Tomorrow is Winnie the Pooh Day, a perfect day for sharing your love and affection for that roly-poly honey-colored (and honey-loving!) silly old bear with friends and family alike. Though created by A.A. Milne in children’s book form in 1926’s Winnie the Pooh, “Pooh Bear” is just as popular with adults as he is with children these days. In fact, if you ask many adults, they will tell you their favorite character, from Owl to Rabbit to Piglet, Eeyore, or many people’s favorite, Tigger. (My daughter loves piglet while I’m a Kanga fan, myself; we like the classic version of the tale and cartoons, though many modernizations have been created since.)
To celebrate Pooh’s special day (which also happens to be Milne’s birthday), here are a few ideas.
Host a Winnie the Pooh sing-a-long. You can watch your favorite Pooh episodes or rent a Disney sing-a-long DVD and hum or sing along with Pooh’s best tunes. Our favorite is the “Up, Down, Touch the Ground” song. Alternatively, host a Winnie the Pooh marathon of your favorite cartoons. Are there any you haven’t yet seen? How about the Pooh movies, or the lifelike series that was on the Disney channel in the early 90’s? Try one out and see how you like it.
Read Winnie the Pooh books. House at Pooh Corner is a great one, though there are dozens available to choose from. Just visit your local library or the bookstore and you are sure to find some great Winnie the Pooh books.
Act or draw out your favorite Pooh adventure. Use paints, pastels, crayons, or your favorite medium. Make some pooh sock puppets or use stuffed or resin figures. My daughter got a lovely classic stuffed Pooh at Target one Christmas that she still loves very much—they are pretty much available everywhere, though.
Make Pooh. Pooh characters, with their simple color schemes, are perfect for making with clay or play dough. You could also try making sugar cookies with character faces.
Have a honey day. We all know how much Pooh loves his honey! Try honey on toast or muffins (or Honey Bunches of Oats) for breakfast, a peanut butter and honey sandwich with apples for lunch, and Asian honey chicken with honey glazed carrots for dinner. Bake Pooh-faced cupcakes for school or work.
Dress up as Pooh. If you have a costume, go for it—if you don’t, try a red shirt with yellow pants. Draw little bear noses on your faces for some added fun.
