Do your kids love bears as much as mine? These dress-up bears are one of our all-time favorite activities. They are easy to make using the free printable in this post, which is also full of more bear-themed learning activities for kids.
Some links on this site are affiliate links and I may earn a small commission at no cost to you. Thank you! Learn more.
Dress-Up Bears with Printable
What You'll Find on This Page
This week’s Virtual Book Club for Kids book was Time to Sleep by Denise Fleming, and the theme for the week was bears. Fleming’s book is charming, and well worth reading. If you are looking for more great bear-themed books, Can’t You Sleep, Little Bear? is one of our all-time favorite reads.
How to Make Dress-Up Bears
These dress-up bears are super easy to make! Here is what you need:
- Felt. We used nice craft felt for this project. 100% wool felt would have been nicer, but this worked well enough.
- Fabric shears (these cut through felt like butter, unlike many household scissors).
- Straight pins
- Patterns – follow the links below to find each project.
- Ultra fine point Sharpie pen (for drawing on faces)
- (Optional) felt board. We have made several different styles, over the years:
- Hoop felt board tutorial
- Traditional style felt board tutorial
- File folder travel felt board tutorial
- Sturdy travel felt board tutorial
- You can also buy a felt board.
- Flannel Tabletop Easel. This one is nice because it stands up on its own. It is fairly large – 18 by 24 inches.
- Felt Notice Board. This one stands out because it is very large – 36 by 24 inches.
I have been making bears like this for my kids for years. We still have the original fashion bears, and my kid continue to enjoy playing with them. I designed a smaller set for this week’s theme – something I had been meaning to do for years.
Dress-Up Bear Printables
I made pajamas for this set of dress-up bears, since both of the books we read featuring going to bed. We also made rain outfits (it has been raining quite a bit here), and some warmer AND more fashionable outfits.
Click on the images above and below to download printable PDF files to make your own dress-up felt bears.
The making process is simple. Print out the templates, cut out the pieces, pin to felt, and cut those out. Use an ultra fine point Sharpie pen to draw on a face.
More Bear-Themed Learning Activities for Kids
Here are some more great bear-themed learning activities for kids! Check out my pattern for sewing simple stuffed teddy bears, too!
Bear THEMED LITERACY ACTIVITIES
- Upper- and Lower-case Bear Themed Matching Puzzles from Sea of Knowledge
- Bear Paw Alphabet Tracks from Inspiration Laboratories
- Bear Paw Names from Rainy Day Mum
Learning Math with Bear-Themed Activities
- Sorting Animals by Size from My Storytime Corner
- Printable Hide and Seek Bear Number Game for Preschoolers from The Educators’ Spin On It
SENSORY Bear ACTIVITIES
- Teddy Bear Bread from Messy Little Monster
- Three Easy Bear-Themed Activities from Toddler Approved
Bear Themed Crafts
- Preschool Bear Craft (Painting) from Preschool Powol Packets
- Birdseed Bear Craft for Kids from View from a Step Stool
- Build a Shape Bear Paper Craft + Printable from To Be a Kid Again
Learning Colors with Bear-Themed Activities
- Color Games for Kids with a Bear Theme from JDaniel4’s Mom
- The Original Fashion Bears from Mama Smiles
THE 2016-17 VIRTUAL BOOK CLUB FOR KIDS
Click on the image above to see all of the themes, books, and activities for this year’s 2016-17 Virtual Book Club for Kids! I am updating the page as new posts go live.
Do you know of another fun bear themed learning activity we should try? How about another book we need to read? Let me know in the comments. You can also share photos on my Facebook page, or tag me on Instagram.
MaryAnne is a craft loving educator, musician, photographer, and writer who lives in Silicon Valley with her husband Mike and their four children.
Oh, my goodness. These are the cutest bears ever! I love that umbrella!
I think I saw these on your instagram feed, and it made me smile.
I love your felt projects! This is so cute!
Simply adorable!!!
This is a great activity for kids! I remember our own felt board fondly!
Lily and Anna have been playing with them non-stop, ever since I made them.
I made a similar game for my kids using thick plastic sheeting, like file organiser divides. The plastic shapes stick onto tiles when they are wet, we used them in the bath
Very clever! I used to do that with foam sheets, but I never tried doing bears like this.
These bears are so cute! Kids will have a fun time creating these. Thank you so much for sharing. :)
Maryanne these bears are precious, I can imagine my daughters having fun playing with these together with my nieces. Thank you so much for sharing and for cohosting the Virtual Book Club for Kids this week.
My little girl will go crazy for this, she’s forever dressing her teddy bears up so I’m sure she’ll love making some cute little cut out clothes with me.