle with after a hard day. A stuffed animal can be a great source of comfort because it never talks back, doesn’t give bad advice, and is always willing to lend an ear.

Adults love stuffed animals too

Stuffed animals seem like kids’ toys, but even adults love them! There are a great number of adults that either sleep with or travel with a stuffed animal. They believe that their stuffed animal provides comfort, or in the case of traveling, reminds them of home and family. It can also be a source of nostalgia for those of us who long for our care-free child days.

A few stuffed animals is okay

Some tweens said it’s okay to be a teenager with a few stuffed animals; that there is something to be said for enjoying the friendship a little longer. But they warn about going overboard. Many believe that a few are okay, but once you reach the latter teenage years it’s time to calm down. They admit that stuffed animals are adorable, trustworthy and special because they are staples from childhood. But once you reach the border of teen and adult, it’s probably time to shelve the stuffed animals, save one or two.

Grow at your own pace

Tweens are encouraging other tweens to grow up at their own pace. Perhaps that’s a good lesson for everyone. Take the time to appreciate the things you have, including your stuffed animals. When you’re young, the world is new and fresh. Enjoying it with a stuffed companion is a great way to explore the world, one moment at a time. Don’t rush through life, even when you become a teenager. There will be time later on to grow up.

If you’re looking for a stuffed animal friend for your tween, The Zoo Factory is a great place to start. Look through our website to find their new best friend today!

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How to Help Your Child Get Ready for Bed

How to Get Your Child Ready for Bed

While some children embrace nighttime routines and willingly hop into the bath, other kids struggle with the concept and will do anything to postpone shutting their eyes. This can be frustrating but also worrisome for caregivers. Nevertheless, there is hope. By creating a routine and even enlisting the help of their favorite stuffed animal, you can get your kids to bed in no time. Here’s how:

Set and Stick to a Bedtime Routine

Children thrive on routines because they set expectations. Create a fun bedtime routine with your child and include some activities that make them excited about bedtime. Start with a bath that includes some entertaining games, directly followed by changing into a set of pajamas of your child’s choosing. Have them pick them out ahead of time so you’re not wasting time looking for the “right pair.”

Reading one book or listening to one song is another easy thing to incorporate into a routine. Choosing a favorite activity will help children look forward to bedtime.

Consider Teddy Bear Backup

Grab your child’s favorite teddy bear and have your child change it into pajamas during your child’s bedtime routine. While you help your child change into pajamas, they can help their teddy bear do so. Children tend to imitate, so they might be excited to change into their pajamas if their favorite stuffed animal is as well.

Create a Game

Most children love games and making bedtime into a game  can help some children enjoy the experience. Once you have an established routine, add in some activities to make it more fun. Time how long it takes your child to get through their bedtime routine, and on a night that it seems to be dragging, have them try and beat the time. Consider changing into your own pajamas with your child and “race” to see who can change the fastest.

Don’t be afraid to offer small prizes when bedtime goes as planned such as stickers, a stuffed animal for consistent good behavior, and so forth.

Find teddy bear outfits for any occasion with The Zoo Factory. We offer pajamas, sports outfits, dance outfits, costumes, vests, sunglasses, and more.

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Using Stuffed Animals in a Bilingual Household

More and more children in America are growing up in a bilingual household. Back in 2016, 22% of children in the United States spoke a language other than English at home. For parents who want to encourage bilingualism in their children, stuffed animals are a great way to do it. Here’s how:

Stuffed animals and language skills

Even if a child’s stuffed animals don’t have a sound box, they’re still a great way to teach your children different languages. Pretend play allows children to practice the different words and phrases that they’ve learned in front of a non-judgmental audience (i.e. their dolls and stuffed animals). This kind of experimentation can help them practice phrases they’ve learned at home as well as English phrases that they’ve learned at school.

Choose a toy carefully

If you want your child to play with this stuffed animal, you need to make sure that they actually like it first. In that respect, you’ll want to let your child choose the stuffed animal themselves rather than you picking one out for them.

Create a backstory and personality

To make the stuffed animal seem more real, give them a unique backstory and personality. Together with your child, figure out where your toy was “born,” what languages they speak (for example, they can speak both English and the language you speak at home, or they can speak just one of them), and what their likes and dislikes are. Don’t force any of these decisions, but let a stuffed animal’s story come about naturally.

