Family Fun Night: Paddington

Sometimes on Friday nights we like to do something special with the boys. Usually nothing fancy just a good time together: game night, a movie, camping in the backyard or a free activity in town. A few weeks ago we had a Paddington Bear night. We got the book from the library, rented the movie from Redbox, and made special desserts and snacks to munch on while we watched the movie. Something about having a theme makes the night even more special for them.

They both had these plain teddy bears. I turned them into Paddingtons using some felt and fleece I had left over from other projects.  The hat was no-sew I just hot glued two pieces of felt together and  added a little brown ribbon. For the coat I just traced the body of the bear from the knees up (plus about a 1/2 inch all the way around) onto two layers of blue fleece. I made the sleeves extra long so I could roll them up as a cuff. Stuffed animal clothes are really easy to make. Felt and fleece are great because they don't frey and you can do minimal sewing or just hot glue. Older kids would probably have fun making the clothes themselves with felt, scissors and a little help with hot glue. 

For dessert we had ice cream, marmalade and teddy grahams.

The marmalade is really good if you put some in a dish and warm it up for a few seconds in the microwave then pour it over the ice cream. Yum.

We also made a s'mores mix with the Teddy Grahams, chocolate chips and mini marshmallows.

We loved our Paddington night. Spending time together doesn't have to be expensive or complicated, but I feel like we have to do these things on purpose or the weeks just slip away. Maybe your family would like a Paddington night? : ) I hope you are having some fun family time this summer! 4th of July, here we come!