Stand by as a translator

While a stuffed animal can help your child practice their language skills, they may need a helping hand depending on how well they know either language. This means that you should step in as the one talking for the stuffed animal and helping your child out when need be.

We at The Zoo Factory have plenty of stuffable animals that can help to encourage your child’s bilingualism. Look through our site to pick out your child’s new best friend today!

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Unique Take on Stuffed Animals Coming to Life

Lots of Toys

Between their huge imaginations and their charming ability to turn everything into a game, children love the idea of their stuffed animals coming to life. Classic kid’s movies and cartoons present tales of animated toys, talking teddy bears, and children that can communicate with their toys.

Children see stuffed animals as their first and most loyal friends, and the ability to witness “life” in these treasured toys keeps children’s creativity alive. Pretending they can talk back allows children to play with their stuffed animals in the most inventive ways.

In today’s technological age, science found a way to bring stuffed animals to life through motion.

By using soft robotics, researchers at Yale University developed robotic skins that animate inanimate objects. Made with elastic sheets and full of sensors and actuators, the robotic skins can animate objects and make them perform different tasks. The skins help objects walk, move, or grasp and move another object.

The leader of the research and an assistant professor of mechanical engineering and materials science, Rebecca Kramer-Bottiglio and her team developed the skins to use as soft robots with large implications. The idea is that researchers can use the robotic skins to wrap around deformable materials to create improvised robots for situations where they might prove helpful. For example, astronauts could use the skins in space to attach to objects and deploy for exploration.

Dubbed OmniSkin, the researchers wrapped the robotic skin around a stuffed horse’s legs to make it walk across a table, animating the stuffed animal in a new and exciting way.

These researchers, just like our children, are inventing unique ways to bring stuffed animals to life. Find your children a new stuffed friend from The Zoo Factory, your source for buildable, stuffable animals and dolls.

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How to Use Stuffed Animals in the Classroom

Small Child with Stuffed Bear

Stuffed animals can work wonders in a classroom full of young children, and we love the idea of incorporating them into an educational setting.

Here are a few of The Zoo Factory’s favorite ways that stuffed animals can be used in a classroom setting.

Consider a Class mascot

A cuddly and unique stuffed animal can make the perfect class mascot. Mascots create a sense of belonging, uniting everyone in the class and representing diverse classrooms as a solidified unit. Class mascots make kids excited to go to school every day, giving them something fun to look forward to. These special class heroes can increase classroom morale with minimal effort.

Create a Reading or Writing Partner

Stuffed animals serve as the perfect audience for reading and writing practice. Letting students read books out loud to stuffed animals allows them to practice reading comprehension and fluency while minimizing nerves. For editing help, have students write a few thoughts down and let them read these thoughts out loud to a stuffed animal to listen for writing mistakes. Reading with a non-judgmental stuffed animal causes an increase in confidence (and fun!) for young students.

Offer Recognition and Reward

Kids love positive recognition and rewards for appropriate behaviors and actions. Use stuffed animals in the classroom as a tool for rewarding students for following your classroom rules. For example, let a student that demonstrates good manners sit with a stuffed animal on their desk during class. If a student does a particularly good job with reading something out loud or mastering other course content, let them pick out a stuffed animal to carry around for the day.

There is no shortage of fun ways to use stuffed animals in the classroom! Find teddy bears, unicorns, sea creatures, farm animals, and more at The Zoo Factory.

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Little Teddy Bears Take a Big Adventure

Bear in Flight Goggles

Teddy bears serve many great purposes. They give us a friend to hug and love, they are great sleeping partners, and often times, they can be used to raise awareness for a good cause.

Students in Indiana recently raised a lot of money using teddy bears, and in the process, the teddy bears got to have a lot of fun.

Forty students from the Indiana University Dance Marathon (IUDM) recently made headlines when they each jumped out of a plane with a teddy bear along for the ride, all in the name of boosting the spirits of the kids at the Riley Hospital for Children in Indiana.

The plan was simple or so they say. The 40 students each took their own teddy bear and loaded into an airplane. Once they were in full flight (13,000 feet in the air), each student jumped out of the plane with a teddy bear in tow.

Why you may ask?

Well, they wanted to give the brave children at the hospital a brave teddy bear to keep by their side, and after jumping out of a plane and falling towards the ground at 120 mph, each bear was then considered the “Bravest Bear in the World.” These bears were then presented to the “Bravest Kids in the World.”

This is the fourth year that these students have had this event and not only does it produce brave bears, but over the years, they have raised many millions of dollars for the hospital with 75 percent of that money going to research and 25 percent going to clinical care. All for a cause that is 100 percent for the children.

It is so refreshing these days to have young people who are so compassionate about those in need, and these kids are really dedicated. As event organizer Matt Arnold has said, “Looking out of the door of the plane at 13,000 feet, knowing you are going to jump out is scary, but when you think about these kids are going through, it’s a lot scarier. This program puts it all in perspective.”

At The Zoo Factory, we also take pride on putting smiles on children’s faces, and that is why we offer a comprehensive selection of stuffed animals and stuffable animal kits so each child can make their own customized best friend to accompany them through thick and thin. Check out our site to see our grand selection.

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The Evolution of Stuffed Animals

vintage teddy bear

At the Zoo Factory, it’s no surprise that we love stuffed animals. We think they’re great for people of all ages as a safe, healthy, and fun toy that everyone can enjoy. And clearly, we’re not alone: stuffed animals have been loved by people for centuries.

Let’s take a trip in time to see where stuffed animals came from, and how people came to love them in the first place.

The Early Stuffed Animal The Evolution of Stuffed Animals

Did you know that civilizations around the world have been making some form of a stuffed animal since the beginning of recorded history? Actually, it was the Romans in as early as 300 BC who are first credited with creating the rag doll, which were made with fabric scraps and filled with straw. These were mostly enjoyed by poorer children, who were unable to afford the pricier toys of the day.

The Modern Stuffed Animal

There are really two instances where the stuffed animals that we know came about. The first is the stuffed elephant created by Margarete Steiff in 1880, who first produced the toy based on a pattern she read in a magazine. She eventually started manufacturing thousands of these elephants, and Steiff’s company became one of the most popular in the world.

The other is the most famous: the world-famous “Teddy Bear.” In 1902, toymaker Morris Michtom saw a cartoon in the Washington Post about how President “Teddy” Roosevelt had spared the life of a bear cub when out hunting one day. The story inspired him to make a toy replica of the bear cub, and he ended up calling it a “teddy bear.” Of course, Michtom’s toy shot to international fame, and Ideal Toy Company, Michtom’s company, soon was the biggest toy manufacturer in the country.

Of course, stuffed animals have gone on to take a number of different forms, and appear in popular culture all over the world. But that history lends itself to their original creativity, and beloved comfort.

At the Zoo Factory, we pride ourselves on continuing that history with the best selection of stuffed animals out there. If you have any questions about our selection, contact us today!

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Ways to Relieve Stress on National Stress Awareness Day

girl resting under a tree with a teddy bear

We all know that life can be stressful. Balancing work or school, friends, family, and everything else is a daily chore; one which can sometimes feel overwhelming. But the key is learning to not let that stress control you. And that’s what National Stress Awareness Day, on April 16th, is all about: finding strategies to reduce that stress, and live a happier life.

Here are a few healthy habits to practice and ideas to reduce stress on National Stress Awareness Day.

Relieving Stress on National Stress Awareness Day

Keep a Journal

There are a number of benefits to keeping a daily journal of some sort—it’s great for time management, and helpful in strengthening your memory and your focus. But one benefit that often goes without mention is an alleviation of stress.  And it’s fun to keep a record of your experiences and memories, too!

Meditate

Meditation can come in many different forms, like yoga, sitting in silence, or leaving your phone in the other room while you concentrate. Whatever form it takes for you, a healthy meditation diet can do wonders to your stress levels. It lets you cleanse your mind of the day’s on-goings, and really focus on what’s in front of you.

Keep a Garden

This one is to all the folks who have any green space—be it a backyard, or park—close to them: get out there and garden! Planting flowers and taking care of a garden is one of the most proven strategies to reducing stress. Not only that, but it’s also great exercise. If you don’t have a backyard to plant in, get involved in your local community’s volunteer efforts.

Get a Stuffed Animal

To everyone here at The Zoo Factory, this one goes without saying. Having a stuffed animal by your side is a time-tested method of reducing stress, starting as early as childhood. Something about your favorite farm or jungle animal as a toy is just so comforting, and it’s no surprise that people of all ages love their stuffed animals.

At The Zoo Factory, we offer a wide selection of high-quality stuffed animals in all shapes and sizes for adults, and customized models and stuff-your-own-animal party packages for kids as well. So contact us today!